‘Star Trek: Picard’ Spin-Off Still Not In Development, But Terry Matalas Has Thoughts On “What If We Did More?”

Ever since Star Trek: Picard wrapped its third and final season last April, there has been lots of talk about a potential spin-off. Dubbed “Star Trek: Legacy” by Picard showrunner Terry Matalas, this idea has seen a lot of support from a popular fan petition to many of the cast and crew talking up the idea. So naturally during the Picard season 3 reunion panel at Trek Talks 3, the idea of a spin-off came up.

What if there were a Picard spin-off

Trek Talks is a marathon of Star Trek panels streamed live on January 13 on YouTube to benefit the Hollywood Food Coalition. The most packed panel of the day was the Picard season 3 reunion featuring showrunner Terry Matalas, actor/director Jonathan Frakes, and stars Gates McFadden, Jeri Ryan, Ashlei Sharpe-Chestnut, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, and Todd Stashwick. It was co-moderated by TNG and Picard (seasons 1 and 2) actor Jonathan Del Arco and TrekMovie alumni Dr. Kayla Iacovino. While talking about technical details on the darker lighting for the show Matalas said he would do some things differently “if we were ever to do more.”Jonathan Del Arco immediately jumped on the mention of “more” but Matalas quickly clarified, saying “I’m not alluding to anything… I wish, I wish, there is no…[spin-off in devepment]”

Del Arco wasn’t going to let it go at that, noting how there has been a lot of discussion about a Picard spin-off, adding a personal note “I’m still hopeful that at some point we see more – whether it’s a movie or a series or something – with this cast.” Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (Sidney La Forge) was asked her thoughts on she pointed to how the season finale wrapped up with Jack Crusher and her on the USS Enterprise-G, saying “You see all of us, you see Jeri [Ryan as Captain Seven of Nine] in the final image of the show and you kind of see what could come to be. I don’t think we’re done telling any of this. I think we can continue to go.” This garnered nods and smiles from the rest of the panel including Ryan, who would likely be the star of a show set on the USS Enterprise-G.

With all eyes on Matalas he tried to deflect it to Jonathan Frakes, saying “I think we’ll just let Jonathan take this,” but Frakes demurred, noting how he still has “wounds” from CBS after leaking stuff at conventions in the past. When moderator Kayla Iacovino quickly asked if that itself was a leak, Matalas finally jumped in to speak about a follow-up, saying:

“No, there truly isn’t [anything to leak]. You know it’s interesting because the end of the show, that last scene – although it is a setup for spin-off – it wasn’t designed to be a setup of spin-off… The right ending for the Next Generation is passing the torch to the next Next Generation. And without doing that, it wouldn’t feel right. So that was watching – literally – their children go off on the Enterprise and paying off Seven of Nine’s wonderful arc from Borg to captain of the flagship. That just felt like a proper ending.”

After squashing the idea that a spin-off is in the works, Matalas immediately started talking about the possibilities a spin-off could offer:

“I think what’s interesting about a series that has been on the air for so many decades is the evolution of things. Michael [Dorn] and I were talking, what if we did more? You think, what’s the Klingon Empire like [in the early 25th century]? The last time they were an allegory to the Russians kind of, and now? What would they be up to and what does that mean for Worf and what does that mean for Alexander? So what’s so great about this kind of very, very long format – the fact that Leonard Nimoy played Spock for how many years? I mean, that’s incredible. I don’t think you ever really need to fully say goodbye to any of these characters or storylines. I think it’s that’s what’s so special about what we’re doing.”

Todd Stashwick chimed in that this point to lobby for bringing his Captain Shaw back, saying “I think it’s interesting that you brought up Spock because he died and came back to life, adding it is “kind of an established trope.” Matalas laughed and joked that since he “did it with Data” it was “time to move on.”