Star Trek: Prodigy Wants to Be More Than Just a Voyager Sequel

This Star Trek: Prodigy article contains spoilers.

Even though it got seven full seasons, Star Trek: Voyager still has a reputation as lesser Trek. However, in the decades since Captain Janeway brought her crew back home from the Delta Quadrant in 2001, Voyager has become a fan-favorite. So beloved is Voyager that Trekkies have thrilled to see the return of some of the cast, including Seven of Nine and Tuvok on Picard.

More than Picard or Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy has functioned as a Voyager sequel series. The story begins with a bunch of kids in the Delta Quadrant finding a ship once captained by Chakotay; Janeway (as both an Admiral and a hologram) plays a major role in the series; and the Doctor joined the main crew in the latest season.

Yet, despite all of these connections, Prodigy creators Kevin and Dan Hageman don’t want to limit themselves to just Voyager. “[O]ur show is not just a Voyager sequel,” Kevin told TrekMovie. “We are celebrating and introducing new people to everything about Star Trek.”

Those comments make sense given the kid focus of the series. As an animated show made for Nickelodeon (before moving to Netflix), Prodigy aims to appeal to the next generation of Trekkies. Limiting themselves too much to Voyager‘s characters or plotlines would not only alienate people who weren’t even born until 10 years after that show ended, but would also do a disservice to the rest of the Trek universe.

“[T]here should be some Lower Decks, there should be some TOS in there,” Kevin continued. “We wanted Tribbles in an episode, Klingons, The Mirror Universe —all these things that make Trek wonderful.”

“I think fans feel like the Trek world is real. And we think it’s real too,” added Dan. “So we are treating it as like this is all at one time. This is what’s going on in the year 2385.”

While Prodigy did redeem one of Voyager‘s most difficult characters with a great Chakotay subplot and even dropped a reference to Mirror Universe Tuvix, the series also continued the story of Wesley Crusher from The Next Generation, giving viewers a reunion missing from Picard.

That said, there is one Voyager character who fans would like the show to check in on at some point, one that Picard showrunner Terry Matalas claimed he couldn’t use for the final season of that series as he didn’t want to step on Prodigy‘s toes: Harry Kim. Played by Garrett Wang, Kim began Voyager as an Ensign and ended Voyager as an Ensign, despite his more reckless pal Tom Paris moving up and down in rank during the seven seasons. Non-canonical material and occasional references have suggested that Harry becomes a Captain, but nothing there’s nothing in canon to confirm the promotion.

“I feel bad that Garrett Wang didn’t get his pips,” Dan admitted, after he and Kevin clarified that they didn’t prevent Picard from using Harry Kim. “Season 3 is called ‘The Kim Collective,’ so we’ll see,” Dan quips.

Jokes or otherwise, it would be nice to see Harry Kim get enshrined with a higher ranking. Even if Prodigy isn’t a direct Voyager sequel, it’s still the best series for Kim to get a proper end to his story, a story that still feels unfinished 23 years after the finale.

Star Trek: Prodigy is now streaming on Netflix.