Star Trek: Picard Season 3 has arrived, and while fans are thrilled to check out the premiere with their Paramount+ subscription, many are still waiting on a proper Trek movie to complement it. We've seen promising starts and even an attempt by director Quentin Tarantino to get something rolling, but his wild idea ultimately never saw the light of day. Tarantino might've failed to get a Star Trek movie off the ground, but one of his works played a key factor in Michael Dorn's return as Worf in Picard Season 3.
Michael Dorn received compliments on Worf and his own real-life looks while appearing on The View with Patrick Stewart and other members of the Star Trek: Picard cast. Whoopi Goldberg, who portrayed Guinan and co-starred with Dorn in The Next Generation, talked briefly about the changes to Worf in his reprisal. This sparked an interesting story from Dorn about his conversation with co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Terry Matalas regarding how Worf would look when he appeared in Picard, and how he originally wasn't on board with the look:
When I talked to Terry Matalas and Akiva Goldsman, they said, 'Ok, what do you think?' I told them. They said, 'Well, we think that Worf should have gray hair. Just everything gray.' And my little ego said, 'I don't want to be old!' And then I thought of Tarantino's Kill Bill with Pai Mei and this gray and the beard. And I said, 'Ok, I think I can work with this.'
Quentin Tarantino has made his mark on Star Trek after all! It's probably not the way that he expected, but still, the director should feel some pride in helping influence the look of Michael Dorn's Worf, even if it happened indirectly and likely without him knowing.
Now that Michael Dorn has made the connection between Worf and Pai Mei from Kill Bill, Vol 2, I can't help but see the resemblance between the two looks. For those who may not remember Gordon Liu's character or haven't seen the movie, take a look at him below:
Worf keeps his facial hair a little more trimmed than Pai Mei, but it's impossible not to see the similarities. The flared eyebrows really make the two look similar to me, though it's worth noting that at least one previous iteration of Worf had his eyebrows styled the same way.
In either case, had it not been for Quentin Tarantino, Michael Dorn might've insisted on looking like a younger Worf in the name of vanity. It might've made him look a bit different than his aged co-stars who reprised their roles, and possibly would have been a bit distracting.
Ultimately, I'd say Star Trek: Picard Season 3 made the right call in making Worf a silver fox, as it's only getting fans more on board to see Dorn in more upcoming Trek projects after this. Dorn has pitched Worf-related projects in the past, but, to date, hasn't had luck getting any Worf pitch on the list of upcoming Trek shows. That's something he and Quentin Tarantino have in common, so perhaps they can combine forces and deliver the wildest Klingon-centric show the world has ever seen!
Stream new episodes of Star Trek: Picard on Thursdays. This season is already getting a lot of love after its premiere episode, and we haven't even seen Worf yet!
