Star Trek has been full of surprises in its recent television resurgence, and it looks like there are even more on the way with a recent rumor. As Star Trek: Picard and others will indeed look to incorporate characters from the franchise's past, a B-name has sprung up as a face we may be seeing soon. It appears Scott Bakula may be returning to modern Trek television soon and could be around for much more.
The reports come from Giant Freakin Robot, who said this source was the same person who told them Don Cheadle would appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The story now is that Paramount would like to see Scott Bakula return to Star Trek via one of the television shows on CBS All Access (soon to be Paramount+) for a cameo appearance.
If the cameo is well-received, then the idea from there would be to work Scott Bakula into his own spinoff series, presumably as Captain Archer. Jonathan Archer is the lead of Star Trek: Enterprise and the captain of the first Warp 5 starship Enterprise. Star Trek: Enterprise is, timeline-wise, considered the first series in the lore, taking place a little under 100 years before Season 1 and 2 of Star Trek: Discovery.
As for where Scott Bakula would appear as Captain Archer, anything is possible in Star Trek. While Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard are now set beyond the borders of when Archer would be alive, time travel and holographic banks of data could easily place the Captain on the show. Maybe he was such a good Captain he was cryogenically frozen to help with some disaster centuries in the future. This is the world of science fiction!
From a story perspective, I think Scott Bakula's Captain Archer's most likely appearance would happen on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Captain Pike and Spock's timeline is still a ways off from where Captain Archer is but, again, this is a science fiction universe. With that said, that's one of the most familiar settings in which a character who was around for the Federation's founding would feel most comfortable.
Obviously, there's no official word on whether Scott Bakula is in talks with Paramount to reprise his role, but it wouldn't be surprising. There certainly has been a push for Star Trek content and, apparently, unless your name is Michael Dorn, a project can be greenlit if there's a good idea on the table. There's certainly a section of fans who would want to see Archer return if only to get a more conclusive ending than they originally received.
Catch up on all the Star Trek shows new and old by streaming them on CBS All Access. For more on the franchise, read up on how Star Trek: Picard experienced a recent setback as it gears up for production on Season 2.
