The "Star Trek: Picard" season 2 trailer brings out the big guns

Star Trek: Picard season 2 is coming, and the first full trailer is bringing out the big guns. The hit Star Trek spin-off focusing on ST:TNG's iconic Jean Luc Picard is one the franchise's most popular characters back to our screens.

It's an older Picard than those who remember the captain from the series in the 1990s. Patrick Stewart reprises his role for the eighth series in the Star Trek franchise, with Picard now retired and trying to come to terms with the death of Data in the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis and the destruction of planet Romulus in the 2009 movie Star Trek.

The first season was well-received, and now Picard is back for season 2. It'll see the storyline of Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine, former Borg drone, continued, among other threads. However one of the most entertaining characters from ST:TNG is also making an appearance.

That's omnipotent being and general prankster Q, played by John de Lancie. A periodic appearance in the original Star Trek: The Next Generation, Q's role in the series began antagonistically – threatening to hold Picard and the Enterprise crew responsible for all of humanity's flaws – but gradually the alien became fond of the characters.

For Star Trek: Picard season 2, it seems time is out of whack. Full plot details haven't been shared yet, unsurprisingly, but judging by the trailer it's clear that there's some sort of alternate timeline being explored. One in which Seven of Nine doesn't have a Borg implant, among other things.

That we're getting the first glimpse of the new season today is no accident. June 16 is actually Captain Picard Day, a fictional holiday from the U.S.S. Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In it, a self-conscious Picard is lavished with attention by the schoolchildren aboard the spacecraft, on Stardate 47457.1.

Star Trek: Picard season 2 will air in 2022. In the US, it'll be streaming exclusively on Paramount+, while in Canada it'll be on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel as well as streaming on Crave. It'll also be available on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 other countries and territories.