Kurtzman: the Star Trek: Picard Borg story will be “very different and very unique”

A Borg cube from the Star Trek: Picard NYCC trailer

In the same Vanity Fair interview that revealed that the upcoming Section 31 Star Trek spinoff has assembled a writer’s room, we’ve also learned that the Borg story in Star Trek: Picard will be “very different and very unique”.

In the interview last Friday, Vanity Fair asked Kurtzman about the development of Star Trek: Picard, and whether developing for CBS All Access affected their approach. Kurtzman said that the unique prospect of bringing Sir Patrick Stewart back to the franchise meant that the approach was non-traditional, but that CBS All Access enabled what they were doing.

Kurtzman explained that due to Stewart’s influence, the tone of the show will be necessarily new. He said, “[Stewart] doesn't want to repeat what he's done already, which was by the way, the best bar he could have put forward. The show is inspired by Next Gen, and it's written by people who grew up loving it but it is very much not Next Gen. It feels like a modern adult drama in the world of Star Trek, which has not actually really happened before. 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.”

Stewart’s involvement came to a head over the Borg storyline. According to Kurtzman, Stewart’s first instinct was to not do the Borg, saying, “I did that story. I don’t want to do that story.” But Kurtzman says what eventually emerged was something unique and different. “Definitely not one that you could have told in Next Generation,” he said. “And certainly not what I think anyone’s expecting.”

Star Trek: Picard is currently in post-production. It’s due to premiere in the US and Canada on January 23rd, and on January 24th worldwide.