Wil Wheaton played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, becoming a sensation among the kids back then. The series ran for good seven seasons under a remarkable star cast led by Patrick Stewart. The series was continued with four films, and most recently with the Paramount+ series, Picard. Picard has run for two seasons under a heavily delayed and troubled production due to the pandemic and is now set to return for a final outing, which would also be an enthralling time-traveling adventure. The third season of Picard is also returning with a surprise, where every cast member from The Next Generation will join Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc on his next mission. Well, not every.

It turns out Wesley Crusher, played by actor Wil Wheaton, won’t be joining the roster. In fact, he seems to be the only one among the leading cast not to be invited to return to Picard. After the news about his snub got to fans, there were several who pointed out ignorance shown toward his contribution to the show. Now, acknowledging the reports, Wheaton came clear on it through his blog post and expressed that he shares fans’ sadness about not returning but is excited to see his friends share the screen on Picard. Sharing a fan-fiction sequence where he expressed how he thinks of Picard's and Wesley's reunion, Wheaton wrote:

I have been reading the Internet, as you do, and I see a lot of my fellow nerds are as excited to see the TNG cast back together as I am.

I’ve also seen a LOT of people — like, way more than I ever would have imagined –expressing dismay that Wesley isn’t part of it.

I share some of your sadness, for my own reasons, but I choose to focus instead on how special it’s going to be to see my family back together again, and how wonderful it’s going to be to talk with them about it in the Ready Room.

Wheaton Plans on a Different Reunion

The returning members in the show include almost the entire cast of The Next Generation, including Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, and Marina Sirtis. John De Lancie and Whoopi Goldberg have previously made appearances on Picard, becoming first among The Next Generation cast to reprise their roles with Stewart in the Paramount+ series.

While Wheaton isn’t reprising his role in the series, he openly expressed that he still remains part of the family through CBS’ Star Trek aftershow Ready Room, where Wil hosts past Star Trek cast members to talk about ongoing episodes and storylines on shows like Star Trek: Discovery, Picard, Prodigy, and Lower Decks. Talking to the cast about their reprisals in the aftershow will somehow keep him in line with Picard Season 3, though not exactly as fans would have hoped for.

Ever since Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, Wil Wheaton has been active as an author, a blogger, and a radio and podcast host. He has also served as an audiobook narrator for Ready Player One and Ready Player Two. The actor has also been actively outspoken about the impact of his early fame on his personal life. His recurring appearance in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory drew elements from his personal life post-The Next Generation, highlighting his Podcasting career and his following on his blog post.

While Wheaton isn’t returning in his uniform, his attachment with the franchise lives on, and as Picard and other Star Trek productions carry on, who knows, we could see Wesley Crusher once again on-screen.