President Archer? Scott Bakula speaks about returning for potential new Star Trek series
Star Trek: Enterprise wrapped up in 2005, bringing an end to nearly two decades of uninterrupted Star Trek television. While the modern era has sprinkled in a few nods to the prequel series, including Jolene Blalock reprising her role as T’Pol in Star Trek: Lower Decks, the biggest Enterprise revival may still lie ahead. Dubbed Star Trek: United, the potential series could see Scott Bakula return as Jonathan Archer during his time as President of the United Federation of Planets.
Enterprise writer/producer Mike Sussman spoke to TrekMovie last week about the series, which would be a “political thriller and family drama set in those chaotic, formative years of the Federation.” Sussman ran the project by Bakula, and the actor liked the idea. “We did 98 hours of Enterprise and I think he felt he really explored that character, but this was a very different direction for Archer to go in,” Sussman said. “And I think he was really intrigued by that.“
The project was pitched to Paramount a few years ago, but they passed as they were looking to spend less on streaming shows. However, the show could be revived now that the merger between Paramount and Skydance is complete, especially as new CEO David Ellison is a noted Star Trek fan.
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Speaking at STLV: Trek to Vegas over the weekend (via TrekMovie), Bakula commented on the end of Enterprise and the potential of the new series. “We crushed the ending of the show to wrap things up, but I think the goal was for that to happen more slowly, and for Archer to kind of start forming the bones of the Federation,” Bakula said. “And I think that would have been really, really exciting to do. So I’m sorry we didn’t get to really kind of lean into that… There’s nothing I am going to say about United, at this point. There’s a great writer [Mike Sussman] and I have had conversations about the possibility… I’m just going to say—and we will close on that—you never know.“
Sussman said United could do for Star Trek what Andor did for Star Wars. “It’s a show where you can tell adult stories about adults, and tell them in a very grounded, realistic way,” he said. Although there’s potential for appearances from other Enterprise cast members, Sussman added that the biggest appeal is playing in an era we don’t know much about. “You might see some familiar faces, familiar species, familiar ships, but what excites me about this era is how wide open it is,” he said. “There’s roughly a century between Enterprise and Discovery, and we know almost nothing about it.“
Much like the Star Trek: Legacy project mentioned after the third season of Star Trek: Picard, this one may never get off the ground, but as Bakula said, you never know.
Would you like to see Scott Bakula return to Star Trek for a President Archer series?
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