Summary
Star Trek: Nemesisintroduced Tom Hardy as Shinzon, the evil clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), but Hardy also played a young Picard in a photo that instantly became problematic. Directed by Stuart Baird from a story by John Logan, Rick Berman, and Brent Spiner,Star Trek: Nemesisbecame the death knell for theStar Trek: The Next Generationmovie franchise. Aspects ofStar Trek: Nemesishave proven infamous, like the death of Commander Data (Brent Spiner), anda controversial photo of Cadet Jean-Luc Picard at Starfleet Academy.
Shinzon was cloned from Jean-Luc Picard by the Romulans as part of an unrealized plot to replace the Captain of the Enterprise with a doppelganger. Instead, the young Shinzon was sent to toil in the mines of Remus. However, Shinzon came under the protection of theReman who became his Viceroy (Ron Perlman). Years later, Picard’s clone assassinated the Romulan Senate, installing himself as Praetor. Shinzon planned to attack the United Federation of Planets inStar Trek: Nemesis, but he also went through a charade of befriending Captain Picard and trying to gain his duplicate’s trust, which leftJean-Luc contemplating his life’s direction compared to Shinzon’s.
Who Played Star Trek: Nemesis’ Villain? Tom Hardy’s Evil Picard Clone Explained
Tom Hardy’s career was on the rise when he played Picard’s evil clone in Star Trek: Nemesis but it was a dark moment for the actor and the franchise.
Why Tom Hardy As Young Picard In Star Trek: Nemesis Was Wrong
Picard wasn’t bald as a young man - was he?
There’s a scene inStar Trek: Nemesiswhere Captain Picard looks at a photograph of himself as a Starfleet Academy Cadet - only it’s Tom Hardy playing the young Jean-Luc.While that isn’t controversial in itself, the fact that Cadet Picard is bald in the photo is.Star Trek: The Next Generation’s season 6 episode “Tapesty” established that theyoung Picard (Marcus Nash) had a full head of hair when he was nearly killed by Nausicaans during a bar fight. Cadet Picard depicted as bald contradicts this and drew the ire ofStar Trek: The Next Generationfans.
The blame for a bald Cadet Picard can be partially attributed toStar Trek: Nemesis' director Stuart Baird. A newcomer toStar Trek, Baird decided not to avail himself of the expertise ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’s cast. Tom Hardy playing young Jean-Luc in a photo to establish that Shinzon looked identical to the real Picard when they were younger makes a certain amount of sense, but making young Picard bald was likely done to hammer home to general audiences that Jean-Luc was looking at a photo of his younger self - even ifTNGalready established Picard wasn’t bald until later in life.
Star Trek: Picard Also Retconned Jean-Luc’s Life
Picard’s parents were totally changed
It’s unclear if Tom Hardy’s bald Cadet Picard inStar Trek: Nemesisis a retcon that holds as canonical or is considered apocryphal. Much ofStar Trek: Nemesishas been undoneby the events ofStar Trek: Picard, such as resurrecting Data, and the Romulan supernova hand-waving the question of what became of the Romulan Senate after Shinzon’s death. However,Star Trek: Picarddelivered its own retcons of Jean-Luc Picard’s life that were also controversialwith longtime fans.
Shinzon was finally mentioned for the first time sinceStar Trek NemesisinStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, when Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) referred toNemesis’events as"the Shinzon incident."
Star Trek: Picardseason 2 answered the question of why Jean-Luc Picard didn’t seek out a permanent romantic partner for most of his life. The answer lies in Jean-Luc’s buried memories of his mother, Yvette Picard’s (Madeline Wise), suicide when he was a boy. YetStar Trek: The Next Generationpreviously introduced Yvette Picard (Herta Ware) as an elderly woman.Star Trek: Picardalso castJames Callis as Jean-Luc’s distant father, Maurice Picard, who was played as an old man by Clive Church inTNG. But the photo of Tom Hardy as a bald young Picard inStar Trek: Nemesisstill gets many fans' goats.
