‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Sees ‘Voyager’ Return – But Where Will It Live?
Star Trek: Prodigy‘s future is beginning to look bright again with a classic character return. But that future is still uncertain.
We are living in strange Star Trek times. On the one hand, the streaming era ushered in more Star Trek shows running concurrently than ever before. But the last few years have seen a swift end to many of them. Picard is over. Discovery ends next year. And in the most stunning move, Paramount not only canceled Prodigy, it removed the series from Paramount+ entirely.
And yet despite all that (and in the middle of a massive SAG/WGA strike), there’s good news coming from the Prodigy camp. At this year’s Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, showrunners the Hageman brothers shed some light on the future. We know that most (if not all, at this point) of Star Trek: Prodigy is in the can.
What we do not know, is what the shape of that season is. Or we didn’t, until now. Because the Hageman’s shared the first clip from the show’s second season–and it features a very familiar face.
Courtesy of Paramount
I’m a Doctor, Not a Preview
Some time passes between season one and season two. We pick up with our heroes (minus Gwyn) as they unite once more for a mission with Admiral Janeway. Everyone seems more or less than the same. Dal seems a little more restless and Jankom is trying his best to be cleaner and more polite.
But Janeway is not who brings the crew aboard their new vessel. Instead, they meet Voyager’s very own Emergency Medical Hologram–the Doctor (Robert Picardo). The Doctor brings the crew up to speed. Their mission is to investigate the wormhole they created last season. On the other side of the wormhole is Gwyn’s home world Solum 52 years in the future. And Chakotay is still there.
This is an opportunity to rescue Chakotay as well as find out why the Federation’s involvement with Solum leads to such a terrible future. Perhaps the future can even be altered.
In order to take on such an intense mission, Janeway selects a familiar ship. Not the Protostar. Voyager. Or Voyager-A to be specific. This new version of Janeway’s ship includes all the modern bells and whistles as well as every piece of tech the original Voyager picked up from the Delta Quadrant.
It’s a huge deal and a fun blending of Trek’s past and future. You can watch the entire clip here.
Courtesy of Paramount
Where Will Star Trek: Prodigy Live?
There are a lot of questions concerning Star Trek: Prodigy‘s future. Given the Doctor’s return, will any of the other original Voyager crew be stationed aboard this new iteration? B’Elanna, Paris, and Kim are all possibilities. What about Tuvok? Is he already an admiral? Will Neelix once again act as Janeway’s ambassador? And given this era, can we expect a pre-Starfleet Seven of Nine to appear?
Those are all in-universe questions. But the more pressing matter concerns Prodigy‘s future in our world. After all, it’s no longer on Paramount Plus. And while the Hageman’s are confident that Prodigy will find a home, the question is where?
Let’s run through where we can reasonably assume Prodigy will not wind up. Smaller streaming services like Roku or Tubi are unlikely. Using cheaper, lesser-known services will dilute the brand. Disney+ is also unlikely as the service deals essentially solely in what Disney already owns. And both Apple+ and Peacock are not doing well enough that paying distribution rights for someone else’s content seems terribly likely.
That leaves us with Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. All of these are possible. Netflix often buys distribution for animated properties. Hulu, while partly owned by Disney has lots of animation on it as well. And Amazon Prime is where much of Star Trek streamed outside of the United States and Canada for years.
However…
Courtesy of CBS Television
Home Again, Home Again
Max (formerly HBO Max) is famous for filming and then never releasing Batgirl. There’s a reason we didn’t even bother listing them as a possible home for Star Trek: Prodigy. If they can’t even afford to release their own content, there’s little hope they’ll pay to release someone else’s.
However, while Paramount seems to have made a similar bargain, we don’t actually know if they cannot legally or financially pick Prodigy back up again. All things being equal, that is the best option for the show and its fans. After all, where better for the series to live than with the rest of Star Trek television?
And it’s very possible Paramount Plus will be Prodigy‘s once and future home. After all, with the WGA and SAG strikes still going, all production for Star Trek (along with everything else) is on hold. Yes, Star Trek: Lower Decks is on the way in September and DISCO is set for 2024, but then sign o what?
Trek is a huge part of what keeps Paramount Plus alive, but no actors and no writers mean no more Trek until those folks get paid a fair wage. And there’s no sign of that happening any time soon.
So if Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 really is done, the smartest thing for Paramount to do is welcome the series back. Otherwise, they have nothing to air. Fingers crossed that, in addition to workers finally getting their due, Prodigy gets it as well.
