Star Trek: Prodigy showrunner explains how Billy Campbell’s Okona came back to the franchise

Star Trek: Prodigy brought Billy Campbell’s Okona back to the franchise.

Star Trek: Prodigy is getting ready to return for the second half of its first season and when it does, some old faces will be returning. We already know that Kathryn Janeway will be back, as voiced by her long-time actress Kate Mulgrew, and we know that Chakotay will be back as well, voiced by his long-time actor Robert Beltran.

Well, Prodigy is adding to the past Star Trek lore, by including some The Next Generation alongside their Voyager addition. The TNG character joining the crew of the Protostar isn’t just anyone, it’s the infamous space pirate, Thadiun Okona.

Okona will be a new member of the ship for a short while, and following past trends, will be voiced by the same man who brought him to life the first time around; Billy Campbell.

So how did Campbell’s return come about? Well, in an interview with TrekCore, showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman revealed how and why they choose Okona.

"Kevin Hageman: Very early on in the writers room, we were talking about the “greatest hits,” the characters we love. As a family show, we like the colorful characters, and he was pretty outrageous, that Okona!We fell in love with the thought of what Okona would be like some years down the road, living this outrageous life…Dan Hageman: And Billy Campbell actually had a lot to say! He was like, “Man, give me an eyepatch! Give me some heft!”"

Okona should start the trend of intermingling Star Trek shows

Okona being a TNG guy, arriving on a show backed by Voyager alums, all while telling new stories for Prodigy should really be a more common thing. The idea of these characters never inter-mingling with one another is beyond odd to me, in timeline-appropriate interactions of course.

We should see more interactions with different crews, more mix-match combinations, and whacky adventures. It helps freshen up characters and keeps the typical ideas that Star Trek runs on far more fresh. After all, you’ll have different foils debating different points.