Star Trek: Picard could still see the return of Michael Dorn as the Klingon warrior Worf, but the actor has some conditions before he’s ready to dive back into the role. Dorn has appeared in more Star Trek than any other actor, playing Worf in all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the subsequent film series, and in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 4.
Star Trek: Picard is set two decades after Star Trek: Nemesis, the last time Dorn appeared as Worf. The iconic Klingon got a mention in Picard’s first season, but never actually appeared. His former TNG crew mates Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) both guest starred in the season highlight “Nepenthe,” while Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) are said to be in the mix for the show’s future.
In a lengthy interview with TrekMovie, Dorn lays out what it would take to get him to return to the role of Worf for Picard, noting he’d want an appropriately significant role to get back into his Klingon makeup.
Well, let me put it this way. I have not been contacted about that. But I don’t like to say yes or no. It really depends on quite a few things. It depends on the role. It depends on how they want to present it. The one thing you have to realize is that I have to get into makeup. You are talking about three hours. For me to do that, it really has to be kind of worth it, you know what I mean? I don’t want to get in makeup and just stand around and scowl at people.
It’s unclear whether or not Dorn is being completely honest here, as Marina Sirtis admitted to lying about her involvement in Picard before it was officially revealed. But it makes sense that Dorn would be the most reluctant of the TNG core cast to return to the role, not only because he’s played the part so many times over the years, but because of the practical nightmare that is the Klingon makeup process.
Still, Star Trek needs a solid win for the Klingons; after the warrior race’s drastic redesign in Star Trek: Discovery was largely reviled by fans, the Klingons have been mostly absent from the recent CBS All Access output, with the race wholly missing from the most recent seasons of Discovery and Picard (there was a TNG-era Klingon in an early episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, however). The easiest way to get the Klingons back on track would be to bring in the most famous Klingon of all in Worf, who could prove to be the backbone of Picard’s second season in the way Data was for the first.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 is still largely an unknown quantity; the first season ended rather definitively, offering very few hints about what the future of the series will hold. It’s also endured multiple pandemic-fueled production delays, though Patrick Stewart’s recent vaccination is a good sign that things will get going fairly soon on that front. Whether or not Worf will factor in to the show’s second season is yet to be seen, but it would fill many Star Trek fans’ hearts to see the lovably gruff warrior again.
Source: TrekMovie
Originally from https://screenrant.com/star-trek-picard-michael-dorn-worf-possible-return/