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Patrick Stewart will star in new Star Trek TV series as Jean-Luc Picard on CBS All Access

CBS says the series will relate the next chapter in Picard's life.

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Caitlin Petrakovitz studies the Marvel Cinematic Universe like it's a course in school, with an emphasis on the Infinity Saga years. As an audience expert, she rarely writes but when she does it's most certainly about Star Trek, Marvel, DC, Westworld, San Diego Comic-Con and great streaming properties. Or soccer, that's a thing she loves, too.
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STAR TREK: DISCOVERY

Make it so.

 CBS

At the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas on Saturday, CBS announced that a new show will join Star Trek: Discovery on its CBS All Access streaming service. This new Star Trek series will explore Next Generation character Jean-Luc Picard's next chapter and will see Patrick Stewart return to the role.

The show is the first to come after CBS' June announcement that the Star Trek television universe would be expanding with Discovery showrunner Alex Kurtzman overseeing the new series (disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company). CBS said then that traditional, miniseries and animated Star Trek shows were being considered. No word on whether other series are still being considered; this announcement may be the only one, or simply the first.

In his statement on Twitter, Stewart said, "I truly felt my time with Star Trek had run its natural course. It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him."

Stewart elaborated that he's ready to return as Picard to "research and experience what comforting and reforming light he might shine on these very dark times." Fans are, understandably, incredibly excited by the news.

Here's the full announcement from Sir Patrick Stewart himself.

In the announcement videos above, Stewart says they have no scripts yet, "we're just talking, talking, talking storylines."

"It will be, I promise you, I guarantee it, something very, very different. But it will come to you with the same passion and determination and love of the material -- and love of our followers and our fans -- exactly as we had it before," he said.

The series is as-yet unnamed ("Picard" sounds pretty good though, right?) with no air date, and will join Discovery on All Access. Stewart played Picard starting in 1987 with the debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation and last took on the role for 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis movie.

Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Michelle Yeoh, Shazad Latif, Jason Isaacs, Anthony Rapp and others. That series is set 10 years before the original series and its Capt. Kirk-helmed Enterprise adventures, so it seems unlikely the two will overlap in any way. Season 2 of Discovery will arrive next year, but no date has been announced yet.

Watch this: At Comic-Con 2018, Star Trek: Discovery cast teases a more Trek-friendly season 2

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This piece was first published Aug. 4, and has been updated with more news and announcements.

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