It Took 3 Years, But Star Trek Has Officially Found Its Picard Replacement With New Leading Hero

Published Oct 18, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT

Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. 

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In 2020, Patrick Stewart returned to the Star Trek franchise after nearly two decades for the Paramount+ TV show Star Trek: Picard. Three years later, the series came to an end, with season 3 reuniting Jean-Luc Picard with the majority of his command crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Seven of Nine, Hugh, Q, Guinan, and the Borg Queen were among the other established Star Trek characters who appeared during Picard’s three-season run.

While there had been talk of potentially making a Picard spinoff series called Star Trek: Legacy, Paramount+ ultimately didn’t move forward with the project. However, post-Picard adventures are now being told through a different medium. It’s through this follow-up that the sci-fi franchise has found its new leading hero, and the good news for longtime Star Trek fans is that it’s one of the aforementioned characters who’s been part of this universe for decades.

Seven Of Nine Is Captaining The Enterprise-G

At the end of the Star Trek: Picard season 3 finale, Seven of Nine (played by Jeri Ryan) was promoted to captain by Tuvok, her friend from the Star Trek: Voyager days, despite her initial attempt to resign from Starfleet. She was awarded command of the USS Titan-A, with her succeeding the late Liam Shaw, who recommended her for the promotion shortly before the events of season 3. Raffi Musiker became Seven’s first officer, and Jack Crusher was selected to be a special counselor with the rank of ensign.

With the Titan now renamed as the USS Enterprise-G, a new era kicked off for Seven and her crew, and IDW’s relaunched flagship Star Trek title picks up five years after that. So although Star Trek: Legacy isn’t happening, Picard fans can still see this kind of premise explored on the printed page, with Seven having adjusted into the leadership role well. While Raffi isn’t along for this ride, as she’s leading the spinoff title Star Trek: Zero Point, Seven and Jack are joined by other familiar faces, including Alexander Rozhenko, Sidney “Crash” LaForge, and Lily Sato.

Seven Of Nine And Her Crew Are Voyaging Into The Epsilon Corridor

The Enterprise-G crew has their own five-year mission in IDW’s new Star Trek series. Starfleet has tasked them with exploring a newly-discovered region of space called the Epsilon Corridor for potential colonization, with an eye specifically towards three resource-rich Class-M planets. The catch is that the fabric of space-time works differently within the Corridor, resulting in one year that passes within it equaling five years passing outside of it. So, if Seven and her crew end up being in there for five years, 25 years will have passed for everyone else.

While this is a hefty ask, the tradeoff is that Star Trek fans finally have a platform to see Seven of Nine show off her captaining chops. Already, she and her crew have already encountered a mysterious group of villains called The Hidden, as well as discovered “disturbing contradictions” like “vanished structures, inexplicable artifacts, and time skips.” As revealed in IDW solicitations, the months ahead will see this series’ characters attempting to find a new home for the Revlavan colonists in the Trinity System, all while the Epsilon Corridor wreaks havoc with reality.

Star Trek #3’s solicitation even specifically questions if it’s “pride or hubris that’s enticing” Seven to stay in the Corridor. Whatever the answer to that question is, at least Seven has taken her rightful place in succeeding Jean-Luc Picard as a compelling lead protagonist in the post-Picard landscape. Whether or not there comes a day when Ryan reprises Seven of Nine for an upcoming Star Trek project, fans of the former Borg drone can take comfort knowing she has a bright future ahead of her in the franchise’s publishing corner.

Star Trek #2 will be released Wednesday, November 18 by IDW Publishing.