Star Trek: Picard showrunner Alex Kurtzman recently detailed that the show will give fans a very different Borg story.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Kurtzman opened up about the difficulty of bringing back Patrick Stewart as Jean Luc-Picard, and how that led to this “very unique and very different Borg story.”
During their conversations, Stewart made clear he did not want to rehash the same stories he already explored in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Kurtzman explained:
“Julie and I were very excited about the idea of bringing Patrick back. But… he did not want to come back. He said he was never going to play that part again. So we entered into that knowing Patrick is going to have a major, major voice in whatever this becomes if we’re going to get him to say yes. He doesn’t want to repeat what he’s done already, which was by the way, the best bar he could have put forward.”
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Kurtzman would elaborate on this saying, “His constant refrain was: I don’t want to do what I’ve already done.”
This would lead to what Kurtzman describes as the “very unique and very different Borg story.”
Kurtzman explains:
“Obviously it’s not a secret that the Borg were involved, and his first instinct was not to do the Borg. He was like, “I did that story. I don’t want to do that story.” And we couldn’t just say, “Yeah, but we loved you in it so much, we just want to do that again.” And what ended up emerging was actually as a result of that back and forth, a very unique and very different Borg story. Definitely not one that you could have told in Next Generation. And certainly not what I think anyone’s expecting.”
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The story would come about in a collaboration in the Picard writing room that employs novelists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman alongside Stewart.
Kurtzman described it as a “wonderful chorus.” But he notes that “everybody has a different superpower in that room, which is exciting.”
He would also touch on the idea that the show is not Star Trek: The Next Generation 2.0. Instead, he describes the show as a “modern adult drama in the world of Star Trek.”
He adds, “It’s also singularly about a man in his emeritus years and there are very few franchises that would allow you to have an almost 80 year old lead and tell his story.”
We’ll find out exactly what this “very unique and very different Borg story” is when Star Trek: Picard premieres on CBS All Access on January 23rd, 2020 in the United States. It will be available to stream on Amazon Prime across the globe.