Star Trek Creator's Son Has One Major Complaint About The Franchise's Modern Era

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As the creator of "Star Trek," Gene Roddenberry oversaw the franchise during the days of its early struggles. When he died in 1991, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was still in production, so Roddenberry missed out on the explosion of creativity that would launch multiple series and dramatically expand the franchise. More recently, current "Trek" series have been winding down, with the final seasons of "Strange New Worlds" and "Starfleet Academy" planned for 2027. This pause has given many people the opportunity to contemplate the future of the "Star Trek" franchise, including Gene's son, Rod Roddenberry.

"I think 'Star Trek' is ready for new stories," Rod explained to People in October 2026. "Going back to the well, in my opinion, and bringing [previous cast] or characters ... We've done that. Let's start out on a new adventure." Rod has been an executive producer on numerous "Star Trek" projects, and one defining thread is they all include at least a sprinkling of beloved characters as guest stars. Even shows like "Star Trek: Lower Decks," which had a core cast of brand-new characters, still had the occasional reemergence of someone from "The Original Series," "The Next Generation," "Voyager," or "Deep Space Nine."

Rod isn't the only person to have beef about having the same characters reemerge through various series. However, this tug of war between old and new ground appears to be a conflict with no easy answer, since many fans yearn to see their favorite characters and actors make another onscreen appearance.

Ironically, even Patrick Stewart shared Rod Rodenberry's view about bringing back old characters when he was asked to reprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard for "Star Trek: Picard." However, Stewart changed his mind pretty quickly and embraced the opportunity to expand on his old role. "They were doing the opposite of getting me to repeat what I'd done before," Stewart informed The Guardian in 2022. "It would be a new person with a different set of values and relationships."

Accordingly, Stewart was determined to keep the series on a very different path than "The Next Generation." However, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) from "Star Trek: Voyager" appeared early in Season 1, and Data (Brent Spiner) was in Episode 1. By Season 3, a full-on "Next Gen" cast reunion was the defining feature, and the high ratings reflected fans' delight. Unfortunately, in order to delve into this new set of storylines, "Picard" had to eliminate some of the characters unique to the earlier episodes, showing the difficulty of trying to balance competing interests within one series.

Then again, after 60 years, maybe this franchise will always need to rely on its past successes, at least to a certain degree. "Whither Star Trek?" wrote Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry in their 1967 book, "The Making of Star Trek." "It really doesn't matter. We have its legacy ... all we have to do is use it."