James McAvoy Pitched Young Picard Series Mutiny On the Stargazer

James McAvoy nearly led his own Star Trek series as a young Jean-Luc Picard.

The actor said he pitched a project titled Mutiny On the Stargazer and came close to making it. He revealed the idea on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, according to Deadline.

McAvoy described it as a limited series, meaning a single season that tells one complete story. It would follow Picard as he takes over as captain of the Stargazer. That handover would have been the spine of the whole season.

The series would have explored what actually happened on the Stargazer. It would also have addressed the secret Picard held through his entire career, McAvoy said.

The pitch did not become a show. McAvoy said the Star Trek team liked the idea, but logistical issues stopped it from going ahead.

The role has a long history. Patrick Stewart starred as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which ran for seven seasons from 1987 to 1994. He reprised the role in Star Trek: Picard, which ran for three seasons from 2020 to 2023.

McAvoy has spoken often about following Stewart. He said his dream was playing a young Patrick Stewart in everything, as reported by The A.V. Club.

A young Picard would have been familiar territory. It would have been his second time playing a younger version of a Patrick Stewart character, according to IGN.

The idea was not new. In September 2021, McAvoy said he still hoped for a Star Trek role but worried he was too old to play a young Picard, according to TrekMovie.

For fans, this fills in a what-if. A standalone season about the Stargazer would have stayed separate from the main Picard story. It did not happen. Now we know how close it came.