This Voyager re-casting is bold but feels hollow

Screenrant recast Star Trek: Voyager and it’s not a great-looking series.

Recasting a Star Trek series is a difficult job. I would dare say the Kelvin Timeline got the parts mostly right, even if they aren’t dead on ringers for the original cast. The intention of each character was right, and that matters. Yet, it’s not really an easy thing to do.

Screenrant attempted to do just this with Star Trek: Voyager and recast the roles with actors and actresses from today. While there is some talent on the list, frankly every single character here is misrepresented.

It feels less like the person thought about what made each character work, and instead found their favorite talent who could seemingly play the role. The essence of each character is ignored for whatever Hollywood A or B-lister the writer apparently likes the most. As they don’t fit. Any of them.

So who did they select?

• Hayley Atwell as Captain Kathryn Janeway
• Michael Greyeyes as Chakotay
• Dylan O’Brien as Tom Paris
• Aldis Hodge as Tuvok
• Dascha Polanco as B’Elanna Torres
• Ronny Chieng as Harry Kim
• Rob Lowe as The Doctor
• AnnaSophia Robb as Kes
• Patton Oswalt as Neelix
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Seven of Nine

Why don’t these decisions work in a Star Trek: Voyager recasting?

Hayley Atwell is a fine actress but Kate Mulgrew is a tremendous actress. Mulgrew brought not just a headstrong, leader to the role, but also a delicateness that made Janeway equal parts authoritarian and den mother. She knew how to push her crew and Mulgrew knew how to emulate that perfectly. Atwell is a popular figure for her time in Marvel, but she hasn’t shown anything to warrant the honor of being Janeway.

Chakotay cut an imposing frame, and Michael Greyeyes is anything but imposing. Greyeyes may share heritage with the character, but there are a lot of actors who can pull that part off. What you want is someone with the calm demeanor but imposing silhouette that Robert Beltran was able to pull off.

Tom Paris is a dry wit that Robert Duncan McNeill pulled off wonderfully. Dylan O’Brien proved his comedy if you can call it that, was more slapstick during his time on Teen Wolf. The two have as little in common as possible. O’Brien would be a forced fit.

Chakotay cut an imposing look, Tuvok did not. Aldis Hodge would be more believable in the actual NFL as a tight end, than as an unassuming Vulcan.

Dasha Polanco is just a no as B’Elanna Torres. She’s only on this list because the writer clearly liked Orange is the New Black. The role should go to someone with more ferocity, like Erica Cerra.

Harry Kim was an artist, not a comedian, casting a comedian for the role makes no sense. You’re not going to have Harry delivering one-liner zingers like this was a Marvel movie. So no, just no.

The Doctor was a largely unassuming, multi-talented character. Rob Lowe is a good actor, but he’s far from unassuming and he’s not the same talent as Robert Picardo. If you’re going to try to recreate the character, make sure the talent you bring in can actually do it.

Anna Sophia Robb is arguably the only person on this list that could play the role she was fantasy booked to do. The only problem is that Patton Oswalt isn’t a great actor, and usually only ever plays the same part; the bumbling nerd guy. Neelix was far more than that and was the emotional heart of the crew. Plus, while Jennifer Lien and Ethan Phillips were 20 years apart in real life, Robb and Oswalt are even further apart.

Anya Taylor-Joy may be the new hotness in Hollywood, but she lacks a certain warmth that Jeri Ryan had. Her words were short and crisp but her looks were always full of warmth, at least on Voyager.  The way she spoke would give you an impression of her, but then she’d side-eye Icheb or Chakotay or even The Captain and you’d know she felt deeply for these people. Taylor-Joy may be able to deliver that, but I highly doubt it.