The Starfleet legend himself, Sir Patrick Stewart, revealed when fans can expect Star Trek: Picard to return for its second season with a new promo image. You could argue that last year’s first season of The Next Generation follow-up was the most highly anticipated of the current band of Trek TV series. But while Picard made some controversial storytelling decisions over its debut year, which have lent it a reputation as being divisive, season two promises to maybe draw a few naysayers back on board.
And this image reminds us of one major reason even critical fans will want to check out the new episodes. Stewart took to Twitter today to announce that Picard premieres its sophomore run in early March. Along with the release date announcement, he shared a moody monochrome snap of himself as Picard, flanked by his old enemy Q (John de Lancie), who’ll be returning to cause trouble for Jean-Luc in season two.
“The wait is over,” Stewart wrote. “Picard Season 2 will arrive on March 3. Streaming on Paramount+ in the US, Crave in Canada, and Amazon Prime internationally.”
Q’s comeback in Picard season two is a big deal as it marks de Lancie’s first live-action appearance in the Trek universe since an episode of Voyager‘s final season that aired over 20 years ago in 2001. De Lancie did recently cameo on animated series Lower Decks, however, which teased this much more substantial return to the worlds of Trek.
We don’t exactly know what’s going on in the new run, but it will definitely involve the return of another classic TNG foe besides Q — the Borg Queen, with Annie Wersching taking over the role. Stewart is joined by his season one castmates, Alison Pill, Isa Briones, Evan Evagora, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, and Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine.
The 10-part second season of Star Trek: Picard engages on Paramount Plus this March 3.