Star Trek: The Next Generation cast reprise roles on Picard season 3

April 5 is a significant day in the sprawling Star Trek mythos. Known as First Contact Day, it commemorates the date in the film Star Trek: First Contact that humans first made contact with Vulcans. Streaming service Paramount+ and the producers of the series Picard gave Star Trek fans a First Contact day treat with a surprise announcement about the upcoming third season.

On April 5, Entertainment Weekly reported that series star Patrick Stewart will be joined by several of his former Star Trek: The Next Generation castmates for Picard season 3. LeVar Burton (Lieutenant Geordi LaForge), Michael Dorn ( Lieutenant Worf), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), Gates McFadden (Doctor Beverly Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Lieutenant Commander Deanna Troi), and Brent Spiner (Lieutenant Commander Data) will all be once again portraying their Star Trek: The Next Generation characters on Picard.

Paramount+’s YouTube channel featured a video accompanying the news. In it, Stewart, in character as Picard, contemplatively looks at his old Star Trek Enterprise uniform and communicator, while the voices of his former colleagues swirl about him heard from offscreen. The last scenes show what appears to be Stewart and Frakes, as Picard’s second-in-command Riker, setting off on a new adventure.

The series, which trades largely on Picard’s past coming to call as he attempts to live in exile, has welcomed other former Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members, reprising the iconic characters they portrayed in the syndicated 1987-1994 series. In season two of Picard, Spiner has appeared as Data, while Whoopi Goldberg has also reprised her role as the character Guinan. Frakes has also directed episodes of the series, in both its second and first seasons.

Star Trek is one of pop culture’s most enduring properties. Its fans’ fervor is well known, and its cast seems to have deep and continuing ties to the franchise, as well. Picard season 3’s showrunner and executive producer Terry Matalas also expressed his affection, stating, “I remember watching the premiere almost 34 years ago with my father like it was yesterday. It was the spark that ignited my love for science-fiction. So, it’s most fitting that the story of Jean-Luc Picard ends honoring the beginning, with his dearest and most loyal friends from the U.S.S. Enterprise.”