Kevin Feige Reveals How Star Trek Helped Shape the MCU's Next Big Show
Game recognizes game.
Although Agatha All Along is the first Marvel TV spinoff following the events of WandaVision, it will not be the last. Expected on Disney+ sometime in 2026, Vision will follow the new adventures of the resurrected version of the titular character (Paul Bettany), with a new storyline for the character, and a new vibe for the MCU.
But, for those who are fans of both Marvel and Star Trek, perhaps the most surprising development about Vision (which broke earlier this year) is that the showrunner will be Terry Matalas, most recently the man behind the critically acclaimed and fan-adored Star Trek: Picard Season 3. And now, Inverse has confirmed that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige specifically sought out Matalas to work for Marvel because Feige loved Picard Season 3 so much.
Terry Matalas, at the 2024 Astra Awards where Star Trek: Picard won for Best Writing in a Dramatic Streaming Series.
In a wide-ranging interview with Feige, the Marvel boss briefly revealed that the entire reason he knows Terry Matalas is because he wanted to figure out who the person behind Picard Season 3 was. “That’s how I got to know him,” Feige says. “It was from his amazing [work on Picard Season 3. I said: This is incredible. I don't know how this exists. Let me find the person who made this.”
Since Picard Season 3 concluded in 2023, it has gone on to garner accolades far and wide and was notable as it was the first of the post-2017 Star Trek TV shows to break into the top ten Nielsen ratings for streaming shows. The show also picked up an Astra Award for best writing, as well as four Saturn Awards for best actor (Patrick Stewart), best supporting actor (Jonathan Frakes), best supporting actress, and best sci-fi TV series, which was accepted by Matalas. At the same awards ceremony, Kevin Feige presented the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Feige has never been shy about his love of the Star Trek franchise. He’s cited the ending of The Next Generation as one of his favorite endings of a TV series ever, and openly pointed out how the Star Trek films shaped the structure of various MCU sequels. In 2024, he even appeared as a guest on the popular podcast Inglorious Treksperts to discuss his love of the deeply underrated 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. (Hosted by Mark Altman and Daren Dochterman, Matalas was also a guest on this episode, which you can stream here.)
Does all of this mean that Vision will be anything like Picard Season 3? Well, probably not. Matalas is a pretty multi-talented guy, and his work on 12 Monkeys isn’t much like Picard Season 3. That said, Matalas does have a previous connection to Aaron Stanford, who recently reprised his role as the mutant Pyro in Deadpool & Wolverine. Matalas brought Stanford to Picard for a small role, which might give fans hope that Pyro could return for Vision, even if it really seemed like he didn’t make it out of Deadpool & Wolverine.
For now, the exact Matalas Vision for Vision remains a mystery. But, had Kevin Feige not been watching Star Trek, it’s possible it might not have happened at all.
