Brent Spiner doesn’t regret Data’s death in Star Trek: Nemesis, even though it kept him from playing the role in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Brent Spiner played Data through all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the four big-screen movies, but the android finally met his end in Star Trek: Nemesis. At the time, it was believed that the movie would be the final outing for the TNG cast, but Star Trek: Picard was able to bring the actors back for one last adventure. Given the death of his character in Nemesis, Brent Spiner is the only cast member not reprising his iconic role for Star Trek: Picard. Although he’s had the chance to play multiple versions of Data as well as ancestors of the character’s human creator, The New York Times (via TrekMovie), asked Spiner if there was a part of him that wishes his original version of Data could have been a part of this final season.
“I don’t think so, because then I couldn’t have played those other things,” Brent Spiner said. “You know, I was perfectly happy with the ending of ‘Nemesis,’ even though I know that a lot of fans weren’t. And then I feel that was sort of redeemed, in a way, for the fans in the first season of “Picard.” I would hate to have missed both those moments. So no, I’m perfectly happy with the way it’s gone. I can’t say much more. I haven’t really seen much of the show — they’ve kept it away from me because they know I’ll blow it.“
Brent Spiner continued, “There are things about ‘Nemesis’ that didn’t work. I think we went into it with the feeling that it was probably going to be our last film, which was why we let Data’s demise happen. We thought a great dramatic conclusion to one of the characters would be a fitting end to the series.“
Brent Spiner did get to reprise his role of Data in the first season of Star Trek: Picard and also played Dr. Altan Inigo Soong. He returned for the second season as Dr. Adam Soong. As for the third season, Spiner will be playing Lore, Data’s evil brother who first appeared in the first season of The Next Generation. The actor as teased that the character’s role in the new season will be “complicated.“
The third season of Star Trek: Picard launched last week, and you can check out a glowing review of the series from our own Alex Maidy right here.