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Patrick Stewart is a classically trained actor and an international treasure. He’s a star of stage and screen, but his most memorable role (for most people) has been that of Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek. There’s a lot of talk about some actors feeling boxed in by their famous sci-fi roles, but Patrick Stewart has never been one to shade the role which made him a household name, a meme, and a god among Trekkies. And now he’s coming back to the role!!

It’s really truly happening: Patrick Stewart has been cast in a new Star Trek series. Stewart will reprise his iconic character, Jean-Luc Picard, for a CBS All Access series that “will tell the story of the next chapter of Picard’s life.”

Stewart himself just announced the news in a surprise appearance at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention.

“I will always be very proud to have been a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time with Star Trek had run its natural course,” Stewart said. “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. Seeking out new life for him, when I thought that life was over.”

Stewart added that now, in particular, seems like a good time to bring back the character, who exemplified calm, moral, reasoned leadership. “During these past years, it has been humbling to hear many stories about how The Next Generation brought people comfort, saw them through difficult periods in their lives or how the example of Jean-Luc inspired so many to follow in his footsteps, pursuing science, exploration and leadership,” he said. “I feel I’m ready to return to him for the same reason – to research and experience what comforting and reforming light he might shine on these often very dark times. I look forward to working with our brilliant creative team as we endeavor to bring a fresh, unexpected and pertinent story to life once more.

[From EW]

He’s such a lovely man, isn’t he? While I doubt he’s sitting on unimaginable wealth, I also think he’s made enough money over the years where he really doesn’t *need* to come back to Star Trek just for a paycheck, you know? He’s coming back because he wants to tell this story, and because he loves the character and the fans.

It is 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. Read my full statement in the photo. #StarTrek @cbsallaccess Photo: @shervinfoto pic.twitter.com/8Ynuj3RBNm

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) August 4, 2018

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Photos courtesy of Getty.