“A Justice League of Star Trek.”
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) marked the end of The Next Generation’s big-screen adventures nearly 25 years ago. However, if there had been a fifth film developed for TNG’s cinematic run, it could have been the most epic theatrical Trek of all time. And in a new interview, actor Brent Spiner reflected on what could have been and even insinuated it would have partly taken place in the Mirror Universe.
“It was going to be fantastic,” Spiner told TrekMovie.com in a brand-new interview. “Thing is… it was a pipe dream on our parts because obviously nobody could afford to do that. Particularly not after my salary, they weren’t going to be able to. We had an original script that we wrote that was rejected. It wasn’t the script. We had a story idea that involved everybody playing two roles, but alas, that this wasn’t to be.”
Of course, Spiner reprised the role of the fan-favorite TNG character Lt. Commander Data in all four of Next Gen’s feature films, and this isn’t the first time the actor teased what could have happened in a Nemesis sequel. In a 2006 interview, Spiner labeled the proposed cinematic event as “a Justice League of Star Trek,” which would have included a plethora of characters from virtually all the Treks of that time period.
“Something would bring all the great Star Trek villains together,” Spiner explained in a 2006 sit-down. “From Khan to Shinzon, and Picard is the only person who could stop them and he actually has to go through time and pluck out the people he needs to help him. He goes back to the moment before Data blows up and takes him back to get Kirk and Spock and go even further back and get Scott Bakula’s character Archer.”
I think everyone is familiar with the villainous Khan Noonien Singh, who was originally portrayed by the legendary Ricardo Montalban. However, for those who may be new to the Star Trek fandom, Shinzon (Tom Hardy) was the primary antagonist in Nemesis, and he was also a younger clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
While The Next Generation sequel would have been a must-see cinematic event 20 years ago, I don’t think it’s too late for something of this magnitude to happen. After all, Paramount and Warner Bros. just officially finalized Skydance’s game-changing merger, and what a Star Trek it would make: reuniting the franchise’s beloved actors to face a Justice League-sized threat on the big screen.
In fact, wouldn't it be something if all the major captains (James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Kathryn Janeway, Jonathan Archer) who appeared within The Original Series and the Berman Era projects joined forces to thwart a nearly unstoppable force. Too bad Q (John de Lancie) was much more of a good guy when he and Picard parted ways in the must-see episode "Farewell."
Maybe they could face off against General Trelane instead?
What do you think about Spiner’s revelation “that involved everybody playing two roles,” in a Mirror Universe-meets-the-Justice-League movie sequel to Nemesis? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
Add us as a preferred source on Google