Actor John de Lancie hints at another return of Q to the Star Trek franchise

John de Lancie as Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation “Encounter at Farpoint”

DECEMBER 24, 2020 - What do Sarek of Vulcan, Harry Mudd, Admiral Nechayev and Lieutenant Reginald Barclay all have in common? Not only are they all recurring characters from Star Trek, they are a few of the lucky ones who have crossed over to multiple Star Trek series. Actor John de Lancie recently dropped a big hint that his much-loved character, the omnipotent - but fallible - Q, could be coming back to stir up more trouble in the Star Trek universe.

De Lancie’s character has appeared in four different Star Trek series over the years, including The Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine and, most recently, Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Now, the Star Trek Universe Podcast has pointed out a Cameo video de Lancie had recorded, indicating his character’s potential return. For those who don’t know, Cameo is a paid service allowing individuals to send or receive personal messages recorded by their favorite celebrities. In de Lancie’s message of holiday cheer, the actor spoke about a moment he had with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry during the very first week of filming on the set of TNG.

“A voice behind my shoulder said, ‘You have no idea what you have got yourself into’,” de Lancie said in the video, adding, “It was Gene Roddenberry and I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He goes, ‘Oh, you’ll find out.’”

De Lancie went on to explain that after 34 years, he’s definitely finding out. Then he said, “Oh and by the way, here is a little stocking stuffer… You are going to be seeing more of me. Cheers!”

According to Cameo, that video was posted on December 17th, and as of today, we’ve heard nothing from CBS All Access about Q returning, so it’s not clear what de Lancie knows that we don’t. However, with at least four Star Trek series in active production (Discovery season four, Picard season two, Lower Decks season two, and Nickelodeon’s Prodigy), there’s plenty for you to speculate over. Remember Q’s final words to Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation: “If you’re very lucky, I’ll drop by from time to time.”