Data's Fate: Writer & TNG Cast On Star Trek: Nemesis' Controversial Ending

3-time Academy Award-nominated writer John Logan agreed with Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes that Lt. Commander Data didn’t really die in Star Trek: Nemesis. Released in 2002, Star Trek: Nemesis was written by Logan and directed by Stuart Baird, and it became the lowest-grossing Star Trek movie at the box office.

One reason why audiences rejected Star Trek: Nemesis was the death of Data at the end. Sacrificing himself to save Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-E, the android’s demise was a rehash of Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. However, Star Trek: Nemesis introduced B-4 (Brent Spiner), an imperfect duplicate android that Data downloaded his memories into.

John Logan joined Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes on their podcast, Dropping Names… And Other Things, for a rollicking, must-see chat about Logan’s stellar career as the writer of films like Gladiator, The Aviator, Skyfall… and, of course, Star Trek: Nemesis. Their convo began with Logan refuting, in no uncertain terms, that Data died in Star Trek: Nemesis. Read their quotes below:

Jonathan Frakes: Now let me ask you a question that I’ve answered a hundred times: Do you believe that Data died in Nemesis?
John Logan: NO!
Jonathan Frakes: Thank you very much! That’s the author right there. That’s my answer.
John Logan: NO!
Brent Spiner: I never thought so.
John Logan: NO!
Brent Spiner: I wanted him to. But I didn’t think it was happening, really.

Watch John Logan on Dropping Names… And Other Things below:

B-4 has to be the reason that John Logan is so adamant that Data didn’t really die. At the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, the simplistic android began to show signs that Data’s programming was beginning to assert itself. Had Star Trek: Nemesis been a success, a fifth Star Trek: The Next Generation movie (possibly also written by Logan) likely would have restored Data in the identical body of B-4.

However, despite the filmmakers’ intentions in 2002, Star Trek canon says that Data died in Star Trek: Nemesis because there was no follow-up Star Trek: The Next Generation movie. Data’s death was cemented at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 1 when Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) put the android’s ‘soul’ to rest and said goodbye to his positronic friend.

Data was finally, truly resurrected in Star Trek: Picard season 3, 21 years after Star Trek: Nemesis. Masterminded by showrunner Terry Matalas, Data was revealed to be remade as a human-like synthetic, complete with emotions, and the personalities of other members of Data’s ‘family,’ like Lore and Dr. Altan Soong. Data rid himself of Lore and took full control of himself and his emotions.

John Logan’s plan for Data, if he’d continued to write Star Trek movies, must have been to bring the android back with B-4 becoming Data. Although, Brent Spiner wanted Data to die because he felt, in part, he was aging out of playing his iconic android. Regardless, Data eventually came back with a built-in reason for why he aged in Star Trek: Picard season 3.

However, Star Trek: Nemesis ended up being the death knell for Star Trek: The Next Generation’s movie franchise, so audiences will never see what would have happened next if Nemesis’ follow-up resurrected Data in the body of B-4.