I was given the impression that actor Brent Spiner, who plays Data on Star Trek: the Next Generation, was going to retire after the last movie he was in. He apparently thought he was getting too old to play an ageless android. Then I hear the actor is going to play a part on Star Trek: Enterprise, and this got me to thinking. Is it possible in some future movie, Brent Spiner character Noonian Soong (the creator of Data) might reappear?
Because think about it. We never really saw Dr. Soong die in the TNG tv show. After evil Data twin Lore steals the emotion chip Dr. Soong made for Data, and attacks the frail Dr. Soong, we see Data craddling him in his arms on the floor of his laboratory. Riker and the rest of the landing party offer to get Dr. Soong medical attention, but are told no. My point is simple: we never actually saw Dr. Soong die. And the writers of ST: TNG are notorious for bringing back people thought killed off (remember how when we first met Lore, Data seemed to transport him out is space…).
Has anyone heard anything related to the next movie and Dr. Soong, or even just the next movie and Brent Spiner? If so, I would be interested in hearing any possible plans…
You’d think that, after being in the Trek universe for 15+ years, he would know that Data could just add an “aging routine” to his body so that his fellow Starfleet officers wouldn’t feel bad about seeing their friend stay the same age while they slowly age and die.
Also, it’s Hollywood, Brent. Ever hear of prosthetic makeup? Of course, you have.
I for one never thought for one second that transporting Lore into space killed him. They implied at the end of that episode that we would see him again - the line about siblings learning to forgive each other. And when he shows up unexpectedly at Dr. Soong’s house, he says how he drifted through space for two years before he was picked up by a Pakled ship.
Actually (I’m ashamed to know this), I recently happened to catch the episode where Data meets Soong’s wife, his “mother.” He eventually discovers that she’s actually an android Soong created to replace his wife when she died. Anyway, as Geordi, Dr. Crusher, and Data are examining her and oohing and aahing over how advanced she is, Geordi casually mentions that she has the ability to look older as she ages, just like Data does. AFAIK, that’s the only time it’s brought up.
Not that they couldn’t ressuerect him, or flashback to him, or have an android version of him, but it would have to be in a TNG movie, which supposedly we’ve seen the last of.
