20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek: Nemesis
19. Brent Spiner Wanted Data To Die For One Specific Reason
Data actor Brent Spiner actually helped write Data's arc for this movie, in turn earning the single writing credit of his entire career to date. Though John Logan is credited as Nemesis' sole screenwriter, Spiner received a "story by" credit.
Spiner had been lobbying for many years, at least since the days of First Contact, for Data to be killed off, and so conceived a storyline for Nemesis where he would sacrifice himself to save Picard and blow up Shinzon's Scimitar.
Spiner's reasoning for wanting Data to die was simply that he felt he had aged too much, and that it made no sense for Data to also be noticeably advanced in years, being an android and all.
And so, Data "died" in Nemesis, albeit with the door being left ajar for him to return through his android "brother" B-4. In the end, much of Star Trek: Picard's first season was ultimately concerned with tying off Data's arc seemingly once and for all.