It took fans and stars like Anson Mount and Kate Mulgrew speaking out on its behalf, but, now, Star Trek: Prodigy will finally return to the streaming realm on Christmas day. The animated series has a new home on Netflix, with Season 1 premiering over the holidays and Season 2 dropping sometime in 2024. It's fantastic news but, of course, CinemaBlend wanted to get some clarification from the showrunners, the Hageman brothers, on the series' future beyond that.
At this point, plenty of fans would like to know if they can expect a third season of Prodigy to pop up among the slate of upcoming Star Trek shows sooner rather than later. I had the wonderful opportunity to chat with Kevin and Dan Hageman ahead of Season 1's premiere on Netflix and asked if Season 2 will be the definitive end of the series. During our conversation, Dan Hageman made a few points abundantly clear, and one of them is contingent upon a key factor:
There is no definitive end. Are we making season three? No, but can we make season three? Yes. I think a lot of this has to do with what type of appetite is there for Prodigy.
The good news here is that the Star Trek: Prodigy team is ready and willing to move forward if Netflix wants to produce more episodes. This is comforting to hear as a fan, especially after the series was unexpectedly canceled by Paramount+ midway through production on Season 2. Fans will surely also be excited now knowing that in addition to the unreleased unreleased season, future adventures could possibly head to the streamer as well.
But does a continuation of Star Trek: Prodigy necessarily mean Season 3 would be the solution? Not necessarily, according to Kevin Hageman, who talked out all the possibilities for the future while likening its journey as a series so far to the OG show that started this beloved sci-fi franchise:
I really hope and pray that when I look in hindsight at Star Trek: Prodigy, we were following in the footsteps of the original series. Where, yes, we were canceled, the fans fought, we got brought back and then there was new life, you know? Even with feature films and stuff like, you know, I think there's that hope. If we can get the people to watch, maybe it's a Season 3, maybe it's not. Maybe it's an animated feature. Maybe someday, a live-action feature.
Not long ago, it seemed like bringing animated characters to live-action Trek fare was a pipe dream. Now that we've seen the Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds crossover, however, and how actors like Tawny Newsome were able to adapt their characters to format, the idea of a live-action Prodigy production doesn't sound that wild. I still think my first choice for a continuation would be Season 3, but this Netflix subscriber is open to whatever allows for more stories to be told with the animated series' characters.
As far as what the Hageman brothers have thrown around, they have some fascinating ideas. One is to tell a story that's much longer than the standard episode of Star Trek: Prodigy by quite a large margin:
We have conversations with Ben Hibon, our director, all the time, and we get very excited at the plot of telling a two-hour story.
A two-hour story paired with a larger budget could be exciting, especially if it were to come after the events of Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2. Beyond the children's search for Chakotay in the alternate timeline, fans know they group will discover more about being proper members of Starfleet, and learn about working for the real Janeway. Suffice it to say, Dal probably won't be able to go as rogue as he often did on the Protostar, though all Starfleet greats tend to have a penchant for rebellious behavior.
Of course, perhaps before focusing on what might come down the road, fans should be sure to support the release of Season 1 and the eventual premiere of Season 2. The animated series stands to potentially find a larger audience over at the mega streamer, so here's hoping it's successful and is granted a long and entertaining future as a result.
Fire up Netflix on Christmas day and watch all of Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, and prepare for Season 2's eventual release as part of the 2024 TV schedule. I know I'll definitely be rewatching some of my favorite installments in between opening presents and trying to contain my excitement for the new season.
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