Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes continues to talk about the proposed Star Trek: Picard spinoff series Star Trek: Legacy, and it’s obviously a project that he’s not giving up on.
The project was initially pitched by Picard showrunner Terry Matales, and it was envisioned as a continuation of The Next Generation and set after the events of Picard. It’s a project that Frake is also heavily involved with because it’s a Star Wars project that he is pushing for and hopes happens.
Frake recently talked about the project during an interview with IndieWire, saying: “I certainly have hopes and thoughts. Updates? I don’t have, but I do know that the franchise is in great shape.
“I do know that this ‘Starfleet Academy’ series is going to be an entirely different animal, and I think that the success of what I’m imagining, the success of ‘Section 31,’ Michelle Yeoh’s movie, is only going to catapult us further into the future, and my hope, obviously is that we’ll find a place then to continue the ‘Legacy’ story.”
Frakes previously shared his idea of what William Riker’s role in the series would be. He sees Riker taking on a role similar to that of Charlie in the Charlie’s Angels franchise.
He explained: “The Rikers’ marriage is back on track. In my mind, for the show to be able to move forward, Riker would have to be a captain and have his ship, or he would be promoted to admiral and be a liaison.
“I’m only half-kidding when I say it would be great for me if the show carries on and I’m like Charlie from Charlie’s Angels. They’d have to come to my office one day a week for a meeting with Riker. That’d be perfect.
“Then I could direct a bunch of the episodes and be around the show. I suspect if it does go forward, it would be Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, and Ed Speleers, who’s now in Starfleet, and Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, who played Geordi’s daughter.
“I would also imagine Lulu Wilson, who played the Rikers’ daughter in season one and was so fabulous, could be a part of it. She could come back and maybe be in Starfleet.”
He went on to say: “It feels to me like there’s a real opportunity for three of the legacy characters’ children to carry on and sort of be the next Star Trek: The Next Generation. It just feels like it’s laid out there. It’s the blueprint for the next phase.”
When previously talking about the possibility of the show being made, Frakes said of Paramount: “I think they can’t deny not only the fan reaction, but the fact that the numbers put the show at the Top 10 on the streaming charts.
“And that season of Star Trek: Picard was arguably among the best seasons of any Star Trek — I think we all agree on that. I mean, Star Trek fans are loyal. It’s not millions and millions of people, and it’s not the youngest fandom in the world…”
Frakes went on to say that he has no doubts that Star Trek: Legacy will get made one day, saying: “I am an eternal optimist, and I believe in a perfect world, they will find the assets and the energy and hire Terry to put together this Legacy show and that will, in fact, come to fruition.”
Hopefully, Star Trek: Legacy gets the greenlight one day! It’s a series that a lot of Star Trek fans have expressed interest in seeing.