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Picard star John de Lancie, who returns as Star Trek villain Q in season 2, has hinted that his character and Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan could have a tense face-to-face meeting on the cards.
This week, the release date for the second season of the sci-fi show arrived on Amazon Prime Video, with Sir Patrick Stewart embarking on a time-travelling adventure as the seemingly retired Jean-Luc Picard.
As well as reuniting with his crew, the former Starfleet admiral also crosses paths with familiar faces from his past, including the villainous Q, who has the ability to mess with time, space and reality at his will.
While speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk, John, who first played Q in 1987, expressed how excited he was to see Whoopi return, after the Sister Act star received a personal invitation from Sir Patrick to reprise her role.
Guinan – who made her first appearance in 1988 in Star Trek: The Next Generation – has had dealings with Q in the past, as the pair appeared to share a fractured history.
When asked whether there was a possibility that Picard season two could delve into a continuation of Q and Guinan’s story, John refrained from giving too much away, simply answering: ‘Can I just say yes?’
The 73-year-old then explained how bringing Guinan into the tale was like adding a ‘really great’ ingredient to the pot, resulting in a ‘fun’ combination.
‘I think it’s like when you’re cooking up a meal and you start putting in really great ingredients,’ he said.
‘You’ve got Q and you’ve got Guinan and you’ve got Data and stuff like that and you just know things are going to pop, it’s going to be fun.’
In the first episode of the new season, Guinan provides Jean-Luc with a much-needed voice of reason, although it remains unclear how much she’ll factor into the remaining episodes.
If John’s words are anything to go by, this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the enigmatic bartender!
When John was first approached to return as Q, he outlined how his initial priority was to ensure that they matched the expectations of the fans.
‘I would like to exceed the expectation but at least match it. I just loved coming back. It was great,’ he said.
While Q’s return has sparked huge levels of excitement, John emphasised that the true motivations behind the character will remain somewhat of a mystery, when asked if audiences will learn more about what makes the extra-dimensional being tick.
‘I’m not sure you’re going to learn a great deal. you have to understand it’s not called the Q show, it’s called the Picard show, so I am I would say more of a… I move things along, I help to motivate stuff,’ he said.
‘In terms of really delving down. Do you really explore the continuum? The answer’s no.’
He also detailed how his portrayal of Q has evolved over the past three decades, as while the character can still be ‘mad, bad and dangerous’, some tweaks have had to be made.
‘It’s a different time with different stakes, obviously performed by two actors who are older to begin with, so it would be sort of unseemly if we saw Patrick and me running around as if we were doing it 30 years ago,’ he shared.
‘I’m hoping that their expectation does not blunt their enjoyment of seeing what is now. This is very story-driven and also there’s a passion in the playing that was perhaps not there before because there is more at stake.’
Picard is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video with new episodes released on Fridays.
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