Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Ed Speleers, Jack Crusher, John de Lancie, star trek, Star Trek Picard, star trek: legacy, Terry Matalas

Star Trek: Picard: Ed Speleers on Post-Credits Scene, Jack's Future

Star Trek: Picard star Ed Speleers on how showrunner Terry Matalas presented his post-credit scene and a possible "Star Trek" future.

The final season of Star Trek: Picard presented a unique challenge for showrunner Terry Matalas, not only balancing the reunion of The Next Generation cast with arcs compelling enough to solicit the cast's reunion but also creating new compelling original characters fans could equally be invested in with the bulk of the original Paramount+ series cast leaving. Among the new additions was Ed Speleers, who's revealed to be Jack Crusher, the son of admirals Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Jack is named after Beverly's previous husband, Jack Sr., who died in the line of Starfleet duty, leaving her a widow and trying to raise her prodigy son, Wesley (Wil Wheaton), on the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. There were some exciting developments concerning the character toward the end of the series, accepting a commission as an ensign on the rebranded U.S.S. Enterprise-G and becoming a person of interest of Q (John de Lancie), who tormented his father during his adventures on the Enterprise. Speleers spoke to Star Trek: Explorer (via TrekMovie) prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike about his hopes for Jack's future in Matalas' proposed spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy that would continue his, Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Cmdr. Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) on the G.

Ed Speleers on His Potential Franchise Future in Star Trek: Legacy

"I would be there with bells on. If the opportunity presents itself, then sign me up, Scotty!" Speleers said, referencing the original Enterprise chief engineer in The Original Series. As far as his post-credits scene, "Terry didn't specifically tell me that was happening. I was just sort of presented the script. He said, 'I am going to put some scenes in this episode that might potentially tee up the possibility of further existence for Jack,' but he didn't specifically tell me," he explained. "I just remember reading it and then finding out that John de Lancie and Q, and what that means to Star Trek canon. I was obviously kind of chuffed that I would be working with him. I think the scene is quite interesting because it's not that long, but I feel the way Terry constructed how he wanted the scene to play out and the way John and I went about making it happen was we just tried to leave as much space for the scene to breathe in between the lines. There was so much history there with Picard that if this was going to filter on and continue with Jack, then these two are going to be frenemies. We also shot the scene right at the end of the shoot, and Terry and I talked a lot about maybe doing more in the spin-off, so this scene had to land. I just hope it's the first of many scenes with John de Lancie."

To catch up on why Q would pick Jack – the "god" was a thorn in Jean-Luc's side from the first TNG episode, the occasional return, and the series finale. While de Lancie didn't appear in any of the TNG films, the actor would make his triumphant return in season two of Picard with one final challenge to change the future, helping to orchestrate a time-traveling conspiracy that involved Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner). While it appeared Q was gone for good in season two, he merely stayed out of sight from Jean-Luc and appeared to Jack in a final scene rife with potential mischief.

Who knows what's in the mindset of the Paramount brass, given their commitments as the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes are ongoing? They're in the middle of Lower Decks season four and set to release the fifth and final season of Discovery. There is a Starfleet Academy series in development as well as the Section 31 project that turning into a film, given star Michelle Yeoh's Oscar-winning notoriety. We were also deprived of a Crusher family reunion with Wheaton's lone cameo appearance in Picard season two to recruit Kore Soong (Isa Briones) to become a traveler. Perhaps if Legacy becomes a reality, mother and sons could be reunited.

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