2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis marked not just the last big-screen outing of the Trek franchise until 2009 but the last time The Next Generation cast was together until Picard season 3. And the infamous sequel's biggest moment was when Data (Brent Spiner) sacrificed himself to stop a deadly attack by Romulans.
However, while speaking to Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner on their Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny podcast, screenwriter John Logan, who wrote Nemesis, revealed he never believed Data died.
“Now, let me ask you a question that I’ve answered a hundred times,” Frakes began. “Do you believe that Data died in Nemesis?” Logan openly rolled his eyes and declared, “No!" Frakes celebrated by exclaiming, “Thank you very much!”
Spiner chimed in himself by saying, “I never thought so. I wanted him to, but I didn’t think it was happening.” Indeed, killing off Data was Spiner’s idea, as Logan didn’t think he could be believable as an ageless android. “He barreled in and said, ‘Brent Spiner gonna do this story or there no movie,” Logan also said in the interview.
The movie did leave off with an earlier android called B-4, also played by Spiner, that hints Data could survive in him. That was never followed up on, with the franchise going on a break for several years.
Spiner would, of course, revive the role for Picard with an excuse for Data looking older. So, Trek fans, it’s settled that Data never truly died at all, which adds to the character’s legacy.
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