A Familiar Face Returns to Star Trek Franchise

  |  
Oct 12, 2021
Image Courtesy of @treknews1 on Twitter.

In the upcoming animated Star Trek installment, Prodigy, a former cast member is back.

Robert Beltran of Star Trek: Voyager fame is that man. He’ll once again fill the role of Captain Chakotay when the series kicks off at the end of October.

And that’s quite the promo for the next sect of Star Trek universe.

Chakotay was the first prominently cast Native American character in the franchise, although Robert Beltran is of Mexican-American descent.

Chakotay began the series as a rebel on the run, and Voyager was tasked with capturing him. But events during the first episode result in Voyager, as well as Chakotay and his crew, being stranded on the far side of the galaxy, some 70,000 light-years from Earth. Shortly thereafter, he took on the role of second in command aboard Voyager.

During the later parts of TNG, the Federation negotiated a treaty with the Cardassians that involved surrendering several worlds on the border of Cardassian/Federation space. The human populations were to be relocated. However, drawing a parallel to American history, several of those worlds were populated by descendants of Native American tribes. The worlds were their homes, and they were not willing to leave. They chose to stay but faced many hardships under Cardassian rule and eventually formed a resistance known as the Maquis — Chakotay was originally a Starfleet officer but joined the Maquis.

Here’s a clip of Beltran in action during his Voyager stint:

Robert Beltran is the second confirmed actor returning from Voyager for Prodigy — the other Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Katharine Janeway.

Prodigy is described by IMDb.com like this: “A motley crew of young aliens must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search for a better future. These six young outcasts know nothing about the ship they have commandeered — a first in the history of the Star Trek Franchise.”

The new series can be watched on the streaming service Paramount Plus.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His odyssey with Star Trek starts from beginning to finish, watching ‘The Original Series,’ all the way to the present day. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).