Star Trek: Picard newcomer John de Lancie has weighed in on reprising his Next Generation trickster Q for season 2.
In conversation with ComicBook, the actor admitted he never saw the offer coming: "I got a call from Terry [Matalas], who's the executive producer to come in, and he said, 'Well you were expecting this, weren't you?'
"And I go, 'No, no, Terry, actually, I wasn't expecting it. The franchise has done a bunch of movies without me and, I dare say, the Picard series. So no, I was not expecting it.'
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"I'm delighted, but I was not expecting it," de Lancie continued. "And he said, 'Well I just want you to know that when I came on board, the first thing I said was 'Q's coming back'.' And I was like, 'Okay, well here I am.' So I'm delighted, I'm delighted."
The intergalactic tormentor might be back to challenge Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard, but fans shouldn't expect a carbon copy of the original character.
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"First of all, it's different writers. Secondly, it's a long time ago. Many years have passed in Earth time. It's been, I don't know, 20 years, let's say.
"Also, there's a concern, from an acting point of view, from a creative point of view, that it's very dangerous territory to try to go in and recreate," explained the star.
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Thankfully, the Picard higher-ups alleviated his fears "almost immediately", so it doesn't look like we'll be seeing a recreated of his famous dance any time soon.
According to de Lancie, they said: "'We are looking for a different side of this character. It's a different time. He's older, wiser, still potentially as dangerous, but there's an agenda, and the agenda is not just how it affects Picard, but there's an agenda which is fuelled from [the heart].'
"There's a part of me that is a little concerned that the expectation is that it's just going to be more of the same from Next Gen period of time, but audiences have to understand that this is a different world. We are in a different world."
Star Trek: Picard season 2 premieres tomorrow (March 3) on Paramount+ in the US. Season 2 airs on Amazon Prime Video in the UK.
![Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1-7 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]](https://hips.hearstapps.com/vader-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/1568037652-51748LgoZAL.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:* "Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1-7 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]")
Paramount Home Entertainment Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1-7 [Blu-ray] [Region Free]
Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
