Scott Bakula On His Possible Star Trek: United Comeback As President Archer

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Fans are really excited about the possibility of Scott Bakula returning to Star Trek after more than 20 years, and here’s what the Emmy-nominated actor thinks about reprising his role as President Jonathan Archer in the potential new series, Star Trek: United.

At the STLV convention in August 2025, writer and producer Michael Sussman, who worked on Star Trek: Enterprise, announced he’s developing a new series called Star Trek: United. Scott Bakula, who played Captain Archer, has given his approval and will reprise the role, now as President Archer. Sussman envisions Star Trek: United as a blend of political intrigue and family relationships.

The new series, Star Trek: United, takes place in the late 22nd century, well after the events of Star Trek: Enterprise. It centers around Archer, now President of the United Federation of Planets, and his four grown children as they strive to prevent the fledgling intergalactic alliance from falling apart.

A potential new series, Star Trek: United, wouldn’t continue the story of Star Trek: Enterprise directly. Instead, it would focus on Captain Archer at a later point in his life. However, characters from the original Enterprise crew could still make appearances if the actors were available and it served the story.

News that Scott Bakula might reprise his role as Jonathan Archer has excited many Star Trek fans, with reports of a developed plan for his return. However, Bakula hasn’t said much about the possibility of him appearing as President Archer in Star Trek: United.

Star Trek: United Creator Mike Sussman Explains How Scott Bakula Feels About His Possible Comeback As President Archer

Michael Sussman unexpectedly joined the live Sci-Finatics podcast, alongside hosts Nick Hallam and David Battrick, YouTuber Steve Shives, and John Orquiola from ScreenRant. During a discussion about Star Trek: United, John asked Sussman what Scott Bakula thought about potentially reprising his role as President Jonathan Archer. Here’s what Sussman had to say:

Scott has always been passionate about the character and the show itself, and he’s proud to have been involved. Like many of us who worked on or watched the show, we were all disappointed when it ended. He wasn’t interested in simply continuing the story with the same character in a similar situation – he didn’t want to just send him on another adventure with the same or a different crew. That was a good thing, because I didn’t want to propose that idea to him anyway.

The story focused on a new phase in that character’s life, which is what really appealed to both him and me. I was part of a small writing team – just three or four of us – who worked on the project for the entire 98-hour duration, crafting that particular narrative. While the story could have gone in a different direction, it would have felt wrong to ignore the passage of time by picking up years later and pretending nothing had changed.

I also thought about where his character would be later in life, even writing a sort of biography imagining him 25 or 30 years after the show ended. That helped the idea really come together. I wondered how we could do something similar with Star Trek. And it was perfect timing when I pitched him the idea – he’d just committed to playing Abraham Lincoln in a one-man show at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC. I think I caught him at just the right moment, and he was really embracing that presidential feeling.

Steve Shives pointed out on Sci-Finatics that Scott Bakula generally avoids revisiting roles he’s played before. He famously declined to reprise his role as Sam Beckett in the Quantum Leap revival. However, Bakula was drawn to the idea of playing Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: United because it showed a different side of the character – as a father and in a political role – rather than just another starship captain.

Scott Bakula famously played Captain Archer in 98 episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Both Bakula and Michael Sussman feel that Captain Archer’s story has reached its conclusion, despite the show only running for four seasons instead of the planned seven. The character of President Archer in Star Trek: United is being developed to resemble Scott Bakula, and interestingly, Bakula himself has four grown children.

Scott Bakula hasn’t revealed much about potentially appearing in Star Trek: United, but he hinted at the possibility at STLV, telling fans “You never know.” He also confirmed on The Today Show that he’d be thrilled to reprise his role as Archer in the new series, and he’s enjoying seeing fans excitedly speculate about it.

How Scott Bakula’s Possible Star Trek Comeback Is Similar To & Different From Patrick Stewart As Picard

There’s a similarity between Scott Bakula’s desire to revisit his role as Captain Archer and Patrick Stewart’s requirements for returning as Jean-Luc Picard. In fact, it was Patrick Stewart’s agreement to do Star Trek: Picard that inspired Michael Sussman to suggest a new Star Trek: Archer series to Scott Bakula.

Both Scott Bakula and Patrick Stewart were hesitant to reprise their roles as Captains of the Enterprise. Stewart specifically didn’t want Star Trek: Picard to feel like a continuation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and he initially resisted reuniting with his former TNG co-stars. However, when Star Trek: Picard season 3 evolved into a full-scale reunion, it became a highly praised and popular success.

One reason viewers had mixed feelings about Star Trek: Picard was that it didn’t immediately bring back the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Additionally, the show struggled to maintain a consistent feel across its three seasons as it told the story of Picard.

Michael Sussman’s idea for Star Trek: United feels more focused and interesting than what we saw in the first season of Star Trek: Picard – a confusing mix of Borg and Romulan stories. It’s also a stronger concept than Picard‘s second season, which relied heavily on time travel, alternate universes, and a deep exploration of Jean-Luc Picard’s past with Q.

Star Trek: United Is Not A Real Show (Yet)

Despite the buzz around Star Trek: United, it’s crucial to understand that this isn’t a TV show currently being made by Paramount+. It’s simply a set of creative concepts developed by Michael Sussman, and he plans to present it as a pitch to the leadership at Paramount Skydance.

I was really excited to hear about Michael Sussman’s pitch for what would become Star Trek: United. He originally took it to the people at Secret Hideout and Paramount+, but they weren’t quite ready for it yet. Apparently, the concept felt a little too close to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which they were already working on. It’s cool that Michael wasn’t discouraged, though! He went back and tweaked some things, like deciding to move the Federation headquarters from Earth to Babel, which I think is a brilliant change.

Despite being just a concept at this point, there’s strong support for Scott Bakula’s idea to revive Star Trek: United, even from people who previously worked on Star Trek. For example, renowned concept artist Andrew Probert – famous for designing ships like the USS Enterprise-D and the Romulan Warbird from Star Trek: The Next Generation – has offered to help design the new starship for Captain Archer, currently called Starfleet One or Federation One.

Paramount Skydance is focusing on creating new Star Trek movies and shows for Paramount+. There’s hope they’ll consider Star Trek: United, a fresh series that could really energize Star Trek on the streaming platform. A major draw would be the return of Scott Bakula as President Archer, reprising his role from Star Trek: Enterprise after 20 years.

Watch the episode of Sci-Finatics below:

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2025-11-11 13:40