While everyone else is nitpicking Old Data, I'd like to take a moment and point out that 1994's ageing makeup for Jonathan Frakes was pretty much spot-on:
Renegades got Beltran back as Chakotay but changed the names before the second day of filming. They also got Manu, Tim Russ, and others:
I think Beltran did Renegades to catch up with old friends for a day or two more than anything else. Picard is being made by exactly zero Voyager people (to the best of my knowledge), so I'm sure if they could convince him they'll do something worthwhile with his character (and pay him lots of money), he'll be a part of it.
Three years is pretty short time, and regardless, I'm pretty sure they would not give the dubbing teams any super secret information about the future of the series. Also, It still boggles my mind that people dub over shows with real actors that are not meant for little children.
Read an interview with Meincke, years ago, in which he said that he actually is a big fan of Picard and TNG. So it might have been a matter of heart for him to lend his voice to Patrick Stewart again for this show.
Oh yeah, I know there's a very good chance it's a new character, but making it a familiar character would give the audience an emotional connection to Seven's loss. Wow, that's almost a little scary.
*chants to self as hype reaches critical mass* resistgettinghypedupyou'lldieofdisappointment resistgettinghypedupyou'lldieofdisappointment resistgettinghypedupyou'lldieofdisappointment resist...getting...hyp... resist...gett... resist... resist... re..si... I NEED IT NOW. The only criticism I have is the missed opportunity to use (my personal favorite) Admiral Nechayev instead of the unknown angry admiral.
She’d probably be retired now, too, at this point. Although the actress that plays her is about 10 years younger than Stewart, so she may still be around out there.
How do we know she isn't Nechayev? If they have to recast someone, it's going to be a minor character.
Would like that, but i think it's more likely the Admiral is Elizabeth Shelby. Because of the Borg thematic in the show.
I don't think they'll use a name we know for the character, but I like the Shelby idea better because it has the vibe of the person who used to be Picard's subordinate now being in charge.
Yeah, maybe. But considering that BOBW was the big turning point for TNG, which was responsible for making the show as successful as it was, i could see them making her Shelby and mentioning her name. And as you said, her behavior would have been in-character for this role.
If it was a recast returning character, Shelby would seem a lot more likely. If Nechayev was already an admiral just a few season into TNG, I'm thinking she would probably have retired long before Picard.