The Star Trek: TNG Crew Met The X-Men In This Forgotten '90s Crossover

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"Star Trek" is one of the biggest sci-fi franchises ever, and the X-Men are among Marvel's most famous teams. Both have big-budget feature films and there are plenty of "X-Men" and "Star Trek" on-screen connections. Of course, the most famous connection is Patrick Stewart, who plays the leader of both squads — Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and Professor X in the "X-Men" films. Stewart even made his long-awaited return to both roles in the 2020s; he played Picard in "Star Trek: Picard" and Professor X in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (he's also in the cast of "Avengers: Doomsday"). But what you might not know is that Picard and Xavier's teams actually met in a 1998 crossover novel.

In "Planet X" by longtime "Star Trek" author Michael Jan Friedman, Captain Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise are dealing with a situation on an alien planet where otherwise ordinary people are suddenly developing mutant superpowers. Thankfully, Picard gets help when the Enterprise is visited by the X-Men, who arrive in their reality under mysterious circumstances. The two teams work together to end the crisis, and it's ultimately revealed that it was none other than Q who sent the X-Men to Picard's universe.

In a curious bit of real-world foreshadowing, the mutant weather-wielder Storm even notes the resemblance between Captain Picard and Professor X. Of course, it's not as much foreshadowing as you'd think: The physical similarities between Picard and Charles Xavier weren't lost on fans even in the '90s, and Stewart was a popular choice of comic book readers to play the X-Men founder in a potential film. 

Some may argue that these two franchises make for a wonky blend, with "Star Trek" being more realistic science fiction and the "X-Men" being colorful, superpowered heroes. But both are filled with noble characters who fight for the good of all people, and diversity is a key component in both series. Unfortunately, "Planet X" is not the best example of a high-quality crossover, though not because it mixes a TV series with a comic book series — most reviewers agree that the novel is just plain bad all around.

Despite being written by a veteran of both "X-Men" comics and "Trek" novels, author Michael Jan Friedman got much of the blame from reviewers, who criticized the story for being paper thin. Some said it felt more like it was drafted by corporate bean counters than a writer with a creative spark. Sure, crossing over two major series like this is done largely as a gimmick, but that doesn't mean that the story can't have substance. Here, characters from both franchises are boiled down to simple stereotypes and cardboard cutouts.

Of course, "Planet X" isn't entirely without its fans. For example, Geek Girl Authority labeled the book an "unmissable crossover," praising the speeches given by Captain Picard and Storm that highlight the important social messages at the heart of both franchises. Supporters of "Planet X" may be in the minority, but at least some readers saw what Friedman was trying to do with this crossover in terms of the story's moral takeaway.

Today, Patrick Stewart can claim two major sci-fi roles as his most iconic: Captain Picard and Professor X. But it's because of one that he nearly said no to the other, as Stewart was so unfamiliar with the X-Men comics that he worried that Professor X would be too similar to Captain Picard. "My thoughts at the time? No. No more fantasy. No more sci-fi," Stewart wrote in his memoir "Making it So." He didn't want yet another role in a tight, zippered-up costume, and he politely declined. But then, director Bryan Singer came back claiming that Stewart was mistaken, and that "X-Men" would be something entirely different than what he'd been doing for so many years in "Star Trek."

"Bryan passionately argued that there were no major similarities between Jean-Luc Picard and Charles Xavier," Stewart explained. As Singer put it, they were very different in tone and style, and comic book adaptations were something new and exciting back then. "With bravado, Bryan said this was going to be totally new territory for me, and the whole world would see my work." And that's exactly what happened, as the "X-Men" films explored a very different world than "Star Trek," with Stewart playing a complicated man who wants to bring an end to prejudice and bigotry.