Picard Showrunner Confirms Whether Jack And Wesley Crusher Met
Picard showrunner Terry Matalas believes Jack and Wesley Crusher have met, and he also hinted that they could someday meet on-screen.
Recently, the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard came to a satisfying conclusion. We got a wonderful swan song for Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, and the rest of the cast, even as we got introduced to a new character: Jack Crusher, son of Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher. Fans couldn’t help but wonder if young Jack Crusher had ever met Beverly’s other son, Wesley Crusher, and in a recent Reddit AMA, showrunner Terry Matalas confirms that “I’d like to think he has” by the end of the episode.
For as much clout as Terry Matalas has with both Paramount and the Star Trek fandom right now after such a great season of Picard, he still hedged his answer somewhat. Immediately after saying he’d like to think Jack and Wesley met, he wrote “but maybe not” and “I definitely want to see that happen.” In other words, he understands that Paramount may decide to go in a different direction for that story or simply ignore the narrative opportunity altogether.
One thing we are confident about is that when Matalas says that he’d “want to see that happen,” he is signaling his readiness to bring that story to life himself. After the success of Picard, many fans have been clamoring for a Star Trek: Legacy series that continues the adventures of TNG-era characters rather than visiting the distant future like Discovery or the distant past like Strange New Worlds. And the end of Picard clearly sets up a spinoff show in which Seven of Nine, Raffi, and Jack Crusher are now serving aboard the Enterprise.
Until Terry Matalas can have Wesley Crusher meet up with Jack Crusher, this idea that they’ve probably already met by the time Jack meets Picard’s old nemesis Q is just the showrunner’s own headcanon. Interestingly, his ideas would seemingly go against the headcanon that Wil Wheaton already came up with for Wesley Crusher after his former Starfleet ensign became a Traveler.
In response to fans wondering why Wes didn’t come to see his mom and new brother over the years, Wheaton said he believed that Travelers can’t interact with important people from their previous life because it could affect their judgment and even break reality as we know it.
However, Star Trek is a franchise that, much like Doctor Who before it, knows when to break the rules in order to tell a good story. While Wesley might not normally be able to meet up with Jack Crusher for fear of breaking reality, he might have no choice but to team up with his younger brother if something is already destroying the fabric of reality. And since we don’t know exactly why Q wanted to meet Jack at the end of Picard, it’s entirely possible that this omnipotent being is once again at the center of reality-altering shenanigans.
While we’d love to see Matalas tackle Star Trek: Legacy and make the Crusher brothers meet up on-screen, it’s important to note that Picard himself won’t be part of that meeting. Patrick Stewart was clear from the beginning that he only wanted to do three more seasons, and he’s content to let the future of the franchise be handled by (ahem) the next generation of younger actors. However, we like to think he still gets in character from time to time by yelling “shut up, Wesley” whenever Wil Wheaton hosts The Ready Room (that’s not just us, right?)
