“I still say [SPOILER]."
Die-hard Star Trek fans are well aware of the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s God of Mischief, Loki, aka actor Tom Hiddleston, is often cited as a favorite to play Lt. Commander Data in future Treks. However, the gentleman who has played Data for nearly 40 years has his own ideas about the right actor to replace him in the role — and it’s not Hiddleston but another MCU performer altogether.
Spiner said in an interview (per Popverse), “I don’t see it [Hiddleston portraying Data]. I mean, I love it, but I still say Tilda Swinton. In other words, Spiner is interested in gender-bending the role of Data so that his choice, Swinton, can carry the beloved android’s torch forward.
I think it’s highly unlikely that the newly formed Skydance film studio would recast Spiner with Swinton to portray Data, since future movies and/or shows, which might center around rebooting The Next Generation, will obviously feature younger cast members like J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Kelvin flicks did.
At the time of this writing, Swinton is only 12 years younger than 77-year-old Spiner. Personally, though, I wouldn’t mind watching Swinton take a swing at play Data. After all, she’s an Oscar-winning actress (Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role | Michael Clayton ), but I don’t think it’s in the cards.
If Skydance and CBS Studios decided to launch a new Next Gen film, TV, or streaming series featuring a younger Enterprise-D cast, who would you choose to play Lt. Commander Data and the other beloved characters? Share your choices with us and sound off in the comments about Spiner wanting Swinton for his replacement on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
Add us as a preferred source on Google