The Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con came to a close today with the debut of the newest trailer for Star Trek: Picard‘s third and final season, introducing us to the upcoming year’s villain — and surprising fans with an unexpected character return.
Tony Award-winning actor Amanda Plummer will serve as Season 3’s big threat, joining the show in a recurring role as Vadic, who serves as “the mysterious alien captain of the Shrike, a warship that has set its sights on Jean-Luc Picard and his old crewmates from his days on the Enterprise.”
In addition, casting for the two daughters of Geordi La Forge was announced: LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter Mica Burton will play Ensign Alandra La Forge, who serves in Starfleet with her father; Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut will portray Ensign Sidney La Forge, helmsman of the USS Titan.
(Along with “Brett,” both “Alandra” and “Sidney” were named as La Forge’s children in the “All Good Things…” alternate future!)
Also revealed was returning Next Gen star Brent Spiner’s role, revealed during today’s panel that he’ll be playing some version of Lore, the twin android brother of departed Lieutenant Commander Data. It’s all “very complicated,” said Spiner during the NYCC panel.
Two other big surprises beamed down during the new Picard trailer today, to cap off everything else: the reveal of the USS Enterprise-F starship design, making the leap from Star Trek Online to live-action for the first time, and the return of actor Daniel Davis as the nefarious and brilliant self-aware hologram, Professor James Moriarty!
While the dangerous hologram has been referenced a few time since his last appearance in “Ship in a Bottle” — and of course, Moriarty was a great influence on Badgey from Star Trek: Lower Decks — this is the first time Davis has actually portrayed that character since the episode aired in January 1993.
There have been many hints that more legacy Star Trek characters will be returning for the final Star Trek: Picard run — but it’s probably fair to say this was not the face many expected to see today.
There’s still plenty more to learn about when it comes to Star Trek: Picard Season 3 — so as we get closer to the February debut, we’ll bring you all the announcements as they come.
Star Trek: Picard is currently in post-production on its third and final season, set to debut in February 2023 on Paramount+ the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. Outside of North America, the series is available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most international locations.