Summary

• Tom Hardy portrayed Shinzon, the evil clone of Captain Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis, and also played a young Picard in a controversial photo.
• Star Trek: Nemesis marked the end of the Next Generation movie franchise with infamous moments like Data's death and the questionable young Picard photo.
• The bald young Picard in the photo was a retcon in Nemesis, causing controversy among fans and contradicting established Picard backstory.

Star Trek: Nemesis introduced Tom Hardy as Shinzon, the evil clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), but Hardy also played a young Picard in a photo that instantly became problematic. Directed by Stuart Baird from a story by John Logan, Rick Berman, and Brent Spiner, Star Trek: Nemesis became the death knell for the Star Trek: The Next Generation movie franchise. Aspects of Star Trek: Nemesis have proven infamous, like the death of Commander Data (Brent Spiner), and a controversial photo of Cadet Jean-Luc Picard at Starfleet Academy.

Shinzon was cloned from Jean-Luc Picard by the Romulans as part of an unrealized plot to replace the Captain of the Enterprise with a doppelganger. Instead, the young Shinzon was sent to toil in the mines of Remus. However, Shinzon came under the protection of the Reman who became his Viceroy (Ron Perlman). Years later, Picard's clone assassinated the Romulan Senate, installing himself as Praetor. Shinzon planned to attack the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek: Nemesis, but he also went through a charade of befriending Captain Picard and trying to gain his duplicate's trust, which left Jean-Luc contemplating his life's direction compared to Shinzon's.

Why Tom Hardy As Young Picard In Star Trek: Nemesis Was Wrong

Picard wasn't bald as a young man - was he?

There's a scene in Star Trek: Nemesis where Captain Picard looks at a photograph of himself as a Starfleet Academy Cadet - only it's Tom Hardy playing the young Jean-Luc. While that isn't controversial in itself, the fact that Cadet Picard is bald in the photo is. Star Trek: The Next Generation's season 6 episode "Tapesty" established that the young Picard (Marcus Nash) had a full head of hair when he was nearly killed by Nausicaans during a bar fight. Cadet Picard depicted as bald contradicts this and drew the ire of Star Trek: The Next Generation fans.

The blame for a bald Cadet Picard can be partially attributed to Star Trek: Nemesis' director Stuart Baird. A newcomer to Star Trek, Baird decided not to avail himself of the expertise of Star Trek: The Next Generation's cast. Tom Hardy playing young Jean-Luc in a photo to establish that Shinzon looked identical to the real Picard when they were younger makes a certain amount of sense, but making young Picard bald was likely done to hammer home to general audiences that Jean-Luc was looking at a photo of his younger self - even if TNG already established Picard wasn't bald until later in life.

Star Trek: Picard Also Retconned Jean-Luc's Life

Picard's parents were totally changed

It's unclear if Tom Hardy's bald Cadet Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis is a retcon that holds as canonical or is considered apocryphal. Much of Star Trek: Nemesis has been undone by the events of Star Trek: Picard, such as resurrecting Data, and the Romulan supernova hand-waving the question of what became of the Romulan Senate after Shinzon's death. However, Star Trek: Picard delivered its own retcons of Jean-Luc Picard's life that were also controversial with longtime fans.

Shinzon was finally mentioned for the first time since Star Trek Nemesis in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, when iral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) referred to Nemesis' events as "the Shinzon incident."

Star Trek: Picard season 2 answered the question of why Jean-Luc Picard didn't seek out a permanent romantic partner for most of his life. The answer lies in Jean-Luc's buried memories of his mother, Yvette Picard's (Madeline Wise), suicide when he was a boy. Yet Star Trek: The Next Generation previously introduced Yvette Picard (Herta Ware) as an elderly woman. Star Trek: Picard also cast James Callis as Jean-Luc's distant father, Maurice Picard, who was played as an old man by Clive Church in TNG. But the photo of Tom Hardy as a bald young Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis still gets many fans' goats.