Star Trek actor Michael Dorn, who played the Klingon Worf across two shows and multiple films, explains his idea for a spin-off centered on his character and his race. As one of the longest-running entertainment franchises out there, Star Trek is still putting out exciting new content for fans to devour. While the movie side of Trek remains a question mark, CBS All Access (soon to be rebranded as Paramount+) has a slew of shows in the works. Star Trek: Discovery wrapped up its third season just a couple of weeks ago, and Star Trek: Picard will return for a second season sometime in the future alongside various Discovery spin-offs.
Dorn made his Star Trek debut on The Next Generation, playing Starfleet's first Klingon officer. In telling the story of someone torn between two races - Klingons and humans - Dorn's Worf became one of the most compelling Star Trek characters out there, particularly after he made the jump to Deep Space Nine. The Klingons had long been one of the biggest villains in Star Trek lore, but Worf provided the chance to dig deeper into the alien race and help transition them into allies.
If it were up to Dorn, that transition would continue in a spin-off television series or movie. While speaking with Screen Rant recently, Dorn pitched his Worf project on a deeper level than ever before. He even mentions how he could bring in Next Generation co-star Marina Sirtis, who played Deanna Troi. Dorn's pitch is as follows:
Michael Dorn: Oh, God, yeah. I’ve been telling this story since 2012, but I wrote a script 10 years ago. It’s about Worf, it’s a Worf spin-off, and I’ve been trying to get it done. At first, there was a lot of interest, then a little interest, then a lot of interest. It just goes like this all the time. So, there’s actually a great story - a really great story...
This is really how Worf has always been: he’s the guy that doesn’t say much. He doesn’t have any fear. But he has learned, and he is constantly learning, and he’s soaking up information and things like a sponge. And he’s trying to save the Klingon Empire from going the way of the dodo. They have two choices: they can either run with the times, or they can go out in a blaze of glory. And he’s always been of the mind that warriors, as he always calls himself, adapt and survive. That’s what they’re supposed to do.
It’s an interesting story. Usually, when you say, “It’s going to be about Klingons,” it’s Starfleet looking at Klingons. We’ll always kind of scratch the surface with the Klingons. Except for Deep Space Nine; they really went into it. But this is different. We are in the Klingon Empire, and we’re allowing smatterings of Starfleet officers in the Klingon Empire. And what that means to the Empire.
When I was writing it - and I’m a big Star Trek fan from the original too - [I realized] we always think of the Klingon Empire as one world; just the homeworld. But the Klingon Empire is just like Starfleet. It has 150 planets, worlds, systems that they control. They’re running out of resources, and they’re running out of people. Because it’s sort of like the Russians or the Romans, where they have all of these conquests that they have to take care of. And it’s draining. His argument is, “Do you want to be like the Russians? Do you want to be like the Romans? What we have to do is we have to go out to these places and make friends with them. Give them their independence that they wanted. If they don’t want independence, and they want to be under it, fine. But they have to be in line, so we don’t have to have a whole squad of people out there watching them.”
Worf comes up with this big idea, and they say, “Since it’s your idea, you’re the one that has to go out to each one of these worlds. And so every week, he’s going out to make contact, or to bring these worlds back into a peaceful Empire.” On the other hand, they’ve allowed Starfleet officers into the Klingon Empire now, and that causes a lot of friction.
Marina [Sirtis] is my best friend. I said, “I have a role for you.” She goes, “What is it?” And I said, “Well, the Starfleet officers and the Klingons don’t get along. And there are always problems, there are fights, there are issues...” And they said, ‘Well, we’ve got to do something about this.’ And I said, ‘You need a psychologist.’ She comes in, and everybody comes to her with their problems. So, anyway, that’s my pitch.
This is a great idea because this is the side of Star Trek that we haven’t seen.
Michael Dorn: And it still is the Federation, because they’re in there. They’re still part of it. In my story, there’s a smattering of it. There’s a whole bunch of people. It’s not about them, but they’re there. So, if people love the Federation, they’ll have the Federation in there. One day, from your mouth to God’s ears.
I’m writing right now. In fact, I finished it. I’m a big Western guy. Once again, from the 50s and the 60s, when they were doing some really great stuff. My manager wanted me to think about that. I said, “Look, I’ve got an idea.” I wrote a Western movie; I’m done with it. At the beginning of the year, we’re going to start pitching it and see what we can do.
Needless to say, he's really thought it out. Dorn has talked about this Worf spin-off since as far back as 2012, and his interest hasn't wavered since then. In fact, it sounds like he's making more progress than ever, as he mentioned he intends to start pitching it to actual executives. Only time will tell if anything comes of it, but Dorn's passion for the project will surely be a helpful element. Plus, there are plenty of Star Trek fans who would be interested in more stories for Worf. Dorn's story is compelling, particularly since it offers a fresh take on the Klingons. They've always been viewed through the eyes of Starfleet, but that can change.
So far, there aren't any official plans to bring Dorn back into the Star Trek fold. Some have wondered if Worf could appear on Picard, much like his fellow Next Generation actors Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes (William Riker). Dorn's continued pursuit of a Dorn spin-off shows he still has interest in Star Trek, so perhaps a return could happen in the future. At the very least, we hope he finds success with his passion project; it sounds really awesome.