Brent Spiner is best known for playing Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and he’s certainly one of those actors who gave amazing performances as robots. However, between Star Trek: Nemesis killing Data off and Spiner saying multiple times he didn’t want to reprise the character, it seemed like we’d never see him onscreen again. Then Star Trek: Picard came along and saw Spiner stepping back into Data’s shoes in the first and third seasons. As a longtime Next Generation fan, I was pleased to see Spiner bring Data back to life again, but I also completely understand why the actor originally had no interest in playing the android again.
Brent Spiner acknowledged the times he’d declared he’d never play Data again while chatting with Katee Sackhoff on The Sackhoff Show. The Night Court alum noted that he’ll never say such a thing again, but he did have the following to say about why he initially hesitant of returning to Data:
Initially I thought Data has to be young. Because it’s like Harpo Marx. Harpo Marx was so wonderful when he was young, and there was something when Harpo got older, it didn’t quite land the same way because he wasn’t as angelic and childlike. That childlike quality was not so endearing, and I’m talking about Data too once he got old. So I said, ‘Well, I can’t do it. I’m too old to do it.’ And I was.
It’s one thing to see Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, Beverly Crusher, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge and Worf older, but Data is an android, meaning he’s not supposed to age. So I understand where Brent Spiner is coming from. There’s nothing that could stop him from aging, and in turn would rid Data of the youthfulness that made him so appealing to Spiner. I never thought I’d hear Data compared to Harpo Marx, one of the greatest comedic talents of the early 20th century alongside his brothers, but here we are.
But Spiner changed his tune when Star Trek: Picard Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas approached him with his idea for Data to finally make a full return as part of the Next Generation cast reunion. The actor recalled:
But then particularly where the Picard series was concerned, and particularly the third season of Picard where I actually played Data again, that was just… Terry Matalas came and had a great idea and a way to do it. Wasn’t sure it was going to work, none of us were. I guess it landed. It seemed to make the fans happy anyway.
A copy of Data’s consciousness was seen towards the end of Star Trek: Picard Season 1, and Jean-Luc Picard honored this version of his friend’s request to terminate him so that he could experience “death.” Then in Season 2, Brent Spiner played Adam Soong, the ancestor of Noonian Soong, creator of Data, his evil brother Lore and their more primitive predecessor B-4. Finally, in Picard Season 3, a different version of Data’s consciousness was reactivated in a new synthetic body, albeit older-looking, that merged with the personalities of Lore, B-4 and his daughter Lal, creating the most human Data yet.
Although a purple Data from another universe appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks’ final season, it remains to be seen if we’ll ever reunite with the Prime Universe version of the character post-Star Trek: Picard. However, there continue to be upcoming Star Trek TV shows to look forward to, including Strange New Worlds Season 3 premiering on the 2025 TV schedule next month, and Starfleet Academy arriving sometime in 2026.
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