Star Trek: Lower Decks has Season 2 on the way, and its upcoming arrival means there's more opportunity for creator Mike McMahan and crew to work in familiar characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Fans have their thoughts and suggestions for who they'd like to see appear in the animated comedy, and among those fans is star Jack Quaid with his ideas for who he'd like to see.
CinemaBlend recently spoke to Jack Quaid to celebrate the physical release of Star Trek: Lower Decks on DVD, Blu-ray, and Steelbook. While the voice of Bradward Boimler couldn't share much about what's in store for any of the crew in Season 2, he did share some of the names he's been interested in seeing, inspired by the show's creator.
I know for Mike McMahan's sake, just because I know he loves them so much, I know he would love Data and Geordi. That was, kind of more or less his inspiration for the show. I think I could be completely wrong but this is what I've gathered, was the fun B-stories that Data and Geordi would go on while the crew was dealing with more dire threats. He'd love that so much. Just to have them on the show in any capacity would be really, really cool. And I think Data and Boimler would get along pretty well, you know? I think Data would appreciate how much by the book Boimler is, and Data is not only a celebrity to him, but also this encyclopedic knowledge of all the journeys of his heroes. I think that cold be really cool.
Data and Bradward would definitely vibe, though I could see Data unintentionally roasting the Star Trek: Lower Decks character throughout their hang out. Geordi is also a solid choice, especially now that LeVar Burton confirmed he wouldn't be in Star Trek: Picard anytime soon. Geordi would also probably be more realistic to nab than Data, considering Lower Decks takes place after Star Trek: Nemesis in which Data is believed to be dead. Of course, Star Trek: Picard confirmed the character survived, but not in a way that would make a physical appearance on Lower Decks too likely.
Jack Quaid may have known this had he been a part of Star Trek: Picard, which is really less crazy than fans may think. Bradward's relationship with Riker opens up a path for a live-action portrayal by Quaid in Star Trek: Picard down the road, which Quaid assured he's down for.
When it comes to playing Bradward in a live-action capacity I think that would be a really fun challenge. Like, how do you make a character that you voice as a cartoon, how do you ground it more in reality? I think some really good examples are the voice cast for Clone Wars when they appeared in The Manadalorian. That’s a great example of that done well. And, it's possible, you know? I would jump at the chance. Not only me. . .a lot of us could play our cartoon to live-action counterparts, which is really interesting. So I'd love to see something of us actually on a live-action Cerritos. I don't know I'm just pitching random things into the universe at this point, but yeah, we'd all jump at the chance. It'd be incredible.
For now, it appears there are no plans to speak of when it comes to bringing Star Trek: Lower Decks to live-action. That's not the worst thing in the world for the time being because the series has been able to do some pretty amazing things in Season 1 that there just wasn't a budget for effects-wise in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I'd still love to see the whole crew appear in live-action, but I'm willing to give the show a few seasons to really find its swing before throwing a curveball like that.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 is currently available to purchase in physical form and is loaded with special features that one won't find with their Paramount+ subscription. While we're on the subject of characters joining the series, read up on another character from Star Trek: The Next Generation who Mike McMahan would like to see in the series and the challenge with bringing him into the show.
