Michael Dorn is best known for his role as Worf in the Star Trek franchise. The actor played the Klingon character in multiple shows in the franchise, first starring in The Next Generation, after which he had a cameo, much like Sir Patrick Stewart in Deep Space Nine, and finally, with the rest of the TNG cast in Star Trek: Picard.
Dorn’s Worf is an incredible character, and the actor plays him with ease. His popularity was one of the reasons he got a cameo in DS9 instead of other characters. However, the actor’s dreams of mounting a spinoff show based solely on Worf seemed to have been lightly thwarted due to his appearance in Picard.
Michael Dorn’s appearance in Star Trek: Picard may have squashed plans for a Worf-based spinoff
Much like other members of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Michael Dorn was initially missing from Picard. Sir Patrick Stewart had mentioned that his condition for returning to the show was that the series would not be a nostalgia trip and would actually explore Picard’s story post the events of TNG and the four movies.
However, by season 3, all the members of the USS Enterprise-D reunited with their Captain, including Brent Spiner’s Data and Dorn’s Worf. Even actors like Jonathan Frakes and LeVar Burton returned, after being associated with the franchise as directors. Fans loved this reunion, and the crew finally got an ending that was not underwhelming and gut-punching.
However, the presence of Worf and his story (he was once a captain of the USS Enterprise-E) has reportedly become an obstacle for a spinoff show that Michael Dorn hoped to mount. He even had a pilot ready, but after Picard, he said he had to rework it. He said to Trek Movie,
Interestingly enough, what I envisioned was quite different than what we have seen [on Picard]. And so I would have to go back and really rework that whole pilot that I pitched. But I think the smart money would be to take what they’ve done so far with the character and expand on that.
Dorn mentioned that the only jumping-off point he had was that Worf had grey hair. If there were to be a show, he said that the writers and showrunners would have to go from the end of Picard and where Worf ends up.
What was Michael Dorn’s pitch for a Worf-based spinoff?
His appearance in Star Trek: Picard was not the first time Michael Dorn spoke of a Worf-centered spinoff show. The actor has reportedly been pitching the concept for years and even wrote a pilot to make sure he was serious about this. Dorn mentioned that the network had been interested, but it was pulsating and inconsistent.
While talking about what exactly Dorn has in mind, the actor said that his concept saw Worf going back to the Klingon Empire and branching out to planets that the Empire owns and has diplomatic discussions in sharing resources, with Worf being the herald of this mission. Dorn said to Trek Movie,
Instead of looking at the Klingon Empire from Starfleet, we look at Starfleet from the Klingon Empire. And it has been going on for decades, the Klingon Empire just can’t go on. It’s the Russians, basically. And they decide that they have to either die with a sword in their hands and go extinct, or change with the times and become something different. And Worf is the guy that says, ‘We have to change with the times, that is the mark of a warrior.’
He mentioned that his idea would see the Klingons go against their destructive tendencies and try the Starfleet way through Worf.
Star Trek: Picard is currently available to stream on Paramount+.
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