It isStar Trek: Voyager’s turn for a glorious comeback afterThe Next Generation’s castand the Enterprise-D had their big nostalgic moment in 2023.Star Trek: Picarddidn’t start as a feelgood tribute to Jean-Luc Picard’s heyday, but the spinoff certainly reached that point in season 3. After finally reassembling the main cast ofThe Next Generation, the crew went into battle, slightly wearier than before, on a secretly restored Enterprise-D. It was an unapologetic throwback designed to rekindle memories of a bygone era. By any measure, that goal was achieved.
Star Trek: Voyagercelebrates its 30th anniversary in 2025, and despite never hitting the same mainstream heights asThe Next Generation, Voyager and its crew reserve a special place in fans' hearts. ModernStar Trekrarely turns down an opportunity to reference - or, indeed, repeat - the past, but such tributes have largely been restricted toThe Original SeriesandThe Next Generationthus far. While not immediately clear how or when it could happen,Star Trek: Voyager’s castneeds its own “The Last Generation” moment sooner or later.
30 Years Later, Star Trek: Voyager’s Legacy Is More Impressive Than Ever
The Love For Star Trek: Voyager Runs Deep
During its era,Star Trek: Voyagernever quite lived up to its predecessors.Deep Space Ninehad been deliberately engineered as an alternativeStar Trekshow, butVoyagerwas the linear successor toThe Original SeriesandThe Next Generation. After a bumpy couple of seasons,The Next Generationestablished itself as arguably the franchise’s crowning achievement, butVoyagerhad no such luck, landing somewhere in the middle of most lists rankingStar Trek’s best shows.
Voyager’s positive legacy is visible in how much joy recent character returns have brought.
Having said that,Star Trek: Voyageris still being discussed and embraced 30 years down the line from its premiere, and not many TV shows can put that on their résumé.Voyager’s strengths may have been somewhat overshadowed by the pressure of living up toThe Next Generationat the time, but hindsight allows Captain Janeway and her crew to be assessed on their own merits, of which there are many. Janeway herself stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Kirk and Picard,the Delta Quadrant concept still feels bravely ambitious three decades later, and rewatchingVoyager’s seven seasons provides a consistently enjoyable experience.
Star Trek: Voyager May Be Over, But Its Heroic Legacy Will Never Die
Star Trek: Voyager ended with the ship making a triumphant return home, and in the brief time since, its heroic legacy is already cemented.
Voyager’s positive legacy is visible in how much joy more recent character returns have brought. Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran’s roles were a big reason behind the popularity ofStar Trek: Prodigy, Seven of Nine’s central role inStar Trek: Picardled to calls for her own spinoff as captain of the Enterprise-G, and Robert Picardo’s return is one of the most exciting things aboutStar Trek’s upcoming Starfleet Academy series.
Voyager & Its Crew Need A Star Trek Comeback Like Picard Season 3’s USS Enterprise-D
“The Last Voyage-r”
The best way to honorStar Trek: Voyager’s crucial place in franchise history would be with a scene similar to what the Enterprise-D’s crew received inStar Trek: Picard’s series finale, “The Last Generation,” where Voyager’s cast reunited alongside their ship for one last hurrah. Granted, the concept isn’t particularly original at this point, with both Kirk and Picard leading their crews on similar jaunts previously, butVoyagermight be the lastStar Trekseries actually able to pull off such an epic explosion of nostalgia.
The USS Voyager getting its figurative flowers would complete the set.
Being set on a space station makesDeep Space Nineimmediately unsuited for a scene in the vein of the Enterprise-D’s swansong. The overall darker tone of Sisko’s show also feels out of sync with a feelgood “getting the band back together” celebration, andSisko actor Avery Brookscontinues to show no interest in returning toStar Trek. Meanwhile,Star Trek: Enterpriselacks the status and reputation to warrant a high-profile reunion, although that may change after a couple more decades fly by.
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
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As such,Star Trek: Voyagerrepresents the last time the franchise can realistically bring together a classic crew for one last fan-pleasing mission. After the original Enterprise crew getting back together on the big screen andStar Trek: Picard’s “The Last Generation,” the USS Voyager getting its figurative flowers would complete the set.
How Could Star Trek: Voyager’s Big Moment Actually Happen?
Star Trek’s Calendar Isn’t Very Accommodating
At a glance,Star Trek: Voyager’s reunion is broadly plausible. Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Robert Picardo, and Jeri Ryan have all made modern appearances already or will do so imminently. Tim Russ sneaked intoStar Trek: Picard, whileStar Trek: Lower Decksgave cameos to Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill. Ethan Phillips voiced Neelix inStar Trek: Very Short Treksas recently as 2023, and while Roxann Dawson is better known for her directorial exploits nowadays, she remains involved in both the industry and the widerStar Trekfranchise.
To see Seven’s Enterprise teaming up with Janeway commanding the Voyager would be a delightful sight.
Even better, the USS Voyager itself would be easier to bring back than the Enterprise-D. As revealed inStar Trek: Lower Decks,Janeway’s old ship becomes a museum piece, but remains mostly functional. Certainly more functional than the Enterprise-D, which was blown up and beaten beyond repair. Harry Kim won’t need to spend 20 years quietly recreating the USS Voyager.
The real stumbling block is where aStar Trek: Voyagercomeback could actually happen when looking at the franchise’s various upcoming projects.Star Trek: Prodigyseason 3appears to have stalled, the Starfleet Academy series with Robert Picardo isn’tVoyager-centric enough, and other planned releases have nothing to do with Janeway’s crew whatsoever.
Star Trek Brings Voyager Back To Action After 22 Years (& Sets Up Picard)
The legendary USS Voyager flies again in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4’s premiere and its new status also foreshadows Star Trek: Picard season 3.
The most likely option, albeit still an outside one, would be for the proposed-but-unconfirmedStar Trek: Legacystarring Seven of Nine’s Enterprise crew to serve up a Voyager reunion. The connection to Seven provides a strong enough natural link toStar Trek: Voyager, and to see Seven’s Enterprise teaming up with Janeway commanding the Voyager would be a delightful sight to behold.
Star Trek: Voyager
In this sci-fi series, the starship Voyager becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light-years from Earth. The diverse crew, led by Captain Janeway, embarks on a perilous journey home, encountering unfamiliar species and challenges while adhering to Federation principles in uncharted space.
