Star Trek: Prodigy Creators Reveal New Details on Animated Series
15With Star Trek: Prodigy launching on Paramount+ with a one-hour episode on October 28th, I recently spoke to director and co-executive producer Ben Hibon and executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman about making the new animated series. Aimed at a much younger audience, Star Trek: Prodigy will follow a group of children and teenagers who try to escape the hard life of a mining colony after discovering the U.S.S Protostar. The Federation ship might be their ticket to a better life, but the ragtag team will first have to learn to act as a real crew as they’re guided by a hologram of Captain Janeway (voiced by Kate Mulgrew).
While some Star Trek fans might be wondering why Paramount is launching a series aimed at kids and teens, I think it’s a really smart idea. If you want an IP like Star Trek to attract new viewers and keep growing year after year, you can’t rely on the same people to tune in. You need to appeal to a new generation of fans.
Think about what Lucasfilm and Disney have been doing with all the Star Wars animated series. Not only did they give some children their first exposure to Star Wars, they sold a lot of toys and merchandise, and adults also tuned in. Star Trek: Prodigy has the chance to do the same thing for Paramount. I think if you’re a fan of Star Trek, you want kids getting excited when an adult talks about the Federation, or who their favorite captain is.
The voice cast of Star Trek: Prodigy also includes Brett Gray (Dal, 17 years old and an unknown species who fancies himself a maverick and holds strong onto his unwavering hope), Ella Purnell (Gwyn, a 17-year-old Vau N’Akat who was raised on her father’s bleak mining planet and grew up dreaming to explore the stars), Angus Imrie (Zero, a Medusan: a noncorporeal, genderless, energy-based lifeform who wears a containment suit to protect others from viewing their true face), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk, a Brikar and a shy, but unusually bright eight-year-old girl), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf, an endearing, indestructible blob with curiously good timing and an insatiable appetite for ship parts), and Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog, a 16-year-old Tellarite who will always play devil’s advocate for the sake of hearing all sides).
During the interview, Ben Hibon, Kevin Hageman, and Dan Hageman talked about what they’re most looking forward to people seeing on the new series, getting to make a series aimed at a new generation of fans, how the show takes place in the same universe as Star Trek: Picard, if the antagonist of the first episode will be the villain of the series, how each season will wrap up a storyline while opening the door to a new season, what they would have done if Kate Mulgrew had said no, and more.
Ben Hibon, Kevin Hageman, and Dan Hageman
Why did it take so long for Paramount to make a Star Trek show aimed at a younger generation?
Will the antagonist of the first episode be the villain of the entire show or will each season have its own villain?
How each season should wrap up the conflict and open the door to the next one.
How the show takes place in the same universe as Star Trek: Picard.
What would have happened if Kate Mulgrew had said no?
What are they most looking forward to people seeing on Prodigy?
Here's the official synopsis for Star Trek: Prodigy:
The CG-animated series STAR TREK: PRODIGY is the first “Star Trek” series aimed at younger audiences and will follow a motley crew of young aliens who must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search for a better future. These six young outcasts know nothing about the ship they have commandeered – a first in the history of the Star Trek franchise – but over the course of their adventures together, they will each be introduced to Starfleet and the ideals it represents.
#StarTrekProdigy #StarTrek #Interview
For interviews, movie reviews, and more visit https://collider.com
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL
https://twitter.com/collider
https://instagram.com/collider
https://facebook.com/collider