Spoilers Would you consider the things that Matalas wanted to happen as canon?

During his Reddit AMA, Matalas made a number of interesting comments about what he had wanted to do or envisioned but ran out of time or money.

Among these things were that Ro Laren was supposed to return at the end as the Changelings had beamed her off the shuttle before it exploded. He also commented that he hoped that Wesley and Jack would have met at some point before Jack got posted to the Enterprise.

Would you consider these things canon?

 

Nope

What I consider canon is any published info from fact files, logs and such and what is seen on screen or unambiguously said by Matalas to be a fact.

“Would like to see” or “I would imagine” doesn’t make that cut

 

If it ain't in the show, it ain't canon.
If they want it to be, they'll just have to revisit it in another show.

 

No, but Jack and Wesley meeting someday may not be totally off the table...

 

It might inform discussion of episodes, but no, not canon. If Matalas could not afford Garrett Wang, than he wasn't in Picard. Choices are hard.

 

It’s unfortunate Matalas’s budget was so tight it seems

 

Did Matalas really try to get Garrett Wang but couldn't afford him?

I mean, no disrespect, but I wasn't aware Wang had anywhere near that kind of clout. I mean, what has Wang even DONE since Voyager? Apart from OGAM, of course.

As for Jack meeting Wesley? Not really losing any sleep over that. As a Traveller, Wesley essentially exists outside of time, so for all we know he and Jack could already have met.

 

I would love for Ro to somehow have survived.

I still want a Kira and Ro meeting. I think it would be really interesting.

 

It might not just be the actor, but what the story entailed--sets, costumes, etc.--and the added production time. And maybe he was going over budget with what he did make.

I suspect they never contacted Wang. They merely started making cuts from a long wishlist, especially as there gave priority to the TNG cast.

 

And no, I really don't care what Matalas tweeted about or what he wanted to happen. If it wasn't on the show, it never existed.

Like in PIC season 2, where he suggested that the Eugenics Wars have been moved forward a few decades. I do not accept that. It would have essentially decanonized "Space Seed" and TWOK, and that is not something I am prepared to deal with.

I mean, they are after all the Eugenics WARS, as in plural. So there's nothing to prevent there being one set of wars from 1992 to 1996, and another after 2024 (resulting from Adam Soong's revival of "Project Khan"). Easy peasy.

 

I sounds more like Matalas was told to remove the extraneous cameos relatively early in the process as a general cost saving move, So I don't think any actors were ever contacted.

 

Not on screen, not canon in my opinion.

 

TOS said World War III happened in the 90s, first contact said it happened around 2050. Which one wins?

 

If it's not On-screen, it isn't canon. I don't care if Roddenberry himself said something. On-screen is king.

 

Nope.

 

I doubt it was the price, but rather the budget, Money better spent elsewhere.

 

And let's be honest, if it comes down to a choice between rebuilding the Enterprise D bridge or a Harry Kim cameo, well, I doubt Matalas lost any sleep over that decision.

 

Roddenberry said many things I'm glad never made it to screen.

 

Not on screen, doesn't exist. The very fact that he held a q & a just after the show ended is very telling to me, and I've heard that he's been defending the show big time on twitter (I'm not on twitter... not on reddit either). Has a real whiff of James Mangold to it here.... and I actually love Mangold's work but think Indy 5 will be a trainwreck.

 

Just to follow up on my initial post: I have a friend who's a writer, and a very talented one to boot. Always says to me that once your piece of work is finished, and you've signed off on it, you just have to let it go. It's not in your control anymore. Suggesting that there's moments that he'd love to have had the time or budget to insert into the show is doing a disservice to the work itself, (even though I think it's horrific, it's still a show). By all means talk about it 10 years down the line but not now.