Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: jeri ryan, paramount, Robert Beltran, star trek, Star Trek Picard, star trek: voyager

Star Trek: Picard: Beltran on Turning Down "Voyager" Reunion Offer

Robert Beltran (Star Trek: Prodigy) shared why he turned down the opportunity to reunite with "Voyager" co-star Jeri Ryan on Picard Season 2.

We almost had a second Star Trek: Voyager live-action return on the Paramount+ series Picard to join Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine. Robert Beltran, who played first officer Cmdr. Chakotay on the UPN series, was considered for a return on Picard Season 2 – which saw Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) in an alternate timeline where the Confederation ruled the galaxy with an iron fist.

The 'Voyager' Reunion That Wasn't in Star Trek: Picard

When a fan tweeted about Chakotay's omission in disgust, Beltran tweeted, "I was offered an episode (first 2 then1) in Picard, but I simply did not like what they had written for Chakotay, so I turned them down. I won't go into detail, but I have no animosity toward the Picard producers at all. ST Prodigy offers a Chakotay that I AM enthusiastic about." The actor has already made his franchise return joining his former Voyager captain Kathryn Janeway with Kate Mulgrew reprising her role for the Nickelodeon/Paramount+ series.

The ongoing story with Admiral Janeway is she's in hot pursuit of the original U.S.S. Protostar captain, who was revealed to be her former first officer as he's found to be missing and still trapped, presumably on Solum, located in the Delta Quadrant, 50 years into the future. His final recorded act sent the ship away to prevent it from getting into the hands of the Vau N'Akat, which planned on using the Protostar as an ultimate weapon to wipe out the Federation through a trojan virus. The virus would trigger the moment a Starfleet vessel made contact.

Picard executive producer, writer, and current showrunner Terry Matalas revealed to Trek Movie that in the first draft of the second episode "Penance," Chakotay was to be the First Magistrate and married to President Annika Hansen (Ryan). Annika was Seven's original name prior to her Borg assimilation. Had Beltran accepted, it would be a nod to the relationship the two characters developed in Voyager's seventh and final season, which wasn't expanded upon in Seven's reintroduction for Picard season one with how it presumably ended. After he turned the opportunity down, Jon Jon Briones, father of Isa Briones (Dahj, Soji, and Kore Soong), was cast as the First Magistrate. For more, you can check out the report here.

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