The Hageman brothers are making Star Trek: Prodigy for all the right reasons.
Star Trek is a show destined to tell grand stories. It works best when the show deals with big conversations surrounding topics, but without taking a direct approach to agreeing with either side. It asks questions to start conversations, and that’s an important trait when unifying two different groups.
Whenever a new Trek show starts, it has to be asked what the intention of the show is. If the show is to browbeat you or take you away from the center of what makes Trek its own thing, then the show will often run into huge obstacles.
It won’t find the audience it’s intended for. That’s why so many people have rejected the Nu Trek era of shows, save for one or two. It’s one of the newer shows, Star Trek: Prodigy, that seems to be most following in the steps of past Trek shows, but with an added wrinkle that this is an all-ages show, targeted specifically for kids.
So when dealing with a Trek show specifically aimed at kids, you gotta get right and that starts by having the right intentions; something Dan and Kevin Hageman seem to have.
The Hageman brothers are getting Star Trek: Prodigy right
Speaking at the New York Comic Con, the Hageman brothers spoke about what made the show so alluring to them,
"Question: Starting the show with a group of kids who are unaware of the Federation, but then become aware of it and Starfleet and how important it is to understand that there is a political world that does vastly affect you… how does that propel your writing toward this generation for learning about the world around them?Dan Hageman: I think in today’s time there’s a lot of stuff that feels like it’s falling apart and I think we need Starfleet more than anything right now. We want to make sure that kids today can dream about the day that we can get our stuff together, hopefully down the line. That’s what empowers us, wanting to tell their stories."
Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek with the idea of having an idyllic future, and to see the Hageman brother pursuing such a dream in their own way, is a wonderful thing. It really helps us know that the spirit of Roddenberry continues on, even if some new creators have fallen away from the original intention of Trek.