Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 is now available with a Netflix subscription, and I believe it's the best serialized Trek story fans have ever been gifted. One major reason I think that is because the series brought back Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher in a big way. And, as CinemaBlend recently confirmed, this all came together before Picard ever re-introduced the character during its own second season. Now, we here at CB have learned the sweet reason why Wheaton was "thrilled" to be a part of the series after seemingly being forgotten by the franchise's shows after Wesley's exit in The Next Generation.
I had the honor of speaking to Prodigy's showrunners, brothers Kevin and Dan Hageman, about Wil Wheaton's return as Wesley, who I hope we see more of in upcoming Trek shows. As those who have watched the season know, Wesley plays the largest role he's had in a story since TNG, so I had to know how the actor felt about being involved in such a big way. Dan confirmed that the actor was as happy as I imagined he'd be, but the EP also revealed that there was a very personal reason for Wheaton's joy:
He was thrilled. He has a lot of strong feelings [about Prodigy] because he was a child actor and [being part] of a show that kids can watch. His nieces and nephews are huge fans and he would watch it with them and he loved watching it with them. When he found out he was going to be in it he was like, ‘I’m not going to tell them.’...they’re going to watch the show and he’s going to be sitting there beside them like, ‘Yep. I’m in it.’ That just tickled us to no end.
I went on a journey through Wil Wheaton's Tumblr to see if he'd posted about showing his nieces and nephews yet, but I wasn't able to see anything scrolling through. Of course, it's easy enough to imagine the thrill one might have being a child and seeing their uncle pop up on one of their favorite shows. I love that Wheaton gets to experience that joy, especially after dealing with Wesley-hating fans during his run on The Next Generation.
Star Trek: Prodigy pulls back the curtain back on what Wesley has been up to since joining the Travelers, and there's room to expand on it. My main focus is on hoping that Netflix renews the animated series for Season 3. However, I'd also campaign for a full-blown Travelers show or miniseries to be made and follow Crusher's exploits. Be it animated or live-action, that has the potential to be an awesome series I'd watch either on Netflix or with a Paramount+ subscription on day one.
If that isn't in the cards, how cool of Star Trek: Prodigy to make Wesley Crusher such a big part of the story? I hope that if Season 3 happens, he continues to pop up, as we're past due for another character in this universe with mystical powers. If Wil Wheaton's character becomes the new equivalent to Guinan or Q of this new era, that would be great.
In case it wasn't evident by now, Star Trek: Prodigy is worth streaming on Netflix. Season 1 is also available on the platform for those who have yet to tune in, and I'm hoping some Season 3 news will come along sooner rather than later.
