Star Trek Characters That Must Return (2026)

15. Sela

The annual tradition of including Sela on this list is a source of both smiles and sadness. We seemingly will not let this idea ever drop, yet the fact that she must appear each year is a reminder that her return has yet to occur. 

Her last on-screen appearance was in Unification Part 2, which was told as part of the marketing campaign for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Simply put, it's been a while, Sela, where you at? Thankfully, Star Trek Online saw her return to her nefarious ways, scheming and plotting, even being an instrumental figure in the Romulan Supernova.

Star Trek: Picard closed with the promise of a Legacy series, though none has yet come into existence. With Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds now having completed filming, there is currently no televised Star Trek in production. The future looks about as much fun as that approaching shockwave.

However, this is also a time of opportunity. Should the executives at Paramount, and David Ellison himself, be so inclined, they could take stock of the online chatter. Legacy, United, and Year One all seem to dominate the conversation. As we know, Denise Crosby was among the few main actors from The Next Generation not to return in Picard, which feels like a major flaw in that series. 

With so much of Star Trek's focus in the last decade featuring the Romulan Supernova, and the marrying of live action and Online features, Sela's return remains one of the most obvious moves for a new vision in Trek.