Jason Isaacs Returning To Star Trek In Strange New Worlds?
Will Prime Lorca finally be found?
Jason Isaacs joined the Star Trek universe as Gabriel Lorca, the first captain of the USS Discovery. Things don’t end well for his character, and the last time he was seen in the franchise was in the early 2018 Star Trek: Discovery episode “What’s Past Is Prologue.” But now, the man famous for playing one of Harry Potter’s most hated villains says he’s already discussed making a return on Trek’s newest series — Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Speaking to The List (via Trek Movie), Jason Isaacs explained that he’s currently working with Star Trek producer Akiva Goldsman on a separate project with Tom Holland — The Crowded Room. Isaacs said it gave him the opportunity to talk to Goldsman about returning to the franchise. “We’ve talked about Prime Lorca, and it would have to be as good a story as Season 1 of Discovery,” Isaacs said. “I don’t want to come back just because [Lorca is] a fan favorite and do some version that isn’t anywhere near as good… [B]ut where and if there’s space for a Prime Lorca arc, I’m all up for it. I don’t want to come back just to squeeze into that sausage skintight suit.”
The following contains a pretty huge SPOILER for Star Trek: Discovery‘s first season, so turn back now if you don’t want to know it!
In Star Trek: Discovery, Jason Isaacs plays a character who provides the most interesting twist of the inaugural season. About halfway through season 1, we learn that the Captain Gabriel Lorca we’ve grown to trust is, in fact, the Mirror Universe version of the man. Taking over his Prime Universe alternate’s role, Lorca manipulates his way into command of the Discovery in the hopes of using the experimental ship to make his way home. Lorca is vaporized during his attempted takeover of the Terran Empire, but the fate of the Prime Universe’s Lorca is left a mystery.
As Comic Book notes, the revelation that Jason Isaacs was once more playing a bad guy inspired a fan movement to “Find Prime Lorca” — something Isaacs and the Discovery cast paid tribute to once it was time for Isaacs to say goodbye. Since the story of Discovery has jumped ahead over 900 years into the future, there’s no immediately obvious way to have Prime Lorca show up for that series. But with Strange New Worlds spinning out of the events of Discovery‘s second season, it would make much more sense for Prime Lorca to show up there. You can see the tweet Isaacs sent out supporting the “Find Prime Lorca” push below.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would face some challenges to a Prime Lorca appearance. The Mirror Universe that Prime Lorca is lost in was introduced in the 1967 Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Mirror, Mirror,” and it’s portrayed as being the first time any of the characters in the show become aware of the alternate universe. Strange New Worlds is set before the events of that series while at the same time including some of the same characters such as Spock and Uhura. Other prequel series like Discovery and Enterprise managed to dodge discrepancies, but if Jason Isaacs shows up in Strange New Worlds, we’re betting that show’s going to have a tougher time explaining it. It might make more sense to wait until Michelle Yeoh makes her return in Star Trek: Section 31, since the characters in that series will presumably all be about secrecy.
