Star Trek director Jonathan Frakes wanted to include Q (John de Lancie) in the Next Generation movies. The Next Generation television show first premiered in 1987 as the second live-action Star Trek series. Set about a hundred years after The Original Series, The Next Generation introduced fans to an entirely different crew and a brand new Enterprise. It features the introductions of several iconic characters, from Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard to Frakes' own William Riker. The series ended in 1993, but the cast returned for four different Star Trek films in the years following.
The character of Q was first introduced in The Next Generation's pilot. He would go on to appear in eight episodes in total, including the series finale. An omnipotent being with godlike powers, de Lancie's Q was initially portrayed as an antagonist for Picard. He would often put humanity on trial, operating under the belief that they were too dangerous to live. However, as The Next Generation went on, Q and Picard's relationship evolved to something less adversarial. Q would then appear in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
In addition to playing Riker, Frakes has directed numerous parts of the Star Trek franchise, including two TNG films. This past weekend, both Frakes and de Lancie appeared on panels for The Next Generation at GalaxyCon (via TrekMovie), where Frakes revealed he tried to incorporate Q into the films. Frakes' original idea for Star Trek: First Contact involved Q in a major way. "That was my pitch. Well, from my good fortune of getting involved with the movies. I kept saying, 'When is our our finest nemesis is going to be in the movies?' I’m still surprised that wasn’t so," Frakes said.
De Lancie echoed Frakes' comments, saying, "Yeah. I have no idea what the story is there." He also explained that, had Q been brought back for First Contact or a different Star Trek film, he would've wanted to explore the Q Continuum, an alternate dimension that only members of the Q race could access. "I actually—which I’m not going to tell people, even now—I did create a backstory on that, which would have been really interesting," de Lancie revealed. "But I think it’s actually someplace that would require a great deal of imagination, and I think the audience would go. So I wish that they had gone there." While de Lancie recently reprised his Q for the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, he hasn't been seen in live-action form since his final Voyager appearance.
Interestingly enough, First Contact ended up focusing on the Borg, another iconic The Next Generation villain. Picard and his crew first meet the Borg because of Q's own actions, so it's a little amusing to see how instead of Q, First Contact featured the antagonists he put into the Enterprise's path. On the other hand, it's rather disappointing to hear there could have been a role for Q in the films, especially considering how there was more to explore with the Q race. Perhaps Q could pop up once more in Star Trek: Picard, since that series has already featured quite a few familiar faces from The Next Generation. Only time will tell if that will ever happen.
Source: GalaxyCon (via TrekMovie)