I know that Brent Spiner asked for Data to be killed off, because he felt that he was obviously looking older & Data was supposed to remain the same. But that could have been easily resolved by having Data choosing to alter his outward appearance as his friends aged, in order to experience growing older with them. I can see Troi doing a slight double take & asking, "Data, are those wrinkles around your eyes?" Or something of the sort.
shareIt was just another one of the really bad decisions they made in this show.
Anyway, they still have the other Android so bringing a Data character back is nothing. He would easier to resurrect than a comic book superhero.
He was done with the character and the cast knew this was the last film.
But they did leave it open for people to choose how they saw it was he really dead.
I see your point but this wouldnt of been accepted by people switching to another actor for data it is the sort of thing they do now but back then no way even proper trek fans now dont like the way they have created different time lines with new actors.
I agree with Owlwise -- who knows, maybe Dr. Soong even left an Aging Chip lying around somewhere?
Regarding Brent Spiner's wishes, I didn't get the impression that he never-ever wanted to play Data again, just that he thought it was becoming unrealistic due to his own aging. But the NextGen movies were ending anyhow *and* they left the door open for Data's rebirth anyhow. So why didn't they simply keep the original Data in good working order, so that whenever the crew got together to reminisce, he could be among them?
Star Trek's Brent Spiner Disagrees With Many Fans About Data's Nemesis Death
https://www.looper.com/1397639/brent-spiner-star-trek-nemesis-data-death-feelings/
In an interview, Brent Spiner, who plays Data in the "Star Trek" franchise, shared some interesting insights on his character's death on "Nemesis."
Because D(d)ata can be reborn and recovered.
sharethanks for the spoiler in the thread title !