Michael Dorn is one of the first actors of the modern “Star Trek” era to enjoy a second act as his Klingon character, Worf, who joined “Deep Space Nine” with its fourth season in 1995, the year after “The Next Generation” concluded its run. Shimerman and Dorn co-starred together on “Deep Space Nine” for the next four years, and Shimerman said at the convention that Dorn remains one of his closest friends and that they see each other “on a regular basis.” So his comment about wanting to be paid as much as Dorn appears to be more of an offhand joke — laced with a bit of truth, maybe, from an actor who knows his value playing a profit-minded Ferengi.

In 2018, someone wanted so badly to see Shimerman in full Quark regalia again that they paid a generous sum to fly him and his original “Deep Space Nine” makeup artist, Karen Weserfield, out to Birmingham, England, to appear at another “Trek” convention. So Quark has already reappeared at least once in a real-life capacity, and it remains to be seen whether that will translate into a canonical, live-action “Trek” appearance for Quark or other “Deep Space Nine” characters.

René Auberjonois, who played Quark’s Changeling nemesis, Odo, sadly died in late 2019, but there are other surviving “DS9” characters that it might be good to see again, such as Nana Visitor’s Kira, Alexander Siddig’s Dr. Bashir, or even Avery Brooks’ Captain Sisko, who ended the series with a promise to return in “maybe a year, maybe yesterday.” Until then, a simple HD remaster for “Deep Space Nine” would be nice, and in the meantime, we’ll be watching the skies — and “Lower Decks,” of course — for signs of animated Klingon and Ferengi life.