As Star Trek: Starfleet Academy takes place 800 years after Picard’s final season, there are not a lot of characters from familiar Star Trek shows that are likely still alive in the 32nd century to pop in and say hi. Even the long-lived Vulcans and Klingons only live a few hundred years, give or take. Sure, many of the still-living actors from Trek’s past can return as holographic versions of themselves as Academy instructors, which could be fun. But which Star Trek characters are almost certainly still alive in this timeline, and can appear in the flesh? Here is who we’d like to see most from Star Trek’s storied past appear in Starfleet Academy.
Q (John de Lancie)
One character we know is still around is the entity known as Q, played by John de Lancie. The omnipotent cosmic being, who made life miserable for Captain Picard and Janeway, actually died at the end of Picard season 2. But he appeared again briefly in Picard season 3. In a cameo, he reminded Picard’s son Jack Crusher that to the Q Continuum, all of time is their playground. So Q from an earlier point in his timeline could easily show up and trade barbs with Captain Ake. We’d love to see Holly Hunter and John de Lancie in a scene together, annoying each other to death. As she is 450 years old, she may have a history with him already.
Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks)
We know from early teasers for Starfleet Academy that what really happened to Captain Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks in seven seasons of Deep Space Nine, remains a mystery in the 32nd century. At the end of DS9, Sisko joined “The Prophets.” These were the non-corporeal aliens in the Bajoran wormhole and Sisko decides to live outside of time and space with them. And from the looks of things, 800 years later, he is still not back. Although he promised his wife he would return. We feel that’s a promise that Starfleet Academy can fulfill. As long as they can get the reclusive Avery Brooks back on board.
Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton)
At the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation, former Enterprise ensign Wesley Crusher, left Starfleet Academy to become a “Traveler.” These Travelers are beings that can exist outside of space and time. We saw him as a Traveler visiting the 21st century as a cameo in Star Trek: Picard season 2. But, he didn’t appear in season 3. However, as all of space and time is available to him. So maybe he can appear in his old San Francisco stomping grounds in Starfleet Academy? We are fairly certain Wil Wheaton would be down to return.
The Borg Queen, Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill)
The end of Picard season 3 saw the final defeat of the Borg Collective and the death of the Borg Queen, played by Alice Krige. But at the end of the previous season, we saw human scientist Agnes Jurati become the Queen of a smaller, offshoot Borg collective, which had less nefarious intent. They didn’t assimilate so much as welcome willing beings into their collective. We never saw what became of this off-brand Borg. But they are likely still out there in the 32nd century, since their machine components make the Borg long-lived.
Odo
On Deep Space Nine, the grumpy constable of the station was the shapeshifting Odo, played by the late René Auberjonois. At the end of DS9, the alien shapeshifter, whose true form is liquid, returned to his people, known as the Great Link, to get them to stop their war on the Federation. The Founders, as his people also refer to themselves, live for thousands of years. So it’s likely Odo is still alive. Yes, René Auberjonois has left us, but Odo can look like anything or anyone he wants. Even if another actor plays him, we’d love to see the character return, and explain what became of his once-warlike people over the past 800 years.
Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg)
The former bartender of the Enterprise-D, Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg, joined Star Trek: The Next Generation in its second season as the proprietor of the Ten Forward bar. As an El-Aurian, she’s at least several hundred years old. But as far as we know, her species could live even longer. Whoopi Goldberg, a lifelong Star Trek fan, returned to play the character in Picard season 2. We could see her character still alive and well in the 32nd century, maybe even serving drinks and giving advice to the next generation of Starfleet’s best.
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)
Ok, we know this one is a stretch. After all, didn’t Captain James T. Kirk die at the end of Star Trek: Generations? He sure did, but Picard’s third season very deliberately showed an Easter egg at Starfleet’s Daystrom Station of Kirk’s preserved body, attached to something called Project Phoenix. One can assume this project is about reviving Kirk somehow. Maybe properly bringing Kirk back took centuries, further delayed by the events of the Burn. It would be wild if it happened 800 years later, and William Shatner appears as Kirk in the 32nd century. Any appearance would be better than his inglorious death in Generations.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is now streaming on Paramount+.