Wil Wheaton Made A Secret Wesley Crusher Comeback After Star Trek: Picard
Warning: This Article Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2
Summary
- Wil Wheaton’s Wesley Crusher made a secret cameo after Star Trek: Picard season 2 before returning in Prodigy season 2.
- Wheaton’s voice can be heard in Prodigy season 1, mixed with Robert Beltran’s Captain Chakotay.
- Wesley mentors young the Starfleet hopefuls in Prodigy season 2 to save the multiverse.
In between Wil Wheaton’s cameo as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: Picard season 2 and his full-fledged return as the Traveler in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Wheaton’s Wesley made another secret comeback. Wesley popped up to recruit Kore Soong (Isa Briones) to the Travelers in Star Trek: Picard season 2’s finale. It set the stage for Wesley as a crucial figure, mentoring the young Starfleet hopefuls of the USS Protostar to save the multiverse in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2.
In an exclusive interview about reprising Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, Wil Wheaton revealed to Screen Rant that his voice can actually be heard in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1. Judging by Wheaton’s description below, his voice was mixed with Robert Beltran’s Captain Chakotay as the signal heard by Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1’s finale. Read Wil’s quote below:
We even recorded me for some lines that are in the first season where we don’t yet know that it’s Wesley. We recorded some lines, I recorded them and [Robert] Beltran recorded them, and then they blurred them together for another point where you’re not supposed to be able to tell. They worked really hard to keep it a secret.
Star Trek: Picard
season 2’s finale premiered in May 2022, and
Star Trek: Prodigy
season 1’s finale premiered in December 2022.
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Wil Wheaton Kept His Wesley Crusher Comeback In Star Trek: Prodigy Secret For 3 Years
Wesley’s return was a genuine surprise
Because of the two-year lead time it takes to produce and animate a season of Star Trek: Prodigy, Wil Wheaton has kept the fact that he reprised Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 for over 3 years. Wheaton worked with Star Trek: Prodigy showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman, and their creative team, since 2021. Wheaton told Screen Rant about the challenges of keeping his Wesley comeback a secret, especially after Star Trek: Prodigy was canceled by Paramount+ before Netflix picked up the show:
It’s been the hardest thing. We spent like three and a half years. I cannot believe how long it’s been. And there was a moment where I was like, ‘Is it just not ever going to come out? Like did we do it and it’s not going anywhere? And I’ll never get to see it?’ It’s been quite a journey.
Wil Wheaton also told Screen Rant that outside of Star Trek: Prodigy‘s team, and Kate Mulgrew, whom he had scenes with as Wesley Crusher, only his Star Trek: The Next Generation castmates Jonathan Frakes and Gates McFadden knew that Wil was back as Wesley Crusher in Prodigy season 2. Gates also voices Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, which features the long-awaited reunion of Wesley and his “space mom” Beverly. Hopefully, Wil Wheaton will be back again if Star Trek: Prodigy season 3 happens, and he won’t have to keep it a 3-year secret.
Source: Screen Rant Plus