Star Trek: Voyager’s Robert Beltran Will Return As Chakotay
Robert Beltran from Star Trek Voyager recently announced his return to the universe.
The world of Star Trek is ever-expanding and the legacy of its characters, immortal. The upcoming animated TV series, Star Trek: Prodigy, created by Kevin and Dan Hageman for Paramount+ and Nickelodeon, is all set to further explore new nooks and crannies of its universe, but not without paying tribute to the shows that brought the franchise its popularity. While the series is about a group of alien teenagers who happen across an empty experimental starship and use it to fulfill their lifelong search for adventures, they will be joined by Star Trek: Voyager’s favorite character, Kathryn Janeway, with Kate Mulgrew reprising the beloved role. But she is not the only character returning from Voyager to join Prodigy.
Star Trek: Voyager, which ran from 1995 to 2001, was the first-ever series in the franchise to have a female captain, Kathryn Janeway, as the focus of the storyline. Star Trek: Prodigy is all set to bring back the iconic character when the series debuts next year. So, it is only fitting that Captain Janeway of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager will be accompanied by her first officer, Chakotay.
The particularly trippy piece of revelation was made by none other than Robert Beltran himself, the actor who played Chakotay across the seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager. He recently appeared during a Star Trek: Voyager panel at the 55-Year Mission Star Trek convention in Las Vegas (via Trekmovie.com) and disclosed that Kate Mulgrew is not the only Voyager team member who will be appearing in the upcoming Star Trek animated show. He too will be rejoining the franchise after a long gap of more than 20 years.
“I’m working on this voiceover/animation thing that Kate [Mulgrew] is doing, Star Trek: Prodigy,” revealed Beltran, but not before adding that he is not aware if he should have disclosed this big news yet. Well, too late Chakotay, we are already celebrating! But there is one doubt. The actor didn’t explicitly confirm if he is returning as Star Trek: Voyager’s First Officer or if he will be voicing any other character. But given that all Star Trek series are big on bringing back popular characters from its franchise, it is safe to deduce that Beltran is indeed returning as Chakotay. As highlighted by Trekmovie.com, chances are that he too will be appearing via hologram just like Mulgrew, who is voicing the Emergency Training Hologram on the USS Protostar. It is yet to be confirmed whether Beltran is joining the main cast of the series or just has a special guest role in either Season 1 or Season 2, which has already been greenlit.
Another Star Trek: Voyager actor is also all set to appear on another animated show. Veteran actor Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Lt. Thomas Eugene “Tom” Paris, the chief helmsman, and medic on USS Voyager, will be reprising his character in the ongoing Season 2 of Star Trek: Lower Decks. The actor has also revealed that he is currently involved in a possible Captain Proton series during his recent appearance on the Primitive Culture podcast. While the plans are nowhere near finalized, we are so in to see more characters from Voyager continuing their respective stories. The more, the merrier!
