Star Trek‘s animated series took over San Diego Comic-Con 2021 with the casts of Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks offering plenty of details about their upcoming seasons. Although Paramount+’s live-action series, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are nearing completion on the production of their next seasons, only Prodigy and Lower Decks got center stage at Comic-Con to celebrate the franchise going all-in on animation.
Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks represent opposite sides of Star Trek‘s animated coin. Star Trek’s first adult-oriented half-hour animated comedy, Lower Decks season 1 premiered in 2020 and was met with a skeptical fandom that was largely won over by the crew of the USS Cerritos’ ribald hijinks. Despite being the most tonally different Trek, Lower Decks still honored the characters, concepts, and tropes of the Star Trek franchise. Lower Decks season 1 also wove in beloved legacy characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation like Q (John de Lancie) and especially Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who came to the Cerritos’ rescue aboard his starship, the USS Titan, in Lower Decks‘ season 1 finale. Riker even poached Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) from the Cerritos, creating a rift between him and his best friend left behind, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome).
Produced as a joint venture between CBS/Paramount and Nickelodeon Studios, Star Trek: Prodigy represents the franchise’s first attempt to create a Star Trek show specifically targeted towards a young audience. Prodigy is set in 2393, about four years after Star Trek: Nemesis and three years after Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1, and it’s the first Star Trek series starring a group of non-Starfleet Star Trek aliens. However, Prodigy boasts its own legacy character, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) from Star Trek: Voyager. Janeway appears as a hologram to guide Prodigy‘s youthful heroes, Gwyn (Ella Purnell), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), Dal (Brett Gray), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), Murf (Dee Bradley Baker), and Zero (Angus Imrie), as they warp into new adventures aboard a commandeered Federation starship.
Both Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy unveiled new trailers at their San Diego Comic-Con @ Home panels, which featured the casts and showrunners, Mike McMahan of Lower Decks, and Kevin and Dan Hageman, who created Prodigy, respectively. The panels were hosted by Jerry O’Connell, who plays Commander Jack Ransom on Lower Decks. Here’s everything we learned about Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks from San Diego Comic-Con @ Home 2021.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s Release Date
Star Trek: Prodigy‘s teaser trailer announced the series premieres on Paramount+ in fall 2021. Prodigy will then air on Nickelodeon sometime before season 2 premieres. The fact that Prodigy drops so soon is a bit surprising because it now follows Lower Decks, which premieres August 12 on Paramount+. This means Star Trek will run back-to-back animated series for the first time in its history. It also begs the question of when Star Trek: Discovery season 4 premieres (season 3 launched October 2020 right after Lower Decks season 1 wrapped). With Prodigy sliding into the fall 2021 slot, it could mean Discovery season 4 may be pushed back to winter 2022 with Strange New Worlds season 1 and Picard season 2 coming later next year.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s New Starship
Star Trek: Prodigy’s teaser finally revealed the Federation starship the young aliens commandeer and it’s the USS Protostar (NX-76884). The Protostar appears to be a brand-new 24th-century Starfleet ship and the NX designation means it’s an experimental vessel. The Protostar was apparently lost in space and crashed in the Delta Quadrant where Star Trek: Prodigy is set. Luckily, the Protostar comes with an emergency hologram of Captain Janeway, who knows the Delta Quadrant well after seven years of exploring it in Star Trek: Voyager. The Protostar’s design includes a saucer section and nacelles but its bridge has a huge dome instead of being enclosed like other Starfleet ships.
What We Learned About Star Trek: Prodigy’s Characters & Story
At the Star Trek: Prodigy panel, Kate Mulgrew revealed that the “devastatingly beautiful” hologram of Captain Janeway is Janeway at her best. Her role is to guide Star Trek: Prodigy‘s cast of young aliens and get them to a better place “in a different galaxy,” so this could mean Janeway will attempt to lead the Protostar back to Federation space.
Star Trek: Prodigy begins with the six aliens imprisoned in a mining colony overseen by Gwyn’s father. Finding the derelict Protostar and piloting it away launches the ragtag young crew on the adventure of their lives where they learn the ideals of Starfleet. Another tidbit dropped is that Klingon will be spoken on the show and Star Trek: Prodigy hired an official Klingon translator to help with the dialogue. Meanwhile, Dal plays “vocal tricks” on Janeway and the kids will defy conventions while looking at Star Trek with a new lens since they’re the first crew comprised of Starfleet outsiders.
Jerry O’Connell’s Admiral Janeway Gaffe
Jerry O’Connell accidentally committed a major faux pas when he called Mulgrew’s heroine “Vice Lieutenant Janeway” instead of her proper Star Trek rank, Vice Admiral. Prodigy‘s cast took O’Connell to task for his mistake. O’Connell profusely apologized a few times, and the moment was smoothed over when unexpected surprise guests also popped by the Star Trek: Prodigy panel: O’Connell’s wife, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck, who play Number One and Mr. Spock on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2: The USS Cerritos’ New Security Chief
The USS Cerritos has a new Security Chief: Lieutenant Kayshon, voiced by Carl Kart, who will be introduced in the Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 episode, “Keyshon, His Eyes Open.” The Cerritos’ previous Security Chief, Lt. Shaxs (Paul Tatasciore), sacrificed himself to save his ship in Lower Decks’ season 1 finale. Meanwhile, as a Tamarian, Keyshon mostly speaks in memes and metaphors, which is bound to hilariously confound and frustrate the Cerritos’ crew. Tamarians, also known as The Children of Tama, were introduced in the classic TNG episode “Darmok.”
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2’s Legacy Character Cameos
Lower Decks season 2 will bring in a major legacy character cameo from Star Trek: Voyager: Lieutenant Tom Paris, who will be voiced by Robert Duncan McNeil. Paris appears on a talking Starfleet collector’s plate owned by Brad Boimler. Amusingly, the Tom Paris collector’s plate is now a real-life item on sale, although the real thing doesn’t talk like the plate on Lower Decks. Further, Jeffrey Combs, who has played numerous Star Trek characters, will voice an evil computer in Lower Decks season 2. Mike McMahan hinted that there will be even more legacy characters to come.
Meanwhile, Lower Decks season 2’s trailer showed glimpses of new aliens as well as familiar Star Trek races like Cardassians, Nausicaans, and even a Crystalline Entity. The Lower Decks crew also visit a casino planet and find that DS9‘s Quark (Armin Shimerman) has franchised his bar, similar to the Quark’s Bar the cast of Star Trek: Picard visited on Freecloud.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 Will Show New Starfleet Uniforms
There will also be new Starfleet uniforms shown in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2. Tawny Newsome excitedly teased new duds worn by the Lower Deckers, expanding on how Lower Decks season 1 showed different uniforms worn by the crew of the Cerritos and the crew of the USS Titan. The new uniforms referred to could be the white dress uniforms first worn in Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis but the Cerritos’s Starfleet Officers may also be getting a new look similar to how Star Trek: Discovery season 4 is adopting new uniforms.
Details About Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2’s Characters & Story
As Mike McMahan said, Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1 ended with “a lot of bills to pay,” i.e. plot threads season 2 will immediately follow up. First, Ensign Boimler will remain aboard the Titan and have some death-defying experiences with Captain Riker before he reports back to the Cerritos. McMahan also teased that Lower Decks season 2 will balance the serious and silly sides of Star Trek, noting that those serving on Starfleet ships never know if they’ll encounter the Jem’Hadar or meet an alien who traps them in a game.
In addition, the Pakleds will return in season 2; the scavenging aliens from TNG turned into a major threat in season 1, but McMahan also said that since the Cerritos doesn’t go on the top missions, it may be Captain Riker and the Titan who mops up the Pakled problem in season 2. As for Ensign Mariner, the crew of the Cerritos learned that Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) is her mother last season, and the two of them trying to work together will put a wrench in Mariner’s attempts to rebel in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2.
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