Nickelodeon and CBS Television Studios have officially revealed the title and logo of their upcoming Star Trek series, Star Trek: Prodigy, scheduled to release in 2021. The Star Trek franchise is flourishing once again, with a spate of popular and critically acclaimed TV series streaming on CBS All Access. In addition to the usual live-action Star Trek TV shows, however, the franchise is returning to animation.
The upcoming Star Trek: Lower Decks is eagerly anticipated, a comedy featuring the unsung starship workers who do the day-to-day jobs in Starfleet. Suffice to say the USS Cerritos will be no USS Enterprise. In addition, in April 2019 CBS and Nickelodeon announced they were working on a new series featuring a group of lawless teens who discover a Federation starship, and take it for a spin. There's been no news of this project for over a year now - until SDCC 2020.
Nickelodeon and CBS Television Studios used today's Star Trek Universe panel during Comic-Con@Home to officially announce the series. Due in 2021, the show has been given the title Star Trek: Prodigy, and it will be the first Star Trek TV series aimed at younger audiences for Nickelodeon. In addition, the panel unveiled the official logo, seen above and below. Although the panel avoided giving any specific details, they did restate a blurb that had been released last year:
The new original CG-animated series follows a group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation.
The series is being developed by Emmy award-winning creators Kevin and Dan Hageman (Trollhunters, Ninjago), and it will be produced by CBS' Eye Animation Production, the new animation arc of CBS Television Studios. While this is aimed at younger viewers, it's sure to fit cohesively into the Star Trek timeline, with Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Katie Krentz, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serving as executive producers. The overall concept is an intriguing one, although it's difficult to guess what circumstances could lead the Federation to simply abandon a working starship on a planet somewhere. Not only is it a security threat, it sounds like a potential breach of the Prime Directive. Timeline-wise, that may mean Star Trek: Prodigy is set sometime in the era of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, which explores a future time in which the Federation has declined.
Recent Star Trek TV series have frequently been criticized for abandoning the franchise's idealistic roots, but this has potential to make them relevant for a new generation. The synopsis suggests the starring characters will start out lawless, but will find themselves coming to understand both the universe and themselves as they conduct a journey of exploration. That should make Star Trek: Prodigy a unique and valuable part of the Star Trek mythology.
Star Trek: Prodigy will release sometime in 2021.