This January, Star Trek fans were treated to the return of Sir Patrick Stewart to their TV screens in the role of Jean-Luc Picard. The season one finale of Star Trek: Picard left viewers with as many questions as answers, and anticipation is running high for the show’s second season. But according to Stewart, he was initially less than enthusiastic about the whole idea of a Picard series.

In an interview with entertainment news site Gold Derby, Stewart explained his initial reluctance, saying that he felt that he had “said everything there was to say with Jean-Luc Picard and there was no more to tell” and that he had turned down other spin-off ideas in the past. But when he met with the series creative team, figures like Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, and Kirsten Beyer, he changed his mind. The story they were proposing, said Stewart, was the only kind of Star Trek series he was interested in making. 

The next chapter in that story will be somewhat delayed as production has been halted due to the COVID-19 outbreak. But the veteran Trek star is just as enthusiastic about the new run of episodes as he was for the show’s first, predicting “startling events” in season two that will cover new ground for the series. Naturally, Stewart couldn’t go into any detail but he added, “It’s going to be extraordinary...I’m looking forward to it very much.”

Stewart wasn’t the only familiar face to make a return in Picard season one. Marina Sirtis, Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, Jonathan Del Arco, and Brent Spiner all reprised their former roles in Picard and we expect to see other Trek actors join their ranks in season two. LeVar Burton recently revealed that he’s in talks to reprise the role of Geordi La Forge in the future and Robert Picardo confirmed in July of last year that he had been approached by CBS to appear in season two of Picard. Even Frakes believes that there could be more TNG stars to come back in the new season.

Stewart may be excited for the new season of Picard, but CBS is enthusiastic about his chances at this year’s Emmy Awards. According to TrekMovie.com, the network has started an Emmy campaign for the new series with Stewart as its focus; CBS hopes Academy voters will consider nominating him for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Many of the show’s supporting actors were submitted for consideration as well, and CBS additionally submitted the second series of Short Treks for consideration in the Short Form Drama category. Star Trek has had recent success at the Emmys; last year the second season of Star Trek: Discovery was nominated in 4 Emmy categories and took home the award for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for the episode “If Memory Serves”.

If you want to hear more from Stewart himself on Picard season two (and you aren’t afraid of season one spoilers), the entire interview is available on goldderby.com or on their YouTube channel.