The rumor mill is reporting that Brent Spiner may be appearing in one form or another on "Picard". Flashback? B9? Voice-only? The mill lacks those details. Not long ago, I would not care for the idea because, and no offense to Brent Spiner, but he obviously couldn't have pulled off playing an immortal android anymore. Now, having seen what Marvel Studios has done with digitally deaging the likes of Jackson, Douglas, Russell and RDJ, I think it could be done. As always, take rumors with a grain of salt. https://wegotthiscovered.com/tv/brent-spiner-guest-appearance-star-trek-picard/amp/
I suspect it'll be voice only, as he can't realistically play a supposedly ageless android at the age of 70. If he was to appear, I think CBS would have to indulge in some digital de-ageing make-up of the sort employed on Samuel L. Jackson to play mid-'90s Nick Fury in Captain Marvel. While it's certainly possible, I doubt that even the most lavishly funded TV show could afford more than a cameo.
Revenge of the Fans - a site with which I'm not familiar - was first to report this around four hours ago or so, and has since withdrawn their article. There doesn't appear to be a Google cached version of the original page, nor does the Internet Archive have it. Does anyone know if that site has any credibility on rumors like this?
They could always have the excuse that Data wanted to make himself look older. Like that grey hair he gave himself in that AGT alternate timeline.
I wouldn't put any truck in it. However, don't forget, the TNG episode "Inheritance" established that Data did appear to age. I know he didn't in AGT, but that could be due to him gaining some kind of control over the mechanism that caused it.
"Inheritance" had Geordi refer to an aging program that was mentioned neither before that episode or after. It was almost as if that particular scriptwriter just made it up for that one episode...
Holy shit maybe Countdown is canon. I'm guessing if we see him, it'll be CG de-aged. After all, any uncanny valley side effects actually aid the character.
It'll be Spiner as Data, except for the duration of the series, he'll have a paper bag over his head as part of his quest to understand the humour of the Unknown Comic. (At least he's moved on from Joe Piscopo).
Digital de-ageing is practically flawless if not done cheaply or for too long. But Data could have deliberately changed his appearance to fit in, avoiding the issue altogether.
Or, or, maybe...just a thought...maybe the only TNG person we’ll see is Picard. Since the title is Star Trek Picard and NOT Star Trek: The Next Generation 2.0. Not really interested in TNG 2.0.
Other TNG characters appearing in ST:P does not equate to TNG 2.0. If they're all serving on the Enterprise Z together under 25-star Supreme Admiral Picard, THAT'S TNG 2.0. But having the same characters appear in their respective stages of life 25 years past AGT is not TNG 2.0. For example: I work with people I went to school with 20 years ago. But I don't call my life "graduate school 2.0", because we're all at different places in our lives, but just happen to have converged at a particular institution in the present. And to be honest: a show about Picard that makes 0 reference to anything (and features guest stars) from TNG might as well not be a show about Picard.
Yeah, I agree. I'd actually be disappointed if we saw no other characters from TNG. I'd have to imagine we'll see Will Riker at some point for instance. Any TNG characters appearing would only be a guest starring appearance IMO and the show I think based on what we are told will have a far different feel from TNG.
I'm calling it like I have since when we first got the news: Picard's sidekick will be Data's head in a carrying case.
I looked at that yesterday while working on the news, but the original source of the story had pulled it, so I figured it wasn't true.