Star Trek: O’Brien Gets A Poster
As far as we know, there’s no Star Trek: O’Brien series on the way with Colm Meaney reprising the role of the hardest-working chief engineer in the franchise. But that doesn’t stop fans from hoping and praying for it. Over the weekend, the fan posted a brilliantly manipulated poster for a faux Paramount+ series — which you can see below — with the same feel as the actual revival series, Star Trek: Picard.
The fan-made poster was designed by Starfleet Design and not only looks like a genuine article, but it has a wonderful sense of humor. The Star Trek fan poster replaces the apostrophe in “O’Brien” with a Starfleet insignia, and below the title is the quote “More than a hero… a union man.”
The line is from a fan-favorite Season 4 episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in which O’Brien makes a rare showing of respect (rare up to that point, though they would become friends later in the series) to the Ferengi Rom (Max Grodénchik). In “Bar Association,” tired of his mistreatment and low pay, Rom is inspired by O’Brien’s story of his Irish ancestor who formed a union to help himself and his fellow miners.
When Dr. Bashir (Alexander Siddig) calls O’Brien’s ancestor a hero, O’Brien answers, “He was more than a hero! He was a union man!” He gives a meaningful wink to Rom, who seems excited at the notion of being “more than a hero.”
While we wouldn’t suggest anyone bet too much money on a Star Trek: O’Brien series getting the green light any time soon, Meaney’s return to the role is far from impossible. With Picard‘s third and final season on the way, the former chief engineer of Deep Space Nine is on plenty of fans’ wish lists to make an appearance.
A guest spot like that would make sense. Though it wasn’t until Deep Space Nine that Meaney landed a regular role in one of the franchise’s series, it was in the premiere episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that he made his first appearance as Miles O’Brien. The recurring role grew in importance over the course of the show, until he and his TV wife Rosalind Chao (Keiko) and TV daughter Hana Hatae (Molly) jumped to the newer series.
The last time we saw Miles O’Brien was in the series finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, in which we learned he had accepted a new position as an engineering professor at Starfleet Academy. Canonically speaking, there’s no word on what he’s up to during the events of Picard, but another series may have already paved the way for him to get at least one last hurrah.
The third episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks ends with a look into the future in which a golden statue of Miles O’Brien is unveiled, and he’s referred to as the most important officer in the history of Starfleet. You could argue that the franchise still needs to show us exactly why that’s the case.
