NewsT. Rick JonesMichael Dorn

Star Trek’s Worf, Michael Dorn, tweets “Starfleet calls”; studios deny TV or film involvement

NewsT. Rick JonesMichael Dorn
Star Trek’s Worf, Michael Dorn, tweets “Starfleet calls”; studios deny TV or film involvement
Michael Dorn as Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that tweet

Michael Dorn as Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that tweet

APRIL 19, 2021 - Michael Dorn sure does know how to get Star Trek fans’ attention, doesn’t he?

Just in case you weren’t on Twitter yesterday afternoon, here’s a brief recap: at approximately 12:48pm PT on Monday, April 19th, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Michael Dorn tweeted the following:

“Just got the news, being summoned back into action. Starfleet calls. #ad”

Cue the Trek fandom going out of their Vulcan minds. Many fans saw Dorn’s tweet as an explicit confirmation that he would be appearing as Worf in one of the current Star Trek series, most likely Star Trek: Picard due to its time setting. However, many other fans also pointed out that since the tweet was tagged “#ad” (something that Paramount+ doesn’t typically do for major casting announcements), he may well have been talking about something else.

Shortly after Dorn’s tweet blew up, io9’s James Whitbrook came to the rescue, tweeting: “Oh hey, #StarTrek fans: @io9 got confirmation from CBS that this ‘has nothing to do with a Star Trek Universe on Paramount+ original series,’ so don't get your hopes up!”

And shortly after that, TrekMovie.com echoed a similar sentiment from Paramount Pictures regarding the film side of the franchise, noting in a report, “a spokesperson for Paramount Pictures has confirmed they are not behind this new tease from Mr. Dorn.”

Even TrekCore got in on the action, tweeting a picture of Jonathan Frakes wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “Don’t ask me, I signed an NDA!” They captioned the photo, “Why you shouldn't ever expect massive Star Trek casting news in a non-studio tweet”.

So what is Dorn’s tweet about? There’s been no word so far, although by the time you’re hearing about it here, we may have had news. One possible explanation is a new voice over role in one of the several Star Trek video games on the market. (And herewith we venture into some speculation.)

Star Trek Online and Star Trek Fleet Command are two of the biggest games currently, but Star Trek Timelines and the new Apple Arcade game Star Trek: Legends are also out there. Of those four, only Star Trek: Legends doesn’t yet use celebrity voice overs. It’s also likely to be relevant that Star Trek Fleet Command and Star Trek Timelines have both had their markets recently disrupted by Legends debuting earlier this month, and could be looking for star power to boost their revenues.

Star Trek Online is an outside possibility, but it’s worth noting that Dorn has voiced Worf for them before, and while the game often has celebrity voice overs (like Jeri Ryan, Sonequa Martin-Green and Mary Chieffo), they’ve never before announced them using sponsored social media posts.

(My money’s on Fleet Command, personally.)

The best way to keep abreast of Dorn’s progress is to follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/akaWorf. His now-infamous tweet already has over 3,000 retweets and 27,000 likes. And of course, as soon as we know more, you’ll know more.