The Star Trek franchise has many different shows and spin-off series that build out a wide universe of stories. A beloved part of that is the character of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the Captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation and multiple Star Trek feature films. But we almost got a limited series about a young version of Captain Picard, according to actor James McAvoy.
When speaking on the podcast Happy Sad Confused with Josh Horowitz, James McAvoy revealed that he once pitched an idea for a series about a young Jean-Luc Picard. He pitched the concept under the title Mutiny on the Stargazer, which would have told a story about a young Picard during his time as the Captain of the Stargazer.
“That was a whole idea I had. I pitched to the Star Trek people as well, and we nearly did it. I’ve got a whole story about an early Picard. All I really want to do in my career is play young versions of Patrick Stewart.” James explained that the series would’ve gone into detail about what actually happened during Captain Picard’s time aboard the Stargazer as Captain, and what secrets he could have held throughout his entire career.
Unfortunately, the series would not come together enough to be made. James explained that despite a lot of talks about it, everyone just couldn’t get it done.
“I had this whole story of a young Picard that I love. I pitched, it was like a one-off standalone season… I just pitched it to them, talking to them, and they were into it, but we had logistical issues that meant we couldn’t do it.” James mentioned that he still thinks about the pitch often, and wishes he was able to make it.
This time period in the Star Trek universe is significant for fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Stories about Captain Picard aboard the Stargazer are mentioned throughout the show’s seven seasons. However, a book series written in 2002, titled Star Trek: Stargazer, also tells a version of events about the character’s time being captain on the ship.
