In a world where J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: The Original Series reboot led to other shows getting the same treatment, which stars would be cast in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie? Given that DS9 was the show that pioneered serialization in Star Trek TV shows, it would be hard to boil the story of Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) into one movie. However, where the Kelvin Timeline movies were effectively big-screen episodic Star Trek, a trilogy of movies could give DS9‘s Dominion War the theatrical treatment.

Another huge challenge facing a hypothetical Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie reboot would be the show’s enormous ensemble. The cast of Deep Space Nine is one of the largest in the Star Trek franchise, meaning that a movie reboot may have to make the difficult decision to excise some beloved supporting characters. Thankfully, this is a hypothetical scenario for now, and the recasting of this DS9 movie reboot will stick to the regular cast and some of the bigger recurring characters in Deep Space Nine.

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Asante Blackk as Jake Sisko

Originally played by Cirroc Lofton

As this is a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie reboot, it’s possible to skip a few years of Jake Sisko’s life so that he’s a young man. Some of the best Jake Sisko (Cirroc Lofton) episodes of DS9 in later seasons were emotionally demanding stories about grief and trauma. Any attempt to adapt episodes like “The Visitor” or “Nor the Battle to the Strong” would require a young actor who could handle such powerful themes. Asante Blackk is one such actor who could pull off the darker Jake Sisko stories, given his roles in shows like This Is Us and the recent movie Story Ave.

Asante Blackk’s most powerful performance, however, was his heartbreaking role in Ava DuVernay’s powerful miniseries When They See Us. Blackk played Kevin Richardson, one of the Central Park Five, the group of teenagers wrongfully convicted of a brutal attack on a jogger. When They See Us‘ entire young cast were extraordinary, but there’s something about Asante Blackk’s quiet vulnerability that makes him a good fit for Jake Sisko in any Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reboot.

9

Brian Gleeson as Chief O’Brien

Originally played by Colm Meaney

In many ways, Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) was the heart of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Unlike Star Trek‘s many Starfleet officers, O’Brien was a hard-working civilian family man, and was seen by the writers as an audience identification figure. DS9‘s writers decided that O’Brien must suffer because they knew that the audience would feel it more due to Colm Meaney’s everyman performance. Irish actor Brian Gleeson excelled as a working father out of his depth in Apple TV+’s Bad Sisters, which proves how good he would be at playing Chief O’Brien.

Beyond the Irish connection, Brian Gleeson and Colm Meaney both excel at playing everyman figures, and both have terrific comic timing. Brian Gleeson’s titular role in Frank of Ireland is a terrific example of the actor’s comic chops. Gleeson also has prior experience with huge sci-fi franchises, having recently appeared in The Mandalorian as Brendol Hux. Brian Gleeson’s comic skills, his everyman charm, and his Irishness make him a perfect successor to Colm Meaney’s legacy.

8

Daryl McCormack as Dr. Julian Bashir

Originally played by Alexander Siddig

Daryl McCormack’s terrific chemistry with Brian Gleeson in Bad Sisters makes him an ideal choice to play Dr. Julian Bashir in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie reboot. O’Brien and Bashir are best friends in DS9, and the complicated relationship between McCormack and Gleeson’s characters in Bad Sisters bears similarities. Half-brothers connected by their father’s financial mistakes, Matthew and Thomas Claffin had a rocky road, but were bonded by the end of the series, not unlike Bashir and O’Brien’s relationship in DS9‘s early years.

Alexander Siddig always played Dr. Julian Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with a youthful enthusiasm and awkward charm. Daryl McCormack has this in spades in the movie Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, but also in Bad Sisters, in which he embarks on an awkward relationship with one of the sisters under investigation. McCormack is also able to show the grit and determination with which Julian approaches medical and ethical dilemmas in DS9, as seen in the gripping mystery series, The Woman in the Wall.

7

Jodie Comer as Lt. Jadzia Dax

Originally played by Terry Farrell

Jodie Comer is a hugely talented and versatile actress who gave a memorably chameleonic performance as Villanelle in Killing Eve. Comer’s ability to play multiple aspects of Villanelle’s character makes her the perfect choice to play Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s beloved Trill character, Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell). Casting Jodie Comer would allow a DS9 movie to change how Jadzia uses the experiences of every Dax host. Rather than use their experiences to dispense advice to her fellow crew, Comer’s Dax could bring subtle changes that hint at the characteristics of Jadzia’s predecessors.

Terry Farrell was incredibly confident and charismatic as Jadzia Dax throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Jodie Comer is also an incredibly charming performer, who has an incredible level of confidence as an actor. From a genre perspective, Comer is just as capable of performing in high-concept sci-fi blockbusters like The Fall Guy as she is in more serious, low-key science fiction like The End We Start From. All of which makes her the perfect actress to take on the role of Jadzia Dax in any DS9 recast.

6

Winston Duke as Lt. Commander Worf

Originally played by Michael Dorn

Michael Dorn’s Worf is one of Star Trek‘s best-loved characters, and its longest-serving. It would therefore be incredibly daunting for any actor to take on the role in a reboot movie. Technically, a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reboot movie could simply avoid using Worf, given that he doesn’t appear until season 4. However, Worf’s integral to the story of the Dominion War and its effect on the Klingon Empire. As for who would play Worf in such a movie, a recast DS9 movie could do a lot worse than Black Panther‘s Winston Duke as Star Trek‘s favorite Klingon.

Winston Duke played M’Baku in both Black Panther movies, and his performance as the second most powerful warrior in Wakanda is a great audition for Worf. Winston Duke is also very funny, and can easily shift gears from exaggerated bombast to deadpan humor. There are shades of this in the Black Panther movies, but he’s also incredibly funny in The Fall Guy, too. In Star Trek, Worf is a great warrior, who is also unwittingly hilarious, making Winston Duke an ideal casting.

5

Elisabeth Moss as Major Kira Nerys

Originally played by Nana Visitor

In shows like Top of the Lake, The Handmaid’s Tale, and more recently, The Veil, Elisabeth Moss excels at playing brittle women who take action against injustice. Each of these Elisabeth Moss roles feels like good trial runs for playing hardened war veteran, and former freedom fighter, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Moss plays June Osborne, who resists the patriarchal and oppressive state of Gilead. DS9‘s Major Kira also took part in a resistance movement, fighting back against the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor.

Many of the best Major Kira episodes in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine center around her reconciling her violent past. In Jane Campion’s miniseries Top of the Lake and its sequel China Girl, Moss played Robin Griffin, a female detective struggling to put her dark and traumatic past behind her. Based on her previous roles, Elisabeth Moss could bring the required edge to the role of Major Kira in a DS9 movie, perhaps even pushing the character into darker territory.

4

Matt Smith as Constable Odo

Originally played by Rene Auberjonois

Matt Smith has the perfect face to play Constable Odo in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reboot, but that’s not the only reason he’d be a good successor to the late, great, Rene Auberjonois. Matt Smith’s physicality as a performer has been referred to as being like both a drunken giraffe and a baby gazelle by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. That awkward physicality would be perfect to play Deep Space Nine‘s Changeling, who has never been able to fully master the humanoid form.

Odo’s awkwardness and detachment is not unlike Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who. Smith’s Doctor always had an edge, and often kept secrets from his companion. Smith’s mastery of the Doctor’s insular nature is perfect for playing Odo in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie reboot. Having spent years on Doctor Who before starring in House of the Dragon, Matt Smith is no stranger to the rigors of working with visual effects on genre shows.

3

Joe Lo Truglio as Quark

Originally played by Armin Shimerman

Best known as Detective Charles Boyle in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Joe Lo Truglio would be excellent casting as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Quark. Although he was overtly a comedy character, Armin Shimerman played Quark with nuance, tapping into the Ferengi bartender’s more vulnerable side from time to time. With Boyle on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Joe Lo Truglio did something very similar. By far one of the show’s weirdest, most overtly comic characters, the audience grows to love Boyle due to Lo Truglio’s winning performance.

Boyle in Brooklyn Nine-Nine doesn’t have Quark’s villainous edge, but he has played slightly scuzzier characters. Francis the Driver in Superbad, for example, had a weird energy to him, due to an outstanding warrant for a “totally non-violent crime.” The way that Francis tries to negotiate with the boys to stay out of prison and also supply them with booze is hilarious, and utterly sleazy. Perfect, therefore, for playing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Quark.

2

Daniel Kaluuya as Captain Benjamin Sisko

Originally played by Avery Brooks

Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya would make an excellent Captain Benjamin Sisko in a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie. DS9‘s Avery Brooks was a powerhouse performer, capable of some astonishing tonal gear shifts. Kaluuya’s Oscar-winning role as civil rights activist Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah showed the actor’s ability to deliver empassioned and powerful speeches, and draws comparisons with Avery Brooks’ own pre-DS9 career. Prior to playing Sisko, Brooks had played actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson on-stage, and Brooks’ politics inflected some of DS9‘s very best episodes.

Just like Avery Brooks, Daniel Kaluuya is a commanding screen presence who knows exactly how quiet or how loud to pitch his performance. Daniel Kaluuya is also no stranger to genre TV or movies, having worked with horror director Jordan Peele on Get Out and Nope after early roles in Doctor Who and cult sitcom Psychoville. Daniel Kaluuya’s versatility as an actor, and his critical acclaim would make him a great leading man for any Star Trek: Deep Space Nine movie reboot.

1

Jon Hamm as Gul Dukat

Originally played by Marc Alaimo

The crucial thing about Marc Alaimo in DS9 was that he played Gul Dukat as someone who didn’t see himself as the villain. Gul Dukat was a vain and malevolent villain, who genuinely believed that he was a good man. That kind of complexity is something that has defined Jon Hamm’s best dramatic roles from Mad Men to Fargo. Given that Jon Hamm previously wanted to play Mr Sinister in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s clearly comfortable with the idea of donning heavy alien prosthetic make-up.

Jon Hamm’s defining role of his career so far is Don Draper in Mad Men, who had a deeply complex and problematic relationship with the women in his life. If Jon Hamm brought some of that to the role, he could perfectly tap into what made Gul Dukat Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s best villain. Like Don Draper, Gul Dukat does have a degree of charm and charisma to him, but there’s always an edge and a darkness that hint both characters are never too far from descending into outright villainy.