Exclusive: Worf And Raffi Star Trek Spinoff In The Works
Star Trek is developing a series that would see Michael Dorn's Worf and Michelle Hurd's Raffi team up after the events of Star Trek: Picard.
Worf and Raffi are working together in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, and their collaboration may not end there. Our trusted and proven sources tell us Paramount is developing a series focusing on Michael Dorn and Michelle Hurd’s Trek heroes. We can’t say more without SPOILERS for the current season of Picard, so if you read further, consider yourself warned.
We don’t know the exact nature of the Worf and Raffi series, but it would presumably focus on the more covert side of Star Trek. In last week’s episode of Picard, “Disengage,” we learn both of the heroes are currently working for Starfleet Intelligence (which, as Memory Alpha reminds us, is not the same as the infamous Section 31).
It could very well be that what inspired putting the Worf and Raffi series in development was the former’s glorious return to Star Trek last week. With her mysterious Starfleet handler refusing to back her up, Raffi is forced to confront the seedy information broker Sneed (Aaron Stanford) on her own. The Ferengi forces the recovered drug addict to imbibe before he’ll trust her and orders her killed once she partakes, but Worf shows up at the last minute in a bloody, glorious, head-taking entrance.
It had been 21 years since Michael Dorn last played his signature character in live-action, in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. The Worf and Raffi moment proved to be a big one with Star Trek fans, so it makes sense Paramount is considering giving the pair their own series.
In light of some events of the past few years, however, it’s impossible to not also consider that it isn’t a return that’s inspired the series, but a potential departure.
There’s been a long-brewing Star Trek: Section 31 show in development, with Michelle Yeoh set to reprise her role as Star Trek: Discovery‘s Emperor Philippa Georgiou. After the runaway success of Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh’s profile has skyrocketed in Hollywood, and her schedule is looking pretty packed. Along with starring in the next four of James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, she’s been cast in the big screen adaptation of the Wicked musical, and is leading the upcoming action comedy American Born Chinese.
Hypothetically speaking, if Yeoh is no longer available for Section 31 — or if her willingness to keep signing up for more projects is a sign that development on the show has otherwise ground to a halt — that could be an impetus for Paramount to give Worf and Raffi their own Star Trek series. The franchise is clearly eager to give fans a more espionage-focused look at the narrative, and without Section 31, a Worf/Raffi team-up could be seen as the next best thing.
In the premiere episode of Picard, we learn Raffi is working for Starfleet Intelligence and is hunting for a terrorist who’s using some kind of insane quantum tunneling weapon to murder civilians. Her Starfleet Intelligence handler initially refuses to either communicate with her in person or to reveal his name, but in “Disnegage” we find out it’s Worf.
To be honest, we should all have figured out it was Worf who was Raffi’s handler in the Star Trek: Picard premiere considering the writers gave us a pretty huge clue. In the Season 3 premiere, Raffi’s handler refers to the terrorist attack as an “act of war” and tells Raffi, “You are a warrior.” Who else in TNG but Worf would risk some kind of allergic reaction if they didn’t say “warrior,” “honor,” or “glory” at least every 15 minutes?
