Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Picard episode "Disengage." Read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Picard introduced Beverly Crusher's mystery son in its premiere, and "Disengage" confirmed what many fans had already expected. While Jack Crusher is named after Bev's first husband, he's actually the love child of a relationship she had with Jean-Luc Picard. The Admiral is a daddy, but more importantly, fans are seeing the "next generation" of the Picard legacy. As such, they may already wonder if actor Ed Speleers wants to appear in more Trek adventures, and CinemaBlend received a pretty definitive answer.
Granted, Jack Crusher's current situation doesn't look great with Captain Vadic, but with the possibility of him evading capture or the possibility of a prequel series or any other Star Trek science weirdness that could bring Jack back to life if he does die, a spinoff could happen in quite a few ways. As such, I decided to ask Ed Speleers if he's had conversations about Jack's future in the franchise with showrunner Terry Matalas, and I got a pretty definitive answer:
He’s got a lot of ideas about it. I’m not gonna lie because I’m proud of the fact that Terry and I discussed this almost every day for the last eighteen months what could happen.
Ed Speleers has talked a lot with Terry Matalas about the potential of another series with Jack Crusher, however that may come about. Obviously we have a long way to go before the end of the series, and there's no telling if Jack will escape the pursuit of Captain Vadic and her crew.
The actor continued with his thoughts and shared some insight into conversations he had with showrunner Terry Matalas throughout making Star Trek: Picard Season 3. This story is about seeing The Next Generation cast back together, but it's also about setting up the stories that can be told:
He pitched this particular story and narrative to me as if it’s–and I think he grew in this assumption as we went along–that this is almost like Jack’s origin story. There are definitely more stories to be told if we’re given the opportunity to tell them. And I know that Terry [Matalas] has bucketloads of ideas.
Ed Speleers confirmed there is potential for spinoffs after Star Trek: Picard, even for Jack Crusher. Perhaps there's a story to be told about his time spent traveling with his mother before the events of Season 3, or there's a story that could be delved into about his life afterward. In either case, I'm sure there's certainly some interest from fans, especially now that we know he's the son of Admiral Picard.
And if it wasn't obvious to the reader by now, Ed Speleers is 100% down to reprise his role as Jack Crusher in the future. The actor spoke about how much he enjoyed playing the character in Season 3 and how much he's loved being a part of the Star Trek franchise:
I would give a lot to keep playing this part because I love it. Every minute. From the moment I was offered the part, even until now, I’m proud I was able to join this iconic franchise that has so much love surrounding it. I would be a fool not to want to do more.
It's great to hear such enthusiasm from Ed Speleers, but there is a problem despite all of this. There are many Star Trek shows out right now, and even some waiting in the wings to be made. It'll come down to Alex Kurtzman on whether or not Speleers or Terry Matalas get to work on any proposed spinoff in the future, though one would think the solid critical reception of Picard Season 3 is a step in the right direction.
Catch new episodes of Star Trek: Picard streaming on Paramount+ on Thursdays. Now is a great time to have a Paramount+ subscription in general, and there are plenty of great shows, both Trek and otherwise, worth streaming on there.
