Star Trek: Picard’s Season 2 premiere date is still months out, but that hasn’t stopped its stars from giving fans slight hints regarding what’s in store when new episodes arrive. With the role of Data now in the past, Trek veteran Brent Spiner recently revealed the an interesting glimmer of a details about the new character he'll be playing in the season, and apparently, it was a new experience for everyone.
Brent Spiner is currently promoting his new book, the "mem-noir" titled Fan Fiction, and when speaking to Inverse, he revealed some details about his upcoming stint on Star Trek: Picard Season 2. He confirmed to that he’s playing a new character, and not just one that’s new to Picard.
I can tell you I’m not Data. I know they haven’t revealed much about me being in the show. I can tell you I’m a member of the Soong family. And, that I’m not playing a character I’ve ever played before.
The last part of Brent Spiner’s response is huge, considering he’s played a sizable number of characters in the Star Trek franchise. I doubt any fans truly expected him to return as Data (unless they saw John de Lancie’s Cameo comments) given the character’s “death” in Picard Season 1. Now we know he'll be playing a member of the infamous Soong family instead, though not one we’ve ever seen him play before.
We know that Star Trek: Picard will send Jean-Luc and his crew back to the 21st century. Brent Spiner is Star Trek’s go-to for portraying members of the Soong family, though if he’s appearing in the 21st century, that’ll be the oldest Soong we’ve seen to date. Ultimately, this ancestor would be a descendant of the great Noonien Soong, who became the world’s foremost robotics scientist and creator of Soong-type Androids.
It’s interesting that Brent Spiner can’t talk too much about his character, considering he’s already revealed what could be the most interesting element. Season 1 of Star Trek: Picard also featured Spiner as a member of the Soong family, though it’s fair to say there wasn’t much more to the character than that. Could Spiner be tight-lipped about this upcoming portrayal because it’s more substantive than just another member of the Soong family tree?
Another possibility is that Brent Spiner’s character won’t appear in the 21st century at all, and could be another unknown Android. We know Q meddles with the timeline in Star Trek: Picard Season 2, so perhaps in a hypothetical other-timeline, Noonien Soong created an Android other than Data, Lore, and B-4. I’d say it’s possible, assuming Star Trek considers the Android creations of Soong a part of his family. I’d love to see Spiner play another evil Android like Lore, but provided the character is interesting in general, I’m honestly down for anything. I just want to see the new season already!
Star Trek: Picard Season 2 premieres on Paramount+ in February of 2022. Fans can catch up on Season 1 now or get their fill of Trek with the litany of titles available on the service, while also catching up on all the upcoming 2021 Fall TV series yet to premiere.
