At the IDW Comics panel at WonderCon over the weekend, it was revealed that the end of the four issue Star Trek comic book miniseries prequel to the movie contains “a cliffhanger and is going to continue in the first few minutes of the movie.” LatinoReview reported that one of the writers or artists on the panel said that a Next Generation cast member would be part of it. But when someone in the audience asked if this would mean that a Next Generation cast member (or members) would appear in the opening of the new Trek movie, the guy responded with “I really cannot say anything about that.” So does this mean that we’ll be seeing Picard or Data in the new JJ Abrams movie?

My sources tell me that is not the case at all, and TrekMovie also confirms that while some of the Next Generation cast members appear in the prequel comic, they will not appear on the big screen. And knowing what I know about the plot of the new movie it makes sense. Involving TNG cast members would completely confuse the new audience Abrams and Paramount hopes to bring to the franchise. You already have time travel and alternative timelines with two Spocks. As cool as it would be to see Picard or one of the other Next Generation guys on screen, it could make things too confusing for normal audiences.