Star Trek: Prodigy’s Franchise Connections Will Go Beyond Voyager

If Picard is the continuation of the story begun in Star Trek: The Next Generation, then Prodigy is shaping up to be the narrative successor to Star Trek: Voyager. We’ve known for a while that the animated series, created in partnership with Nickelodeon, would bring back Kate Mulgrew as a holographic version of her Captain Janeway character, but subsequent updates—such as the reveal that the series would take place in the Delta quadrant, or that Voyager cast member Robert Beltran would also be appearing on the show—hint at deeper connections between the two Star Trek series. Today, Paramount released the opening credits for the upcoming series (complete with a score from Star Trek 2009‘s Michael Giacchino), and it is Voyager through and through. Check it out…

A starship soaring past, through, and around the vibrant colors of the Delta quadrant, complete with vivid nebula clouds? Yeah, we’re getting Voyager vibes from this. Honestly, it’s nice to see a Trek sequence so intentionally playing up the potential wonder and beauty in space exploration. While Voyager didn’t actually lean into those themes, they are aspects of the Trek verse that has been downplayed in recent incarnations. Hopefully, Prodigy, with its stories of Delta quadrant kids finding a spaceship with a Janeway hologram and using it to make their way towards the Alpha quadrant—will lean into that space.

While the ties between Voyager and Prodigy are obvious, when asked about the connections during today’s TCA Paramount+ panel, series creators Dan and Kevin Hageman downplayed the connections between Voyager and Prodigy specifically, rather contextualizing the new series within the larger Star Trek world. “There may be some characters that these characters come across from Voyager,” said Dan Hageman, “but there are also other characters from the wide world of Gene Roddenberry.”

It sounds like Prodigy is looking to tie into other Star Trek series, not just Voyager. Given that the show is set in 2383, which means characters from Voyager, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, The Original Series, or even Lower Decks could all feasibly pop up. The Delta quadrant setting of the series may make rendezvouses tricky, but I have faith in the creativity of the Hagemans.

Regardless of which Trek characters may or may not pop up in Prodigy, Mulgrew’s Janeway is at the heart of this show. When asked about bringing the iconic character back, Mulgrew said: “Star Trek is never far from me. Janeway defined an era for me, and as it turns out, the rest of my life … I love her. When a character defines a part of her life, you are in turn greatly deeply, which I am. She has never left me and I am thrilled to be back and to be introducing this to children.”

As for how different the Hologram Janeway will be from the live-action Janeway we knew and loved, Mulgrew doesn’t see any difference, saying the holographic version will be “full of her humanity and full of her levity,” and that she has endowed the character with the “same deep sense of self-command, but great fun.” She teased that Janeway is delighted to be helping these kids trying to make their way across the universe, adding: “She’s going to love them, whether they like it or not.”

Star Trek: Prodigy is slated to premiere on Paramount+ sometime this fall.