John de Lanice recently let it slip that Star Trek: Nemesis and followed the now-retired iral Picard grappling with grief and his own mortality while unwittingly being drawn into a Romulan plot to bring about the destruction of all synthetic life. Star Trek: Picard has already featured a number of familiar faces, but the recent announcement that Q will be returning for season 2 has particularly set fans abuzz with excitement.
As the omnipotent trickster god who always managed to steal the show with his trademark flamboyance, Q reached iconic status in his recurring role on first look at Star Trek: Picard season 2 was a big announcement. Now that the secret is out, actor John de Lancie has been offering tantalizing details about his involvement in the new season, and recently let slip the major reveal that Star Trek: Picard is currently filming a third season alongside its second.
De Lancie has been active on Cameo, the video-sharing app that allows celebrities to send personalized messages to fans. During one such message, the actor revealed that he and the cast of Star Trek: Picard are currently filming seasons 2 and 3 at the same time. This news comes before any announcement from Paramount+ about whether Picard has been renewed for a third season, although rumors about one being developed have been circulating for some time. This confirmation is a pretty major leak but does make sense in the context of the show. Not only is filming back-to-back seasons cheaper, but the producers have likely taken Patrick Stewart's age into when planning for future seasons. Stewart is approaching 81, and while he is seemingly still fit and healthy, television shooting schedules can be grueling even on much younger actors. Filming more than one season while Stewart is still feeling his best makes a lot of sense for Star Trek: Picard.
De Lancie's reveal about season 3 also carries exciting implications for how much of the Q character fans can expect to see. The actor revealed in a separate Cameo that he is appearing in six episodes total and, given the fact that season 1 of Picard was only 10 episodes, this means that Q could potentially appear in over half of the 2nd season. Of course, the news about season 3 could mean that the six episodes are spread out across multiple seasons, giving Q a few episodes in both. Even if that is the case, however, it would still constitute a significant amount of screen time for Q and mean he is going to be a continued presence on Star Trek: Picard as opposed to just a one-off cameo or brief season arc.
After a year or so without much news about Star Trek fans have been given a lot to speculate about in of what seasons 2 and 3 of Star Trek: Picard might look like, and hopefully, there is more to come soon.