NYCC: Star Trek: Picard Panel Delves Into Next Generation's Lore With Returning Villains, Including Moriarty

Patrick Stewart as Picard in season 3 of STAR TREK: PICARD. Image: Paramount+.

OCTOBER 9, 2022 - This weekend is New York Comic Con and DSTN was there on Saturday for the Star Trek Universe panel. Part three of the panel featured Star Trek: Picard, with Executive Producers Alex Kurtzman, Rod Roddenberry, and Terry Matalas; Brent Spiner (Data); Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher); LeVar Burton (La Forge); Marina Sirtis (Troi); Michael Dorn (Worf); and, naturally, Patrick Stewart (Picard). Stewart introduced the new trailer with a hearty “Roll it!”

The biggest takeaway from the trailer other than Worf’s sudden turn to pacifism (“We’re all gonna die,” Riker sighs upon that revelation) was the three villains of the season.

First up is Emmy Award-winning Amanda Plummer (Ratched) as Vadic. Matalas says Plummer is the only person they ever wanted for the role and that Vadic “is a bit of a mystery. [She] has a deep-seated, yet sympathetic reason for wanting vengeance against Picard and the Federation.” Matalas also described Vadic as “a classic Star Trek villain.”

The second antagonist, revealed near the end of the trailer, is Daniel Davis as the hologram Moriarty. Sherlock Holmes’ archnemesis was first introduced to the Trek universe in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Elementary, Dear Data,” when he was accidentally given sentience thanks to a slip of the tongue by La Forge. He returned in “Ship in a Bottle,” in which Picard left him wandering a holographic galaxy under the misapprehension that he had been able to exit the holodeck and was at liberty in the real world. If he has learned of the deception, he might understandably have an ax to grind with the titular Admiral.

“Moriarty being back again is both entertaining and threatening,” Stewart commented on the reveal.

And. finally, Spiner’s season 3 character has at last been revealed: Lore, Data’s brother, who suffers from serious middle-child syndrome. When we saw him last in TNG’s “Descent, Part II,” Data had deactivated him. Interestingly, at the IDW panel earlier in the day, it was announced that Lore will be a part of the new ongoing comic Star Trek: Defiant. If Jackson Lanzing was correct in saying that the comics are all now considered canon, the comic, which will take place more than 20 years before PIC, may tie into the season in some way.

No details of Lore’s return were revealed during the panel, with Spiner joking that if he said anything, both he and moderator Josh Horowitz could wind up in jail if he revealed anything.

But villains new and old will only be part of the fun of the new season. What about those other characters we love so much? The cast had been warned against revealing too much, which led to them revealing…almost nothing.

”Worf is on a journey,” Michael Dorn said. “I was very fortunate that the producers kind of incorporated both of our ideas about where he is going to be and where he is going to go. And there’s a lot of things that I wanted to keep, and a lot of things that they actually convinced me to change about the character.”

Horowitz tried to get Sirtis to spill some spoilers, but all she would say was, “My storyline is so wrapped up in what we can’t talk about.”

“Riker and Picard are often like brothers,” Frakes said. “Riker was always supportive of Picard, I always thought…and yet…we had difference of opinion, let’s say.”

“Geordi was never involved in a healthy relationship,” Burton told the room. “I am happy to report that when we meet him Geordi is not only married, he has two daughters.” Those daughters are played by Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (Broadway’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, National Parks) and Burton’s real-life daughter Mica Burton.

Regarding Doctor Cusher, McFadden said, “She’s been off somewhere in the universe doing a sort of new “Doctors Without Borders” thing…and she’s being hunted.”

Season 3 will be Star Trek: Picard’s swan song, a final adventure for these characters we’ve loved for 30 years. Stewart described it as a fulfilling experience. Inevitably, an audience member asked them if this was truly the end for this crew. 20 years ago, the answer probably would have been “definitely.” But in today’s Trek-centric world, they weren’t willing to deal in absolutes.

“We’re not dead yet,” Frakes said.

Stewart’s final word was a message for Paramount Pictures: “We could still make a movie…”

Star Tek: Picard season 3 premieres on February 16. In the meantime, you can catch up on all the adventures on Paramount+. And stay tuned to DSTN as we roll out more reports and interviews from NYCC throughout the coming week.