John de Lancie doesn't think Star Trek: Legacy will happen

John de Lancie, who played Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as other iterations, was surprised to learn that his character would be dying at the end of the second season of Star Trek: Picard. He was less surprised when showrunner, Terry Matalas, irght after the final scene had been shot between Patrick Stewart and de Lancie told the Q actor that he would be coming back because Matalas had figured out how to do it.

And Q did return in the post-credits scene in the series finale of Star Trek: Picard to taunt Admiral Picard's son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers). His appearance laid the potential groundwork for a spinoff of the series, which fans have been wanting since before Picard ended in April of last year. And de Lancie, in an exclusive interview with TrekMovie’s All Access Star Trek podcast [via Trekmovie], acknowledged that he took the post-credit scene to be a setup for something else.

However, now, de Lancie doesn't think it [the spinoff] will happen because Paramount has already decided on another show. He says there was a time when it looked like it could happened, but the writers' strike shifted people's focus.

"There was a fun period of time that it looked like it could happen. But then there was the writers’ strike, which took a lot of people’s attentions away. I don’t think that they expected that season 3 was going to be as good and as well-received. They had already decided on another show. They were already moving in another direction. But it was certainly a really valiant and well-appreciated finale to The Next Generation.”"

- John de Lancie

As far as de Lancie returning as Q should a spinoff occur, the actor did share some thoughts on what Q could bring to another series.

"“My involvement has always been as a catalyst, as a disrupter, as a character that pushes the envelope and makes everybody hopefully learn something. That’s one. Two, I think that the character works best—and also its position in Star Trek works best—if what I bring are big philosophical issues. I think that’s when we do the best work.”"

- John de Lancie

Even though de Lancie doesn't think Star Trek: Legacy will happen, there are still a lot of positives working in favor of the fans who are behind the series, including the cast's interest in returning, the amount of coverage the potential series has gotten, and the continuing drive behind it. And as long as Paramount hasn't given a definitive no, there is still hope.