Patrick Stewart is back as Picard in new Star Trek series

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is back. This afternoon in Las Vegas, Patrick Stewart announced he was returning to the iconic role in a new Star Trek series for CBS All Access.

"I will always be very proud to have been a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time with Star Trek had run its natural course," said Stewart, who will also exec produce the new series. "It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him.

The yet untitled series will be a new entry into the Star Trek universe and is not an extension of The Next Generation. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon is one of the writers and executive producers alongside Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, James Duff, Kirsten Beyer, and Rod Roddenberry.Patrick Stewart to Reprise 'Star Trek' Role in New CBS All Access Series [Variety/Leslie Goldberg] [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]