This might be a little premature, and there’s not much evidence behind this… let’s call it a hunch. But things have happened in the last few days that might mean the return of Guinan — Whoopi Goldberg’s mysterious Trek character.
A few days ago, media reports stated that Goldberg agreed to appear in the new CBS: All Access series, “The Stand,” which is based on the Stephen King mega-novel of the same name. Why this may prove to be important is because The Stand will appear on CBS: All Access, the same network which carries our beloved Star Trek: Discovery, and soon, Star Trek: Picard.
We know that many characters from The Next Generation-era of shows (that includes DS9 and Voyager) will appear on Picard, and we have a pretty good idea about one who is not yet been announced (Worf), but adding Guinan to the cast would be huge even if it’s Picard, Season 2.
I bet I’m not the only one who was disappointed with how things ended for Guinan. In her final appearance, Guinan cracked jokes at Riker and Troi’s wedding reception in Star Trek: Nemesis. We never did get to see her duke it out with Q… or whatever exactly she was supposed to do against an all-powerful being. Just that pose she rocked in “Q Who” made all viewers wonder what she could do, and what sort of hidden powers she had.
Back in the late 80s, Goldberg was Hollywood royalty. Adding her to the TNG cast gave the show huge star power. Lavar Burton was signed as the “star” of TNG, but it was Whoopi.
It would be wonderful to see Guinan back in action, and hopefully, filling out some of the promises that were hinted at during her appearances in TNG, which was so many moons ago.
But heck — Guinan could appear in Discovery, or the Section 31 show as well. Her race, the El-Aurian, are supposed to be so long-lived, that they are virtually immortal.
