Will Star Trek: Legacy actually happen? Release date speculation and news

When it comes to live action series, we already know that there is still one season of Star Trek: Discovery on the horizon, as well as a second season of Strange New Worlds and a first season of new show Starfleet Academy.

However, what of the characters from Star Trek: Picard? Well, one suggestion is that they could live on in a follow-up/spin-off series Star Trek: Legacy, which would bring together a new generation of characters with generations past.

But is Star Trek: Legacy actually on the way, when would it be released and who would star in it? Read on for everything you need to know about Star Trek: Legacy.

What is Star Trek: Legacy?

Star Trek: Legacy is a show which has been proposed by Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas as a follow-up to both Picard and also a number of other previous Star Trek iterations.

It was previously proposed by Matalas in February 2023 when he told TrekMovie: "There’s no question that this will feel, by the time it’s over, like the final voyage of the Next Gen cast. And without going into spoiler-ific detail, that doesn’t mean to say that a kind of 'Next Next Generation show' couldn’t continue with legacy characters.

"A kind of 'Star Trek: Legacy' if you will, where these characters can continue to interact with a whole new generation. And when I say that, I also mean characters from Deep Space Nine and Voyager as well. But again, I will remind fans, this is just my dream of dreams. And it’s not currently in development in any way. But should it ever be, I would be there in a New York minute."

He later went on to tell Den of Geek that he would "love nothing more" than to make a spin-off set in the 25th century focused on Seven of Nine and Raffi, something which was certainly teased by the ending of Picard.

Meanwhile, when talk of Star Trek: Legacy trended on Twitter, Frakes told TrekMovie that he is "an eternal optimist" and that "given what’s going on on social and trending, it seems to me that somebody’s got to address it".

He continued: "You’ll see that by the end of the show, it’s set up. The legacy characters – the two LaForges, Worf’s got a kid, Riker and Troi have a daughter who’s brilliant, and Jack Crusher is a brilliant character. And he’s on the bridge now. Jeri Ryan is there as a captain. Everybody loves Shaw.

"There’s a lot of the pieces of the puzzle for the Legacy show, in my humble opinion."

Most recently, Matalas told Variety in an interview about the Picard finale that he and producer Alex Kurtzman "talk all the time" and that if Legacy is "something that’s going to be done, we want to make sure we don’t rush into it".

He explained: "We want to make sure we do it right. That’s where we’re at with it, I say coyly. At the moment, there’s nothing developed on it. But we talk all the time."

He also said of the Picard ending that he was "not specifically seeding for a spin-off, as lovely as that is to think about" but that he "definitely wanted the feeling that it could go on, that it was a passing of the torch of the last generation to the next".

"That I really wanted. I think that’s the spirit of Star Trek, that they’re going to continue exploring strange new worlds. That’s a feeling of hope. So you want to get just a little taste of what that might be — for it to be a satisfying ending, it needed to be a satisfying beginning.

"Having said that, of course, I want to see Jack and Seven and Sidney and Raffi and everybody go on forever. But yeah, that was the creative impulse behind it."

Will Star Trek: Legacy actually happen and when would it be released?

The Star Trek: Picard cast certainly seem game to appear in a Star Trek: Legacy series, and Terry Matalas has certainly expressed the desire to make it. There is just one problem.

Matalas has been clear that the project is not currently in active development, and has suggested that that is unlikely to change in the immediate future.

He told SFX magazine: "These shows are expensive to make. They currently have two shows, with Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy [beginning production in 2024] and I think Paramount would have to financially justify a third one.

"I think the way they look at it is that they're well-stocked. So unless fans can convince them otherwise, that's certainly the point of view at the moment."

It's therefore hard to say exactly when Star Trek: Legacy would be released, given it is not currently in development.

Given this, we'd imagine that if the show were to get off the ground, we would be waiting a while to see it on screens. A 2025 release date currently seems the absolute earliest that we could possibly see Star Trek: Legacy.

We will keep this page updated as and when any further news develops.

Who would be in the Star Trek: Legacy cast?

Based on the ending of Star Trek: Picard's finale, we would certainly expect that Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd’s Raffi, Ed Speleers’s Jack Crusher and Geordi’s daughter Sydney 'Crash' La Forge would all be back for Star Trek: Legacy, as well as potentially John de Lancie's Q, who appeared in a surprise post-credits scene.

However, the proposed premise of the show is so vast that in truth, beyond this almost any of the Star Trek: Picard cast could be back, including Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher and, of course, Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard.

Meanwhile, previous cast members from series such as Deep Space Nine and Voyager could also return and additionally, Matalas explained that despite Captain Shaw having sacrificed himself in the Star Trek: Picard finale, actor Todd Stashwick would be back for Star Trek: Legacy were it to come to pass.

Matalas told SFX magazine: "Shaw does not make it out alive. However, we do have plans for a Shaw character – specifically Todd Stashwick – to be a part of Legacy that I can't talk about, but we always knew we would never do that show without Todd. So we had plans in place for that, should it ever happen. But there's nothing in development, unfortunately."

Is there a trailer for Star Trek: Legacy?

There isn't a trailer for Star Trek: Legacy yet, but we will keep this page updated if and when any footage for the series is released.

In the meantime, you can rewatch the trailer for Star Trek: Picard season 3 right here, now.

Star Trek: Picard season 3 is available on Paramount Plus in the US, and on Amazon Prime Video in the UK – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days.

For more news, reviews and features, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or find something to watch now with our TV Guide and Streaming Guide.

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