Editor's Note: The interview below contains major spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2.
The Big Picture
- The Hageman brothers discuss their work on Star Trek: Prodigy , including the return of beloved characters and the naming of a character after Majel Barrett.
- They touch on the possibility of a Season 3 and the significance of reaching a broader audience through animation.
- The Hageman brothers also briefly mention their work on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2 , which is currently in production limbo.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 has officially arrived on Netflix, and with it, the beloved animated series has delivered some of the best Star Trek storytelling in years. As we say later on in this interview, Season 2 is very much a love letter to the entire franchise, past and present. Prodigy has always been a perfectly crafted series that appeals to newcomers to the franchise and serves as a beautiful homecoming for longtime fans of the series. Season 2 picks up shortly after the close of Season 1, with Dal (Brett Gray), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), Zero (Angus Imrie), and Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) adjusting to their new roles as official Starfleet cadets. Dal is also still reeling from the loss of Gwyn (Ella Purnell) as she embarks on her quest to prevent Solum’s future civil war.
Ahead of the premiere, I had the opportunity to chat with its creators, Dan and Kevin Hageman, for the fourth time, and this conversation was just as delightful as the rest. We discussed how they balanced all of the timelines that unravel in Season 2, how they turned a dork like Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) into a time-traveling heartthrob, whether Dal and Gwyn still have a romantic future now that their roles have changed aboard the Protostar, the development of the new character Ma'jel, and what the status of Season 3 is now that Paramount+ has off-loaded the series to Netflix. Read on for the full transcript of our conversation below—which includes a minor update on the long-awaited Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark sequel.
COLLIDER: First and foremost, I have to congratulate you both on a fantastic season of television. I felt so many emotions watching seasons. I laughed, I cried. I felt all the things.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Good, good, good. I'm so happy.
DAN HAGEMAN: It's so nice because these are the first reactions we're getting, so it's a fun day to talk to people.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Yeah, you are the first.
I love that. The first episode had me crying, the last episode had me crying. As a Voyager fan and a Prodigy fan, it felt like a field day. Truly.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Good! Thank you so much.
Star Trek: Prodigy
TV-Y7Animation Sci-FiActionAdventureA group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy.
Release Date October 28, 2021 Creator Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman Cast Kate Mulgrew , Ella Purnell , Brett Gray , Jason Mantzoukas , Jimmi Simpson , Jameela Jamil , Daveed Diggs , Dee Bradley Baker Main Genre Animation Seasons 2 Franchise Star Trek Streaming Service(s) Netflix Showrunner Dan Hageman , Kevin Hageman ExpandHow 'Star Trek: Prodigy' Turned Wesley Crusher Into Their Very Own Doctor Who
Right out of the gate, I want to know, how did you keep all of the timelines and the time travel straight? Does somebody have, like, a giant binder? Is there a board somewhere with red strings connecting everything together?
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Yes. At the end of Season 1, we were starting to put this stuff together because we knew if we ever did a Season 2, you had Gwyn going to current Solum, you had Chakotay in future Solum. So we, as a writers’ room, were drawing it out on the whiteboard. It was some ridiculous drawing. But thank god, we went to our doctor, Erin Macdonald, our science advisor, and she, as our theoretical physicist, took this and was like, “Yeah, this could work!” She did a much better drawing for us, like, “Yes! We can do this.” [Laughs]
So it's really applying actual science to the idea of multiple timelines and all of that essentially?
DAN HAGEMAN: I think it's our love, too, of all time travel stories where sometimes, when they get loosey-goosey with them, I don't necessarily buy that. But this was one where you've got a room full of Star Trek fans trying to figure out a time-travel season, so it was a lot of fun to dig into that and do it the best that we could.
I love how Wesley is essentially like a “Doctor Who” for the Star Trek Universe. It makes it so fun. Star Trek: Picard made me such a huge fan of Jack Crusher, and so the entire time that Wesley was bouncing around, I'm like, “Does he know about his brother?” When we do get that reveal towards the end, where he gets to meet his brother, it had me thinking, how on your side are you keeping things straight? I think Star Trek: Picard, the final season, was in development at the same time that Season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy was in development. What are those conversations like behind the scenes, making sure that shows and development in tandem are on the same page with these kinds of story elements?
DAN HAGEMAN: We were in conversation with Terry [Matalas] and talking about it. We were trying to figure out how old Jack was at that time. We were trying to figure out where we were because we knew we wanted the wrap-up of Wesley to be with his mother. That was the thing, where it’d be kind of weird if she didn’t say, like, “Oh, you've got a brother there, Wesley.” So, luckily we were doing it at the right place at the right time, and it all worked out.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Even the team on Picard heard that we were really gonna be using Wesley, and so they very graciously called up and said, “We were hoping to do a little cameo for him too. What are you guys doing with him?” So, we were in sync. And I'm really proud and so happy now that the world can see that we're bringing Wesley back. I think a lot of the other shows were maybe scared to touch Wesley because he became this character…
DAN HAGEMAN: Too powerful.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: No rules, all power. What do you do with this character? But we loved that challenge. We wanted to make it that he’s not just a super being, but, my gosh, it must be a lot going on in his head. It's probably a little damaging, and it's hard to keep it together. So, I love his character in this.
DAN HAGEMAN: We talked about his ending in TNG and how he just walks off the stage, and we're like, “He's gotta have a better ending. He's gotta have more.”
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Yeah, he deserves more.
DAN HAGEMAN: He’s Wesley Crusher. We can't treat him like this.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: He's like the original prodigy, so we need him in our show.
I love his character design. I was so impressed by how everything about him felt like I was actually watching Wil Wheaton on screen. I had to keep reminding myself, “This is animation. This isn't actually a flesh-and-bone being.” Can you talk a little bit about your decision for how the character would look and how he would dress? He's got more swagger than I've pictured Wesley having.
DAN HAGEMAN: We talked a little bit about a Doctor Who/Willy Wonka — some guy whose mind would be fritzed. And in playing into that scruffiness, he had to have a sweater. I mean, it starts with a sweater. I think even, like, the fabric of time, the tapestry, was inspired by his sweaters. I think we wanted the scene, too, that we never got to where Rok got one of his sweaters, and it fits her. [Laughs]
KEVIN HAGEMAN: If you remember, one of our writers, Jen Muro, she grew up with Next Gen. She had a poster of Crusher on her wall.
DAN HAGEMAN: She's friends with him now, too.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Yeah, she's close friends with him now. But it was just like, “How do we make them a fun heartthrob?” But also, I love the Doctor Who of it all, how very discombobulated he is. He's really an unstable and almost trustworthy mentor to come into these kids’ lives. [Laughs]
DAN HAGEMAN: I need to ask because we have yet to see the audience's reaction because you guys are the first people to see it, but did it work? When did you know it was going to be Wesley?
I didn't at first! My mom and I were having a conversation where we were like, “Who is this entity that's talking to them?” And I think my mom was the one that was like, “Maybe it's Wesley,” and I was like, “I don't know, maybe it is.” Because, I mean, we had that tag in Picard that he's a traveler now, and I was hoping for it. Then the reveal just worked so well.
DAN HAGEMAN: Because his voice is recognizable with the entity ball thing.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: But he's so good when he steps out for that big reveal. Wil was a monster in the recording booth. I think he was so excited.
DAN HAGEMAN: A monster in a good way, Kevin.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Oh, yeah! He was amazing. He was so excited to bring his character back, and he really loved what we were doing.
DAN HAGEMAN: And really to take it to a new place, too.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Yeah, he loved it. He always elevated everything.
I love what Prodigy has been able to do with these characters that we love, like Wesley and Chakotay and Janeway. It’s like a complete second life in this series. It's been a lot of joy to experience it.
DAN HAGEMAN: It's like all love letters.
It is! That's such an overstated statement to make, like, “This is a love letter to something,” but it truly is!
DAN HAGEMAN: Yeah, Chakotay’s got a cowboy hat. He’s gruff.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: [Laughs] Oh, I love grizzled Chakotay.
Where Does Season 2 Leave Gwyn and Dal's Relationship?
CloseOh, I know. Oh, gosh, it was so good. Being me, I have to ask, as the number-one shipper of Gwyn and Dal, are they now doomed to the narrative that captains and number ones never actually get to commit to their excellent chemistry? I’m really curious about that.
DAN HAGEMAN: That was a big conversation with Kate [Mulgrew], too, in the relationship with Janeway and Chakotay. I guess it's a little different for Gwyn and Dal because they knew each other before they held their positions.
We just got something similar to that over in Picard with Seven and Raffi, so I was like, “Not another duo that I love so much being doomed to the captain/number one!” [Laughs]
KEVIN HAGEMAN: I wouldn't say doomed. If we ever get the chance to do a Season 3, you know, we want to grow up with these characters. It wouldn't be picking up the next day — we would love to have a year or two go by and let's start seeing them all growing up. And I think there's a wonderful conflict there between Dal and Gwyn. There are emotions, there is a past, and they are serving positions of leadership on this ship. What happens? I would love to dive into that.
Ultimately, Star Trek is a workplace story, and so many of the best relationships in television shows have come out of the workplace dynamics.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: I know. I hope people watch it. I hope there's a future.
I definitely hope for a Season 3. There was another dynamic that was introduced in Season 2 that I really loved. I loved everything with Z's journey through this season. I love that they got to experience touch and all of these things. I was noticing there's a little bit of a hint of a flirtation maybe between Z and Ma’jel. Was that something I should have been picking up on?
DAN HAGEMAN: Absolutely.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Oh, absolutely. They have this great affinity toward each other.
DAN HAGEMAN: They can read each other’s minds. We just thought that was such an interesting connection. You would naturally gravitate towards someone who can read your mind. [Laughs]
KEVIN HAGEMAN: And, I'm sorry, they're teenagers! They're all teenage characters. Come on.
Exactly!
KEVIN HAGEMAN: We all know what it's like to be a teenager. [Laughs] I haven't forgotten yet.
I also wanted to talk about Ma’jel as a character. I love when series get the opportunity to name a character after somebody who is such a prominent and important figure in the history of a franchise. Can you both talk about the decision to name Ma'jel after Majel [Barrett]?
DAN HAGEMAN: I'm not sure who had the idea.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: I don't know who in the writers’ room — it wasn't us. It was someone else, but it just made so much sense. It was a great nod. It just sounded right, too, for her as a character. It was easy to say, too. It rolls off the lips. Sometimes you come up with names for Star Trek and it's really clunky.
DAN HAGEMAN: Like adding the apostrophe to the name Ma’jel. Michaela Dietz…
KEVIN HAGEMAN: Who's the voice actress for her. I mean, to try to get a voice actor, for her to try to tackle doing a Vulcan, like at least in live-action, you could have these beautiful subtleties. It's so hard in animation, especially in a TV show pipeline. So, her voice, how Vulcans speak, but to try to emote still, very subtly, in it, it's really a challenge, and she was just awesome. She knocked it out of the park for us.
What Is the Status of 'Star Trek: Prodigy' Season 3?
I know we've talked a little bit about Season 3 here, but what is the status of Season 3? What do fans need to do aside from watching to ensure that the most noise is out there that we need a Season 3? We need to see what happens on Mars! We need to see where this story is going.
DAN HAGEMAN: I think Season 3 is outside the sphere, much like the Federation outside Utopia Planitia, and outside the streaming wars. So, we'll see what happens. It feels like if the fans show up and there's an appetite there, I mean, Kevin and I have always dreamt of writing Season 3. Even if it's not something that comes soon, even later, I think tonally it translates itself to live-action. So, I could see something, like, 10 to 15 years down the road, after all the Trek fans finally get over, their fear of animation and check it out and start wanting it. It could be a possibility then, too.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: I always say we're so happy and relieved to have the Star Trek community embrace this show and see what it truly is. I think now, on Netflix, it's about reaching outside of that sphere, right? It's reaching kids who maybe all they know is growing up on Star Wars and getting them introduced to Star Trek.
It kills me that people don't give enough credit to animation because some of the best storytelling I've encountered in the last decade has come from animated series and animated movies.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: It's exactly the same as live-action. There's no difference when you're on the page.
For my final question as we wrap up, I wouldn't be me if I didn't ask about Scary Stories [to Tell in the Dark] 2. How are things progressing with that? Are you getting any closer to it happening? I know with the strikes last year that definitely put a damper on a lot of projects, but where are we on that one?
DAN HAGEMAN: I don’t know. I think we’re in the dark.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: It’s stalled right now. We actually don't know. We wrote a draft, Guillermo [del Toro] had a story direction of where to take it…
DAN HAGEMAN: We can't go too much into it, Kevin.
KEVIN HAGEMAN: No, we can't go into it, but we wrote something, and that's the last we know. We know a lot of people liked it, but we also know that nothing's happening right now. [Laughs] We’re in the dark with you guys.
Star Trek: Prodigy is streaming now on Netflix.
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