'Star Trek: Picard' trailer: Patrick Stewart reveals why he finally agreed to return to iconic role

Patrick Stewart has revealed that he kept saying “no” to rebooting his Star Trek character Jean-Luc Picard.

But then, as he told fans at Comic Con in San Diego this weekend, he heard about the 'very unusual plans' for a new series, and decided to jump on board.

During a panel event at the annual fan event, which also revealed the show's season one trailer, he said: “I had been for a long time saying 'Thank you, but no'.

“And then as the subject matter of this new proposed series became clearer and clearer to me, and when I came to meet our incredibly distinguished writing team, and to attend the sessions with them, I knew that something very unusual was going to happen and I wanted to be a part of it.”

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Producer Alex Kurtzman added: “It all started with Patrick, actually, because when we went to him, he was reticent – for all the right reasons, mostly because he did not want to repeat what he had already done. He really challenged us – it forced us to think outside the box.

“Picard is at a point, for sure, where he is questioning many of the choices that he's made. It's allowed us to shake the character up in ways that give [Patrick] new things to play, while also honouring and respecting everything that has already been done so well.”

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The show will find both Jeri Ryan and Brent Spiner back on screen, Ryan as the cyborg Seven of Nine and Spiner as Data.

Also on the bill will be Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway and Isa Briones.

It will debut in early 2020, with 10 episodes in the first season, via Amazon Prime.