In celebration of the Star Trek franchise's 55th anniversary, a new animated series launched on Paramount+Star Trek: Prodigy, a CG animated series, follows a group of young misfits who escape the harsh mining planet of Tars Lamora by blasting off on an abandoned Starfleet vessel. Aboard the USS Protostar, the ragtag group explores the Delta Quadrant -- discovering the sights that have long served as hallmarks of Star Trek's vast mythos. Although Star Trek: Prodigy is geared towards a younger audience, series creators/showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman and director Ben Hibon aim to attract multiple generations of Star Trek fans.

In an exclusive roundtable interview attended by CBR, the Hageman brothers and Hibon shared the narrative themes within Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1. The trio also explained how the new characters and setting provide a twist on established Star Trek tropes and reflected on how Prodigy connects younger viewers to the franchise.

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The creators discussed the villainous Diviner using the barrier of languages, without the means for translation, as a strategy to keep those enslaved by him from banding together. In that sense, the Diviner's regime serves as a thematic counterpoint to the unity and celebration of diversity that informs the Federation. For the crew of Prodigy, Dan Hageman "wanted to take them as far away from that as possible," observing that the main characters don't know each other when they assemble to commandeer the Protostar. Kevin Hageman quoted the Diviner in the series premiere, stating, "Hope has no purpose here." Prodigy's characters start off in Season 1 with nothing and view Starfleet as a promise for something better.

The Hageman brothers noted that since Prodigy is intended for younger audiences, potentially introducing them to the Star Trek franchise for the first time, the animated series would feature a blend of new elements and revisit classic ones with a fresh perspective. And as the characters encounter franchise staples, like the Klingon Empire and Borg Collective, old fans can enjoy these Star Trek institutions and, as explained by Kevin Hageman, "introduce our new audience to all those great pillars of Star Trek lore."

Prodigy's creative team stresses that young audiences are smart and more patient than many give them credit for and crafted a series that reflects that. "We're talking the time to let kids really connect with the characters and scenarios that we establish," emphasized Hibon, with Dan Hageman pointing out that children enjoy and appreciate many of the same types of stories as adults. "You give them a character to connect to, and it will stick to their bones for their lives," Hageman said. "We're challenging kids because kids should be challenged."

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Dan Hageman enjoyed making Prodigy's main characters a found family to underscore their shared experience, and in contrast to other Star Trek series that feature characters and crews already familiar with one another. Hibon shared, "Star Trek has always been the story of many rather than the story of one."

Star Trek: Prodigy's main title sequence on Paramount+

CBR closed out the roundtable by asking how hearing and watching the main cast record their performances informed their writing for Prodigy Season 2. Kevin Hageman noted that though the cast recorded their lines separately, their professionalism came through in their respective performances. Dan Hageman complimented the cast's work.

"They're such amazing actors, we really went through a big casting process," Hageman said. "We weren't just looking for distinct cartoon voices but serious actors who can bring the drama. Most of the time, we have them record [their performances] before we get to the animatic phase so the storyboard artists are hearing that delivery and the quiver in someone's voice or the hitch when they have trouble saying something that we didn't write in the script but the actor brought it and then the board artists and Ben and the team can bring that out. My favorite shots in the show are the extreme closeups on a character's face and you see them breathe or their eye moves around naturally to what they're looking at, it brings them to life."

Created by Kevin and Dan Hageman, Star Trek: Prodigy is streaming now on Paramount+, with new episodes releasing on Thursdays.

KEEP READING: Why Star Trek: Prodigy Is Best Suited as a CG Animated Series