Summary
Star Trek: Prodigycreators and executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman set out to right the wrongsStar Trek: The Next Generationinflicted on Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). Wesley was a derided part ofTNG,and the boy genius who often saved the USS Enterprise-D didn’t endear himself to viewers at the time, nor was Crusher’s character best served byTNG’s writers. InStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, however,Wesley Crusher is the ‘original prodigy’who is integral to the story of repairing the brokenStar Trektimelines.Wesley achieves his full potential as a Traveler and, as aStar Trek legacy character fans have waited decades to see treated properly inStar Trek.
In an interview withTrekMovieaboutStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, Kevin and Dan Hageman spoke about how bringing in Wesley Crusher allowed the animated series to"be at the adult table"and tie even more directly into the greaterStar Trekcanon. Dan Hageman specifically spoke about the unsatisfying endingStar Trek: The Next Generationgave Wesley, and howStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2 is “making up for it.“Read Dan’s quote below:
Dan Hageman: I would say they did Wesley Crusher wrong–how they finished Wesley Crusher on TNG–and we are making up for it. TNG just had him stop the frame and walk off and never gave him any closure. We’re taking that baton and doing something with it.
Star Trek Reveals Wesley Crusher Has Been To J.J. Abrams' Kelvin Timeline & Gave It A New Name
Wesley Crusher lives up to being a Traveler, and Wes reveals he’s visited - and named - the alternate Kelvin reality of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies.
Why Wesley Crusher’s Star Trek: TNG Ending Was Unsatisfying
Star Trek: Prodigy is doing Wesley Crusher right
WhenWil Wheaton leftStar Trek: The Next Generation,Wesley Crusher’s character was already a troubled Starfleet Cadet who took part in the cover-up of a classmate’s death. Wesley returned inTNGseason 7 to say goodbye to the show as he accepted a greater cosmic destiny as one of the Travelers. However,audiences (and Wil Wheaton himself) wondered for over 30 years what Wesley did as a Traveler.Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2 finally delivered on Wesley Crusher’s promise as a Traveler, and as a character.
Wil Wheaton cameoed as Wesley Crusher, who was inexplicably back in a Starfleet uniform, inStar Trek: Nemesis.
Wesley Crusher didn’t quite work as the USS Enterprise-D’s resident boy genius, nor did he click as a member of Starfleet, which made hisStar Trek: The Next Generationtenure unsatisfying. Yet decades passing can do wonders, especially whenStar Trek: Prodigy’s Kevin and Dan Hageman had the ambition to present the best version of Wesley CrusherStar Trekhas ever seen. Motormouthed and scatterbrained, but ingenious and heroic,Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2’s Wesley Crusher does make up for his mistreatment byStar Trek: The Next Generation, and it’s obvious Wil Wheaton truly enjoyed playing Wesley again.
