Kate Mulgrew Reveals What It Took For Her To Return As Janeway In Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy is being treated with suspicion by many fans. The CG animated show is created for younger audiences and will air on Nickelodeon, following a group of rebellious teenagers who steal a starship and head off on adventures of their own. But just because something is aimed at children that doesn’t mean it can’t be amazing – just look at the continued popularity of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Of course, interest in the show picked up when it was announced that Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Janeway would be returning, as it’ll be her first appearance since a cameo in Star Trek: Nemesis. It seems that she’ll be pursuing the runaway teens in Prodigy, too, meaning she’ll likely be playing a major role in the series.

But it seems that convincing her to return took some doing. Mulgrew recently unveiled a statue of Janeway in the character’s (future) birthplace of Bloomington, Indiana and during the event she answered questions and talked about how Star Trek TV head Alex Kurtzman won her over, saying:

“Well, frankly, the negotiations took quite a long time. When Alex Kurtzman presented me with this idea, I wasn’t entirely sure, and then over the months, the conversation evolved into what we could bring to an entirely new demographic of watchers. I thought the idea of bringing this to young minds was just too exciting, too evocative, and too promising.”

She then went on to describe her relationship with Janeway as a “perfect marriage,” explaining:

“By the seventh season, I belonged to her, and she belonged to me, and I carry this forward every day in the most unusual way. It’s a transcendent kind of reality.”

Beyond the general concept and Mulgrew’s involvement, we don’t know too much about Star Trek: Prodigy. The show is scheduled to debut sometime in October 2021, though the lack of any further casting announcements may indicate that it’s still in the early stages of development.

Ordinarily, I’d be a bit skeptical that this is going to be worth watching, but then again, I had similar doubts about Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous and that turned out to be surprisingly good. So, fingers crossed that the show manages to appeal to audiences of all ages and helps create the next generation of Star Trek fans.