Star Trek: The Next Generation Original Series" in 1969, the "Star Trek" franchise had continued with "" (1973–74) and a series of films, all featuring the original cast. In the 1980s, franchise creator Roddenberry decided to create a new series, featuring a new crew embarking on their mission a century after that of "The Original Series". "TNG" featured a new crew that starred (for the majority of its seven-year broadcast run) Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker, Brent Spiner as Lt Commander Data, Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, LeVar Burton as Lt Commander Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as
Star Trek: Enterprise (season 4) by Braga on Twitter as Archer from the future. Brent Spiner returned to the "Star Trek" franchise, having previously played the character of Data in "". In "Enterprise" he played the role of Dr. Arik Soong, an ancestor of Data's creator. Coto compared the character to Hannibal Lecter and talked about the fear that he inspired in the human authorities during the time of "Enterprise" due to Soong's actions involving illegal genetics. The storyline involved several references to "The Original Series", such as the genetic supermen in the vein of Khan Noonien Singh as first seen in the episode "Space