In 1987, Spiner started his 15-year run portraying Lieutenant Commander Data on ', which spanned seven seasons and four feature films. As a main character, he appeared in all but one of the series' 178 episodes. He reprised his role in the spin-off films "Star Trek Generations" (1994), ' (1996), ' (1998), and ' (2002). Although billed as the final "Trek" movie for the "TNG" cast, the ambiguous ending of ' suggested a possible avenue for the return of Data. However, Spiner opined that he was too old to continue playing the part, as Data does not age, whereas Spiner had already aged considerably during the years in which he played the role. 18 years after last appearing as Data, he reprised the role in the 2020 "Star Trek" series '. Spiner has stated that he does not intend to play that role again, though he might be open to playing the role of Alton Soong.