In the “Star Trek: Picard” series finale “The Last Generation” (April 20, 2023), the villain was exploded and most of the heroes were rescued. Tragically, the cantankerous-but-resolute Captain Liam Shaw (Todd Stashwick) was killed on board his ship, the Titan-A, inspiring a wave of ambivalence from his first officer, Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Seven was never respected by Captain Shaw; he felt her Borg implants made her an enemy and he would always deadname her, calling her the name she had before she was assimilated.
After Captain Shaw’s death, however. Seven was put in command of the Titan-A on his posthumous recommendation (he left a recording). The ship was re-christened the Enterprise-G and “Picard” ended with a tease of a spinoff series starring Ryan. “Star Trek: Picard” showrunner Terry Matalas made no secrets that he was deliberately using the final episode to tease an additional “Star Trek” spinoff he intended to call “Star Trek: Legacy.” Indeed, after “Picard” ended, many fans cried out to Paramount to greenlight “Legacy,” setting it on board the Enterprise-G, and the fans were joined by several “Picard” actors who would have been happy to be involved.
“Legacy” will never come to be, but many found the idea to be tantalizing. Ryan certainly wanted to be part of “Legacy.”
Speaking at a 2024 “Star Trek” convention in Texas (handily covered by TrekMovie), Ryan revealed that she was once approached about reprising Captain Seven of Nine on a completely different “Star Trek” spinoff other than “Legacy.” Sadly, however, she didn’t have any other details beyond the fact that she had been asked.
Jeri Ryan was asked to appear as Captain Seven of Nine in a show that wasn’t Star Trek: Legacy
Unfortunately, because of the secrecy surrounding modern studio productions, Ryan likely wasn’t allowed to talk about the nature of the mysterious “Star Trek” project that she was offered. All that she was able to say is that she had been asked, but was seemingly ambivalent about it. Here’s Ryan exact quote on the topic of a potential Captain Seven show:
“There has been talk. And there was an idea that was actually pitched to me after ‘Picard’ ended — which was not the ‘Legacy’ show that I know the fans are asking for — that I want to do. But it just wasn’t me […] It didn’t feel like the right kind of thing […] But there has been talk. And if there is one thing I have learned with this franchise it is: never say never. You never know.”
From 2017 to 2023, Trekkies experienced a massive glut of new “Star Trek” shows thanks to the launch of the Paramount+ streaming service. There was even a brief period where six “Star Trek” series were going at the same time. Production has since scaled back, with most of those “Star Trek” shows having been canceled (only “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and the upcoming “Starfleet Academy” have a definite future). That doesn’t mean that Paramount isn’t working on new “Star Trek” projects all the time, however, and maybe the muckety-mucks had an idea they liked better than “Star Trek: Legacy.” Ryan, for her part, appears to be torn between the resurrection of “Legacy” and participating in whatever the aforementioned mystery project is.
Curiously, even executive producer Alex Kurtzman has said he would love to greelight “Legacy,” but also that it wasn’t his decision to make. As of this writing, Trekkies are waiting for the end of “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and the airing of “Section 31” to see what the future of “Star Trek” might be (if anything).
