Patrick Stewart had a specific role in mind for Star Trek: Legacy: Picard would appear onscreen to give the crew its missions. Terry Matalas, who ran the final season of Star Trek: Picard, recalled Stewart’s enthusiasm for the proposed follow-up after the actor’s death at 86.
“Patrick was like, ‘I want to come and be the one who gets on the screen and tells him missions.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know why we’re not doing this’,” Matalas said on the Dropping Names podcast, hosted by Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes.
Legacy would’ve picked up after Picard ended in 2023. Jeri Ryan would’ve returned as Seven of Nine, captain of the USS Enterprise-G, with Michelle Hurd as first officer Raffaela Musiker and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.
Matalas envisioned bringing younger officers into the story alongside returning characters. He also described an idea involving Worf, his son Alexander and the Klingons.
The project stayed in planning and never received a formal commission. Matalas subsequently moved to Marvel Television’s VisionQuest.
Stewart first played Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. The series ended in 1994, and he continued the role in films before returning for Star Trek: Picard.
In 2022, Stewart described how deeply the character had become part of his life: “So much of what I believed and felt went into that show.”
Stewart died at his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2026, following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. His return as Professor Charles Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to reach theaters on December 18, 2026.
