3:24 in TNG S7E10 "inheritance" Geordi La Forge discovers Juliana Tainer is an android and explains why she looks so human. "It's part of her aging program... not only does she age in appearance like Data, her vital signs too." Data has an "aging" program. An older looking Data would only reinforce the fact that Data aspires to be as human as possible, which would include aging and mortality.
Or you could have "Q" just snap his fingers and restore Data. "Moi Capitan, where's your robot?" ("Q") (Capt Picard) "He was destroyed." "We can't have that! (Snap) here he is!"
He downloaded himself into B-4 before his body was destroyed, and his personality was gaining at least some control over B-4's body at the end of Nemesis. All they'd have to do for a canon on screen return would show that he completely took over B-4's body, have any appearance of him be from a post Nemesis time frame (or at least past it in his personal timeline), and say he artificially aged himself to match his age/experience. Not a huge effort required for him to ever show up again.
Apparently there was a comic that bridged the story between Nemesis and the first of the Reboot movies detailing the story of Spock trying to save Romulus. In that it is revealed Geordi successfully triggered Data's personality in B4 and he eventually became the Captain of the Enterprise E.
Zotan Inoron There was, but I still only consider something truly canon if it's onscreen, fixes or explains plot problems of something onscreen, is made canon by statements or actions onscreen that refer to the events, or otherwise are never contradicted by future plots (basically, once the franchise is clearly dead and buried, or the actors are gone or otherwise clearly will never appear again and contradict it). That's why I specifically stated "canon on screen return"... plus, the comic I'm fairly certain doesn't address the actor's age, something that could easily be explained away as Data having chose to age his appearance to reflect his age/experience.
Agreed. While I love most of the TNG movies (even much of "Nemesis"), the best stories were from the TV show by far. Data's biggest arcs in the films were his seduction by the Borg Queen, and his sacrifice in "Nemesis".
***** "Insurrection" holds a special place in my heart, mainly because it shows Data's childlike side again, and Riker rekindles his romance with Troi. I also think F. Murray Abraham made a very convincing villain, and the theme of eternal youth is very powerful.
Insurrection always gets a bad rap from what I see but I liked it a lot. The big complaint is that it's like a 2 hour TNG episode. And what's wrong with that? Give me a big screen version of something like Chain of Command anyday.
They have an easy way to bring Brent back as Data. Majel Barrett has passed away. She was the voice of the computer on virtually all the Star Trek series. The Ships computer needs a new voice. Make it Data. Data is the ship itself.
With all the advancements in special effects today, Brent could play Data without even wearing the makeup. They could use tracking markers on his face, and use performance capture to render the character in post-production. I've been fortunate to have met Brent twice in the past; he has a very laid-back sense of humor and a very sharp wit. I remember losing my wallet at one convention, only to find another fan had kicked it under Brent's autograph table. Seeing me try to grab it, he made me laugh my commenting, "That's my wallet!" I really enjoyed him as Data, along with "Independence Day" and the Lemmon-Matthau comedy "Out to Sea".
Brent was extremely patience during this interview. Lots of very long, rambling questions - and he was very professional about it. Always one of the better castmates to see live for Q&A for this reason. He's great with crowds.
Sure, he's aged since Next Generation. We all have. That was 30 years ago! We all get older but honestly Brent looks fantastic to be almost 68. I think the fans could look past the aging and accept him as Data again. After all, we accepted Leonard Nimoy as Spock for 40+ years. Fans accepted the aging too even though Vulcans are supposed to live to be 200 years old.
Giving Data emotions was the absolute worst thing they could've done with the character short of having Lt.Yar get knocked up with his metal spawn. It took a character that held up a mirror to normal human behavior and traded it for crappy one-liners and sight-gags. It kinda ruins Generations and the subsequent films for me.
Ollin Williams Yar never got pregnant from Data, though an alternate version of her was by a Romulan later on. As for Data, you can only do so much with a character who's devoid of emotion; Dr. Soong always planned for him to have them, but Lore stole the chip. Personally, I think the adding of emotions gave Brent Spiner a lot more to work with; constant neutrality over the years had to be tiring for him as a performer.
It's crazy to think we're approaching 30 years since the start of TNG. Brent may be showing his age, but...isn't that just life? He's clearly doing well for it.
Even some of the effects hold up amazingly well. I think it's the film they used to shoot the show, which had a giant budget for back then (1.5mil an episode I think). You can notice this from Season 3+ the most.
I love brent spiner he is my crush. 😂 I was in love with data the since the first time I saw him when I was 15 years old in TNG. He is so cute in that character.
I met Brent when I worked at Paramount in the 90's during TNG production. Nice guy, & talented. I WISH they'd do Starfleet Academy (but NOT like Melrose Place or 'The OC'..); it'd have to be dramatic like Agents of Shield, and be scientifically accurate, with smart characters, like the JJ version.
I do, good sir.......as well as a TON of other Trekkies if you happened to notice. All of the Trekkies are fleeing to fan films now to get their StarTrek fix since mainstream crap (cough Abrams cough) won't provide it.
being an android, Data could easily be played by someone else, just a simple explanation of moving his consciousness (which is currently in B-4) into a new body.
He could easily play himself post Nemesis, if they ever canonized on screen him fully taking over B-4 (which I'm pretty certain they did in the set up comics they made to show the lead up to the 2009 movie). All they have to do is say he aged his appearance to more match his age and experience (like they did jokingly in the future set up by Q in the series finale with the grey streak added to his hair). They could even say he developed a way that his body will continue to appear to age at least to a certain point. Nothing is stopping him from showing up again in an appearance set after his last one except for producers not requiring it for their scripts, not setting future shows in the post Nemesis timeline, and his unlikely to be willing to play the role again if one or both of the first two conditions were met.
For some reason I always used to mistake Tilda Swinton for Alice Krige and it was only years later I realised it was because Alice played the Borg queen and I had thought it was Tilda.
Yup.. Brent had a great piece with Data, he got to play a lot of different character types.. I would almost see maybe 'another' type of Data, where another race makes an android but it's from an alien race, and perhaps female.. Where it has the emotions but tries to understand Humanity from an aliens perspective.. Something like that..
When they were talking about Spiner's concerns over reprising Data, I was just thinking, "why not Dr. Soong?" He's done him before, and in Spiner's current age, he'd be right to do a "younger" Dr. Soong who's beginning his life's work of creating the positronic brain.
Read Cold Equations. Book one is actually after Nemesis. Sad that it is not cannon, but honestly would consider it even more cannon than Nu Trek. The writers understood the characters from Immortal Coil, to Cold Equations trilogy, to Light Fantastic. That aside, a Dr. Soong show would be amazing. He was a total troublemaker that bent the rules without fully breaking them in a world that to him, was stifling. It can be done with some de-aging capabilities, no makeup.
In talking about whether Spiner could return as Data or not based on his age, it's no use operating under old assumptions. The idea of an android that advanced, was at the time, pretty crazy. Nowadays it would probably be something more like Data's consciousness uploaded into a replicant based on Soong's DNA, with advanced organic based technology. At this level, Data has feelings etc, is more or less human in some senses, but has advanced computational abilities much like he did before, and restorative capabilities and strength to boot. Such a being could choose to age on the outside, but still be rather strong and healthy.
Brent is now at an age where far less make-up and prostectic work would be required to play Noonian Soong, I think it would be great to seem him reprise that role!
I absolutely LOVE Brent Spiner. I think his acting was amazing on Star Trek TNG because of the range of characters and emotions that Data had to play. Even in the movies. Great Actor! And they could bring back Data with Brent because Data could want to make himself look more human by adding wrinkles etc. Like when they added a patch of grey hair to him on the last of the TNG episodes.
If Brent Spiner is to appear in the new starterk i would assume it would be as Dr Soong again, since in enterprise he talked about building a robot (data), so he could make a cameo appearance as Dr Soong again, with a robot head, maybe a predecessor of Lore and Data (Lore was the 4th creation of the Soong family, Data was the 5th), but would he appear as Arik Soong (the beginnings of robots) or as Noonian Soong (with the creation of Lore starting), my bet would be on Arik starting with the first prototype.
I love you brent. you are always the person when I see in a movie or series that just makes me smile. to see you in another star trek would just make my year. you sir rock
Just looked at IMDb - Brent Spiner is 67 years old... He's youthful both in appearance and the way he talks, and one of my favorite characters of Star Trek.
I feel like Data/B4 could 'age' if Spiner want to do anything post Nemesis. He wants to be more human, and 'aging' would help him relate to other mortal beings.
There was a press release yesterday that said that CBS officially labeled Abrahms work as the "Kelvin" Universe and that the new CBS tv series would not be taking place in this "Kelvin" universe and that it would be reserved possibly only for future films. Star Trek on TV will and must always take place in the prime universe.
But it's on CBS 'all access', after the pilot. I'm not subscribing to another service for just one show. If it's good I will purchase it on amazon/google/whatever, but I think that CBS is setting this up to fail distributing it that way.
Brent Spiner, whilst having aged beyound the role of "Data" remains one of my favourite Trek characters, perhaps second only to my old captain, Jean Luc. Spiner got it exactly correct when he said, "Its only entertainment". It is. It is for fun and temporary excitement. Even though these characters remain with with us through the years and continue to be "Our Crew"!
Brent Spiner is so funny! I love everything he does, but what really gets me are the bloopers, and his vocal genius. He can imitate anyone! Outstanding actor!!!
You're not the only one. TOS movies are far better than the TNG movies. Well, First Contact was a great Star Trek movie. That one has to rank as one of the best Star Trek movies. As for the tv series, it's TNG all the way. Maybe because TOS tv show was far before my time. Just can't get into it.
Yeah, First Contact was the only TNG movie that really measured up to the original cast movies. It ranks near the top of Trek movies overall in my opinion though. The other TNG movies weren't AWFUL, but they just seemed like long TV episodes rather than major motion pictures.
that is a really good idea. I guess as b4, but they are essentially the same, so data's drive to be more human would be carried on by b4. it could also help to initiate the conversation on what it means to age. you could have b4 even artificially slow his thinking in order to mimic the effects. it would definately be interesting to see .
Brent Spiner is AWESOME. Data is my fave' ST character of all time. Only Odo, Picard and Spock come close (although I have other favorites as well :D).
Data may be dead, but Lore still exists and is disassembled in storage. Plus the duplicate Data type Android is around. So he could have memories and stuff uploaded from Lore into him to improve his mental capabilities. Either way, it would be really great to see Brent Spiner back on a Star Trek series.
By the way does anyone know when and how is this new Star Trek series comin to Europe? Because we (to my knowledge) don`t have CBS all Access. We do get for example CBS Drama but that`s pretty much about it so...
Glad he changed his mind about possibly coming back to Star Trek. I asked him the same question earlier this year at a convention, and he said he's absolutely done with the franchise.
He doesnt give a crap about the franchise or the character, just wants to use his 2 hours of inconvenient makeup as leverage to get more money than he can justify at this point. Likable and humble, Data was Spiner's best work as an actor. Today he's an entitled jerk and an actor of dubious versatility who loves swaggering for the most rabid fans and showcasing how different he is from the character that brought him his success. Data is the only character I'd like to see him come back as. All his other characters on TNG are just Brent Spiner doing high school play affectations.
+rgemail You do realize actors hate being type cast like you are doing, that's probably why he comes off as a jerk from all the people like you nagging him to do this scene or that as Data and ignoring anything else he's done.
rgemail Fair enough argument. I've heard Edward James Olmos is a great guy as well from someone that worked on a movie with him. Also glad to hear that about Karl Urban, he's one of my favorite actors.
I saw Nana Visitor at a convention a couple years' back and she said she'd play Kira again if they asked her to. So would Tim Russ with Tuvok. There's a lot of ST actors who they could bring back with this new anthology series if they really wanted to. Hell, if they could get Jeri Ryan on board she even still looks the same!
@@rgemail Brent Spiner does not want to be Data anymore. Just like Jaleel White does not want to be Steve Urkel, or William Shatner does not want to be Captain Kirk, or Gillian Anderson does not want to be Dana Scully. It's called being typecasted.
He can if he wanted to do a come back as Captain Data of Enterprise E. and he can look aged by saying he researched that age is a factor of respect in command or anything so he can look aged as Data. So the prime timeline can expand more to 25th Century as STO does
Data was always on a quest to be more human, so I don't think it would be too far fetched for him to want to mimic the aging process, whether through actual cell manipulation, or through makeup and prosthetic. After all, everyone around him is aging. Plus, as he grew in stature, both in the federation and in life, he would certainly find it easier to fill authority roles when he didn't appear to be a fresh-faced recruit. How cool would that be? To see Data take off his "old" face, revealing his still as young as TNG face (where you have ample footage)?
there are holodeck files of Dr.Noonian Soong so it is conceivable that a sentient program could be given mobility within a ship or mobile projected construct such as the one used on Voyager. and if i understand the concept of the next show, it will take place around one hundred years in the future of the current Star Trek universe so the concepts of what sentient life will no no doubt be greatly expanded
Tilda Swinton? Nonono. *Obviously* the best choice to play Data in a reboot is LEE PACE. He's young enough, he bears a certain resemblance (only hotter), and he already has that wide-eyed adorable innocent look down (see: Pushing Daisies). (Plus he could go hardcore and scary to make a badass Lore.)
I remember when data beam off jean luc piccard in the movie star trek nemesis, I almost cry cause they are the 2 most character that I love to see together
Nice to see Brent looking good. I remember seeing Denise Crosby at a Calgary Convention (on RU-vid) and for half the show I was wondering "Who is that homeless guy?!?"
Yeah some people age better than others (Marina Sirtis still looks gorgeous). Do remember that some of these guys are pushing 70 and more. For instance Patrick Stewart still has that great charisma and he's well over 75 now. I think Spiner is a great actor not only in Trek. And yeah, they're all in it for the money (although many don't actually need to have more money nowadays but when is enough enough, right?).
I remember some dialogue from TNG where it was stated that Data's skin had simulated aging so that he fit in better. So I do not think 'age' would really be a problem.
If you really want to explain the "aging" in the series you could easily do it by letting Data say that he wants to fit in and changing his appearance from time to time helps him in this way.
I like the idea of him playing Noonian Soong. He could be the science officer aboard a ship in a series. It would also allow somebody else to play an android or maybe even another Data that Soong creates. Maybe Tilda Swinton could be convinced to play Data in that event. Now that make an interesting series.
I remember the interviews of the actors on the Next-Generation DVDs. Brent Spiner was the only who had interesting stuff to tell. A shame that he isnt that much more involved in Star Trek.
A new series should progress the technologies seen in TNG and expand upon them in interesting ways. For example, I'd love to see each individual crew quarters be holodecks so that everyone's environment can be uniquely suited to them. Transporters should be much more widely used for intra-ship travel, and com badges/uniforms should be multi-functional and include such things as emergency shielding for dangerous environmental conditions. Also, I'd love for them to display humanity in a position of even greater power and security, for instance by having extra-dimensional shielding/manipulation abilities that can actually stand up to formerly "omnipotent" powers like Q or the scientist creature from the early TNG episode where the enterprise is trapped in the pocket "void". Forcing the writers to come up with new methods of providing conflict, mainly by trying a sense of morality and humility in the face of their ever growing power would be quite interesting and would be a fresh look at things that no thinks the fans would appreciate.
I remember him on Letterman when First Contact came out. Phoning-it-in Letterman didn't know who Brent was, and he did not care. "And which character do you play?"
Too bad Bryan Fuller and CBS couldn't see eye-to-eye on the direction Star Trek Discovery should go, I hope the show becomes a benchmark in the series history, but at this point in time, that does not seem likely. *LLAP STAR TREK*
I would still do almost anything for one last TNG movie. a finally proper send off, like the original crew got. How about we get this before the actors start getting to old or worse yet die.
I was hoping that the new Star Trek would be around the Time Ship Relativity and concern itself with the Temporal Prime Directive. There were already episodes with future Trek folk on both Enterprise and Voyager series. Here's to hoping. :)
wow he does a great Sean Connery. ...... looked up Tilda Swinton wow whe already looks like an android without makeup. ......... That dance studio reference? My cat was curled up in my tv chair in front of the tv And that movie was playing then it gets to the scene in the dance studio where the alarm is going off. ............. eeeeeeerrr eeeeeeerrr eeeeeeeerrr eeeeeeerrr ........... my cat gets up, gets bushy tailed and stares at the screen whaaaaaaat?
She always plays very androgenous characters in films, she was brilliant as the angel Gabriel in the movie Constantine because Gabriel is always portrayed as a male when angels are meant to be sexless and she played the part as though she was an alien entity in a female body with male mannerisms and brutality.
spiner should do a bond villian it was some 90s move he was in with his black hair and his blue eyes he looked quite menacing i beliebve it was a leslie nielsen movie
I still think Paramount needs to do one more Star Trek: The Next Generation movie or bring it back to TV. There are still great stories to be told, and the Next Gen cast are about as old as the original crew were when they started making movies, so it would be fitting, to bring it back to TV. And the Enterprise E, didn't get much screen time in the other movies or see much action. Would love to see a CGI Data also. Giordi could download Data's memory into B4, and it could be Data again. Brent Spiner could act it out like Andy Serkis or as the Avatar cast does. And captain Riker would be cool too.
I'd love to see Bret Spiner come back and do a film where he plays Doctor Noonian Soong, where it shows him create data and law and on another note I've always thought he would make a fantastic Dr Who
