Summary
In a world where J.J. Abrams’Star Trek: The Original Seriesreboot led to other shows getting the same treatment, which stars would be cast in aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie? Given thatDS9was the show that pioneered serialization inStar TrekTV shows,it would be hard to boil the story of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) into one movie. However, where the Kelvin Timeline movies were effectively big-screen episodicStar Trek, a trilogy of movies could giveDS9’s Dominion Warthe theatrical treatment.
Another huge challenge facing a hypotheticalStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie reboot would be the show’s enormous ensemble. Thecast ofDeep Space Nineis one of the largest in theStar Trekfranchise, meaning that a movie reboot may have to make the difficult decision to excise some beloved supporting characters. Thankfully, this is a hypothetical scenario for now, andthe recasting of thisDS9movie reboot will stick to the regular castand some of the bigger recurring characters inDeep Space Nine.
Recasting Star Trek: The Next Generation For A Movie Reboot
If Star Trek: The Next Generation got the reboot treatment, who would play Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D?
10Asante Blackk as Jake Sisko
Originally played by Cirroc Lofton
As this is aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie reboot, it’s possible to skip a few years of Jake Sisko’s life so that he’s a young man. Some of the best Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) episodes ofDS9in later seasons were emotionally demanding stories about grief and trauma. Any attempt to adapt episodes like “The Visitor” or “Nor the Battle to the Strong” would require a young actor who could handle such powerful themes.Asante Blackk is one such actor who could pull off the darker Jake Sisko stories, given his roles in shows likeThis Is Usand the recent movieStory Ave.
Asante Blackk’s most powerful performance, however, was his heartbreaking role in Ava DuVernay’s powerful miniseriesWhen They See Us. Blackk played Kevin Richardson, one of the Central Park Five, the group of teenagers wrongfully convicted of a brutal attack on a jogger.When They See Us' entire young cast were extraordinary, but there’s something about Asante Blackk’s quiet vulnerability that makes him a good fit for Jake Sisko in anyStar Trek: Deep Space Ninereboot.
When They See Usalso starredStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s William Sadler in the role of Detective Michael Sheehan.
9Brian Gleeson as Chief O’Brien
Originally played by Colm Meaney
In many ways,Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) was the heart ofStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. UnlikeStar Trek’s many Starfleet officers, O’Brien was a hard-working family man, and was seen by the writers as an audience identification figure.DS9’s writers decided thatO’Brien must sufferbecause they knew that the audience would feel it more due to Colm Meaney’s everyman performance. Irish actor Brian Gleeson excelled as a working father out of his depth in Apple TV+‘sBad Sisters, which proves how good he would be at playing Chief O’Brien.
Beyond the Irish connection, Brian Gleeson and Colm Meaney both excel at playing everyman figures, and both have terrific comic timing.Brian Gleeson’s titular role inFrank of Irelandis a terrific example of the actor’s comic chops. Gleeson also has prior experience with huge sci-fi franchises, having recently appeared inThe Mandalorianas Brendol Hux. Brian Gleeson’s comic skills, his everyman charm, and his Irishness make him a perfect successor to Colm Meaney’s legacy.
Colm Meaney’s Best 10 Acting Roles (Including Star Trek: DS9’s Chief O’Brien)
DS9’s Colm Meaney is one of the best actors to appear in Star Trek and these brilliant roles display the depths of the iconic Chief O’Brien star.
8Daryl McCormack as Dr. Julian Bashir
Originally played by Alexander Siddig
Daryl McCormack’s terrific chemistry with Brian Gleeson inBad Sistersmakes him an ideal choice to play Dr. Julian Bashir in aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie reboot.O’Brien and Bashir are best friendsinDS9, andthe complicated relationship between McCormack and Gleeson’s characters inBad Sistersbears similarities. Half-brothers connected by their father’s financial mistakes, Matthew and Thomas Claffin had a rocky road, but were bonded by the end of the series, not unlike Bashir and O’Brien’s relationship inDS9’s early years.
Daryl McCormack starred inPixie, which also featuredStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Colm Meaney as Dermot O’Brien.
Alexander Siddig always played Dr. Julian Bashir inStar Trek: Deep Space Ninewith a youthful enthusiasm and awkward charm. Daryl McCormack has this in spades in the movieGood Luck To You,Leo Grande,but also inBad Sisters, in which he embarks on an awkward relationship with one of the sisters under investigation. McCormack is also able to show the grit and determination with which Julian approaches medical and ethical dilemmas inDS9,as seen in the gripping mystery series,The Woman in the Wall.
7Jodie Comer as Lt. Jadzia Dax
Originally played by Terry Farrell
Jodie Comer is a hugely talented and versatile actress who gave a memorably chameleonic performance as Villanelle inKilling Eve.Comer’s ability to play multiple aspects of Villanelle’s character makes her the perfect choice to playStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s beloved Trill character, Lt. Jadzia Dax(Terry Farrell). Casting Jodie Comer would allow aDS9movie to change how Jadzia uses the experiences ofevery Dax host. Rather than use their experiences to dispense advice to her fellow crew, Comer’s Dax could bring subtle changes that hint at the characteristics of Jadzia’s predecessors.
Terry Farrell was incredibly confident and charismatic as Jadzia Dax throughoutStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. Jodie Comer is also an incredibly charming performer, who has an incredible level of confidence as an actor. From a genre perspective, Comer is just as capable of performing in high-concept sci-fi blockbusters likeFree Guyas she is in more serious, low-key science fiction likeThe End We Start From. All of which makes her the perfect actress to take on the role of Jadzia Dax in anyDS9recast.
Star Trek: DS9 Had A Totally Different Concept For Dax
Before creating DS9’s beloved Jadzia Dax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine planned for a different alien species to fulfil the role of science officer.
6Winston Duke as Lt. Commander Worf
Originally played by Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn’s Worf is one ofStar Trek’s best-loved characters, and its longest-serving. It would therefore be incredibly daunting for any actor to take on the role in a reboot movie. Technically, aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninereboot movie could simply avoid using Worf, given that he doesn’t appear until season 4. However,Worf’s integral to the story of the Dominion War and its effect on the Klingon Empire. As for who would play Worf in such a movie, a recastDS9movie could do a lot worse thanBlack Panther’s Winston Duke asStar Trek’s favorite Klingon.
Winston Duke played M’Baku in bothBlack Panthermovies, and his performance as the second most powerful warrior in Wakanda is a great audition for Worf. Winston Duke is also very funny, and can easily shift gears from exaggerated bombast to deadpan humor. There are shades of this in theBlack Panthermovies, but he’s also incredibly funny inThe Fall Guy, too. InStar Trek, Worf is a great warrior, who is also unwittingly hilarious, making Winston Duke an ideal casting.
Winston Duke played Hawk, the role originated byStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Avery Brooks, in the 2020 movieSpenser.
5Elisabeth Moss as Major Kira Nerys
Originally played by Nana Visitor
In shows likeTop of the Lake,The Handmaid’s Tale, and more recently,The Veil, Elisabeth Moss excels at playing brittle women who take action against injustice. Each of these Elisabeth Moss roles feels like good trial runs for playing hardened war veteran, and former freedom fighter, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine. InThe Handmaid’s Tale, Moss plays June Osborne, who resists the patriarchal and oppressive state of Gilead.DS9’s Major Kira also took part in a resistance movement, fighting back against theCardassian Occupation of Bajor.
Many of the best Major Kira episodes inStar Trek: Deep Space Ninecenter around her reconciling her violent past. In Jane Campion’s miniseriesTop of the Lakeand its sequelChina Girl, Moss played Robin Griffin, a female detective struggling to put her dark and traumatic past behind her. Based on her previous roles,Elisabeth Moss could bring the required edge to the role of Major Kira in aDS9movie, perhaps even pushing the character into darker territory.
Major Kira’s Best Star Trek DS9 Episodes
A breakthrough Bajoran hero, Major Kira Nerys’ arc in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was one of the most nuanced in all of Star Trek.
4Matt Smith as Constable Odo
Originally played by Rene Auberjonois
Matt Smith has the perfect face to play Constable Odo in aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninereboot, but that’s not the only reason he’d be a good successor to the late, great, Rene Auberjonois. Matt Smith’s physicality as a performer has been referred to as being like both a drunken giraffe and a baby gazelle by formerDoctor Whoshowrunner Steven Moffat. That awkward physicality would be perfect to playDeep Space Nine’s Changeling, who has never been able to fully master the humanoid form.
Odo’s awkwardness and detachment is not unlike Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Eleventh Doctor inDoctor Who. Smith’s Doctor always had an edge, and often kept secrets from his companion. Smith’s mastery of the Doctor’s insular nature is perfect for playing Odo in aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie reboot. Having spent years onDoctor Whobefore starring inHouse of the Dragon, Matt Smith is no stranger to the rigors of working with visual effects on genre shows.
3Joe Lo Truglio as Quark
Originally played by Armin Shimerman
Best known as Detective Charles Boyle inBrooklyn Nine-Nine,Joe Lo Truglio would be excellent casting asStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Quark. Although he was overtly a comedy character, Armin Shimerman played Quark with nuance, tapping into the Ferengi bartender’s more vulnerable side from time to time. With Boyle onBrooklyn Nine-Nine, Joe Lo Truglio did something very similar. By far one of the show’s weirdest, most overtly comic characters, the audience grows to love Boyle due to Lo Truglio’s winning performance.
Boyle inBrooklyn Nine-Ninedoesn’t have Quark’s villainous edge, but he has played slightly scuzzier characters. Francis the Driver inSuperbad, for example, had a weird energy to him, due to an outstanding warrant for a “totally non-violent crime.” The way that Francis tries to negotiate with the boys to stay out of prison and also supply them with booze is hilarious, and utterly sleazy. Perfect, therefore, for playingStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Quark.
Star Trek: DS9 Never Punished Quark For An Unforgivable Crime
Quark committed various crimes during Star Trek: DS9, but one particular indiscretion was so severe that it’s lack of consequences feels wrong.
2Daniel Kaluuya as Captain Benjamin Sisko
Originally played by Avery Brooks
Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya would make an excellent Captain Benjamin Sisko in aStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie.DS9’s Avery Brookswas a powerhouse performer, capable of some astonishing tonal gear shifts. Kaluuya’s Oscar-winning role as civil rights activist Fred Hampton inJudas and the Black Messiahshowed the actor’s ability to deliver empassioned and powerful speeches, anddraws comparisons with Avery Brooks' own pre-DS9career. Prior to playing Sisko, Brooks had played actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson on-stage, and Brooks' politics inflected some ofDS9’s very best episodes.
Just like Avery Brooks, Daniel Kaluuya is a commanding screen presence who knows exactly how quiet or how loud to pitch his performance. Daniel Kaluuya is also no stranger to genre TV or movies, having worked with horror director Jordan Peele onGet OutandNopeafter early roles inDoctor Whoand cult sitcomPsychoville. Daniel Kaluuya’s versatility as an actor, and his critical acclaim would make him a great leading man for anyStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemovie reboot.
1Jon Hamm as Gul Dukat
Originally played by Marc Alaimo
The crucial thing aboutMarc Alaimo inDS9was that he played Gul Dukat as someone who didn’t see himself as the villain. Gul Dukat was a vain and malevolent villain, who genuinely believed that he was a good man. That kind of complexity is something that has defined Jon Hamm’s best dramatic roles fromMad MentoFargo. Given thatJon Hamm previously wanted to play Mr Sinisterin the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s clearly comfortable with the idea of donning heavy alien prosthetic make-up.
Jon Hamm’s defining role of his career so far is Don Draper inMad Men, who had a deeply complex and problematic relationship with the women in his life. If Jon Hamm brought some of that to the role, he could perfectly tap into what made Gul DukatStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s best villain. Like Don Draper, Gul Dukat does have a degree of charm and charisma to him, but there’s always an edge and a darkness that hint both characters are never too far from descending into outright villainy.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Cast
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
