Brent Spiner has played so many characters on various “Star Trek” shows that even the most hardcore Trekkies may not be able to name them all by heart. Spiner is best known, of course, for playing the android Data in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” but he also played Data’s evil twin, Lore, and Data’s creator, Dr. Soong. In “Star Trek: Enterprise,” he played an ancestor who is Soong’s, and in “Star Trek: Picard,” he played both an earlier ancestor and a descendant. In “Star Trek: Nemesis,” he also played a prototype android named B-4. And none of this is to mention the many times he played characters who possessed Data’s body (which happened more often than you might think), or played characters who looked like Data on a holodeck. Data was an emotionless android, but Spiner managed to turn the role into one of the most dramatic, varied and emotional careers in “Star Trek” history.
Before and after “Star Trek,” Spiner’s varied career was evident. He has appeared in numerous films (he was in both “Independence Day” films) and numerous television shows. Famously, he was in six episodes of “Night Court.”
Spiner has also done a lot of voice work, including playing the powerful magical imp Puck (as in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”) in the Disney series “Gargoyles.” Spiner also landed a few gigs on animated superhero shows, including “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” (playing the obscure character Purple Man) and “Hulk and the Agents of SMASH” (playing the Silver Surfer).
Spiner also landed a role as Batman’s nemesis, the Joker, in two episodes of the 2011 animated series “Young Justice.” Then, not to rest on his laurels, Spiner returned to play the voice of The Riddler in the 2017 series “Justice League Action.”
Brent Spiner played the Joker in Young Justice and the Riddler in Justice League Action
Nerds might have their heads explode to learn that Data and the Joker were played by the same man, a pop culture mash-up that matches the casting of Spiner’s “Star Trek” co-star Patrick Stewart as Professor X in “X-Men.” Spiner clearly has great range as a performer, singing on stage, playing androids on TV, playing scientists in films, and playing supervillains in cartoons.
“Young Justice,” for those who don’t know it, is a superhero series that aired sporadically in 2010 about the many teenage characters in the DC Comics universe. The series was led by Robin (Jesse McCartney). Despite its youthful cast and youthful name, “Young Justice” was actually a mature, adult drama that dealt with heady and dramatic topics like arms brokering, war and conflicts that superheroes aren’t well equipped to handle. It took place in a world where superheroes were still largely unknown to the world, so all the characters were still struggling to prove themselves. Characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman were present, but they rarely appeared in the series. Spiner doesn’t appear much in “Young Justice,” but he is invested in the role.
Hilariously, his Joker disparages the Riddler, because, in the world of “Young Justice,” the Riddler gets more press than the Joker. Spiner would go on to play the Riddler in the more kid-friendly 2018 traditional superhero series “Justice League Action”, the last series in which Kevin Conroy (Batman) was a main player. Spiner was only in one episode of “Justice League Action” and two episodes of “Young Justice,” but the credits are worth bragging about.
Spiner’s most recent work included reprising the role of Bob Wheeler in “Night Court” and playing parallel universe Data in “Star Trek: Lower Decks.”
