McAvoy Pitched Young Picard 'Stargazer' Series — SkimNews
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- James McAvoy pitched a Star Trek limited series titled Mutiny On the Stargazer about a young Jean-Luc Picard, revealing the concept on the Happy Sad Confused podcast and noting the project nearly got made
- McAvoy described the pitch as a one-off standalone season covering when Picard first took command of the Stargazer and a secret the character carried his entire career
- Star Trek producers were "into it," McAvoy said, but logistical issues ultimately prevented the series from moving forward
- McAvoy joked that "all I really want to do in my career is play young versions of Patrick Stewart," having already taken over the live-action role of Professor Charles Xavier in four X-Men prequels from 2011 to 2019
- Patrick Stewart originated the cinematic Professor X role in X-Men (2000) and is set to reprise it in the MCU's Avengers: Doomsday, premiering Dec. 18 in theaters
- Stewart previously played Captain Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994) and Star Trek: Picard (2020–2023); Picard's first command was previously explored in Michael Jan Friedman's six-book Stargazer novel series published between 2002 and 2004
Why it matters: Fans of the *Star Trek* franchise who wanted more Picard-era storytelling now know how close Paramount came to a standalone prequel series, a format the franchise has historically avoided in favor of ensemble casts. With *Star Trek: Picard* having ended in 2023, the pitch highlights an unmade path for Stewart-adjacent Treks that almost made it past development.
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