Avery Brooks Finally Returning To Star Trek As Benjamin Sisko?
Avery Brooks played Captain Benjamin Sisko on Deep Space Nine, and now, decades later, he's willing to return to the franchise if the story is the right fit.
With the recent Star Trek revival in full swing, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) have been featured in sequel series (Prodigy and Picard, respectively), while Captain James Kirk (Paul Wesley) is back, albeit a younger version of the character in Strange New Worlds. Den of Geek reports that Captain Benjamin Sisko might reappear next. Avery Brooks played Sisko for all seven seasons of Deep Space Nine, and now, 24 years after the final episode aired, the actor is ready and willing to return.
That a cameo appearance hasn’t happened yet is amazing, but Sisko ended the series in another plane of reality. Hailed by the Bajorans as the Emissary of the Prophets, the Starfleet Officer ascended to the mystical plane of existence occupied by the Prophets while sacrificing his life to defeat Gul Dukat.
Lower Decks briefly mentioned Sisko, with Beckett Mariner saying the former Captain is “working hard in a celestial temple.” In 24 years, that is the only mention of the character, even if Avery Brooks keeps getting asked when he will return. In a franchise with the nearly omnipotent and omniscient Q as a recurring antagonist, a character existing on a separate plane of reality isn’t a major narrative hurdle to clear.
Narratively, a surprise appearance in Picard Season 3 would make sense since the Changelings from Deep Space Nine have been exposed as the villains plaguing the returning crew from The Next Generation. The malevolent species were known as The Founders of the Dominion. One of the largest-scale conflicts in Star Trek history, the Dominion War led to the best seasons of Deep Space Nine.
Worf (Michael Dorn) transitioned from The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine and is now featured on Picard, where he referenced Odo (Rene Auberjonois), a Changeling security chief on the Deep Space Nine space station, in a recent episode. The Changelings may be the greatest threat to the Federation, and they may require Captain Sisko to intervene on behalf of his former crew, which, if it does happen, would become an immediate fan-favorite moment.
Since leaving behind his Starfleet uniform, Avery Brooks only worked sporadically in Hollywood, notably opposite Edward Norton in American History X, while focusing mainly on providing narration for documentaries and his musical career. The actor claims he’s not retired from acting but is just waiting to be offered the right role. In multiple interviews, he’s expressed interest in returning as Benjamin Sisko, and while it hasn’t happened yet, fans have been anxiously waiting ever since the end credits of the Deep Space Nine series finale.
Picard’s final season is the best opportunity for a return, and while no one has mentioned Avery Brooks’s involvement, we won’t stop hoping for his return during every remaining episode from here until the finale.
