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Recasting Star Trek: Voyager In 2022
An updated Star Trek: Voyager might be just the thing to bring old canon into 'New Trek,' but who could be cast as the new crew of the USS Voyager?

Recasting Star Trek: Voyager In 2022

With revivals, reboots, and re-imaginings all the rage, it’s fun to contemplate which actors could fill classic roles in new versions of beloved favorites, including the barrier-breaking show Star Trek: Voyager. The Star Trek franchise is having a golden moment in 2022, as long-time viewers and new fans tune in for classic shows including Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although no plans have been announced to recast the former in real life, there are some amazing actors who could easily slip into the well-known roles of Captain Janeway and the crew of the USS Voyager.

Beginning in 1995, Star Trek: Voyager was the first Star Trek series to remove a ship from the comforts of Starfleet and the Federation, long-term. The show focused on the starship Voyager, captained by Kathryn Janeway, who takes on the crew of a rebel Maquis ship after being stranded in the Delta quadrant, 70,000 light-years from Earth. This was also the first Star Trek series with a female captain, and it further developed the Borg, a villainous species introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Hayley Atwell as Captain Kathryn Janeway

The original Captain Kathryn Janeway, originally played by Kate Mulgrew, is tough yet maternal with her crew, and she views the galaxy with a scientist’s eye while also being a capable tactician when needed. Mulgrew instilled in Janeway a tender center — she winds up far away from her life, friends, fiancé, and pregnant dog — while maintaining a professional demeanor and never letting her crew down. No current actress comes to mind for the role quite like Hayley Atwell, who is most famous for her role as Peggy Carter in the MCU. Atwell’s strength, like Mulgrew’s, is maintaining a feminine softness despite a tough outward exterior that commands respect, and she would be a perfect commander for a 2022 version of Star Trek: Voyager.

Michael Greyeyes as Chakotay

Chakotay, played by Robert Beltran, was the captain of the Maquis ship the Val Jean, which sailed into the Delta Quadrant along with the USS Voyager during the pilot episode of Star Trek: Voyager. A descendant of Native Americans, Chakotay becomes Janeway’s First Officer when she combines the two crews to save the lives of the Maquis rebels after their ship is destroyed. He struggles to balance his passion for knowledge and exploration with his heritage and the debt he feels he owes to his father, but he accepts and embraces his role on the Voyager once the two crews join together, serving as a good friend to and co-leader with Janeway. Of all the Indigenous actors who could fill the role, the best choice by far is First Nation actor Michael Greyeyes, known for his role as Qaletaqa Walker on Fear the Walking Dead and Brett Woodard in True Detective. With his extensive resume, the talented character actor could easily bring the passionate Chakotay to life while also honoring the canon heritage of the character.

Dylan O’Brien as Tom Paris

Tom Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, served as Star Trek: Voyager‘s resident helmsman. Considered one of the best pilots of his generation, the mercurial Paris was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet before joining the Maquis. Imprisoned for his rebellion, he would have safely avoided the Delta Quadrant were it not for Captain Janeway. She got him out of prison to help fly her ship into a harrowing and difficult-to-navigate area of space to go after the Val Jean and recover Tuvok, an undercover Starfleet spy within the Maquis. As portrayed by McNeill, Tom Paris is arrogant and reckless, but over time he becomes a trusted member of the crew and has important, lasting relationships with his crewmates, including his eventual partner, B’Elanna Torres. Actor Dylan O’Brien, known for his roles in The Maze Runner and Teen Wolf, would be an excellent recasting of Tom Paris. His easy sense of humor balanced with his ability to carry heavy storylines would live up to the legacy that McNeill gave to Tom Paris.

Aldis Hodge as Tuvok

Chief of Security Tuvok, a Vulcan Starfleet officer who infiltrated the Maquis prior to the events of Star Trek: Voyager, serves as a sounding board to Captain Janeway, who relies on his logical and tactical advice. The original Tuvok, played by Tim Russ, was integral to the success of the Voyager‘s mission, with the character serving as the catalyst for many important scenes. Tuvok’s Vulcan sensibilities require an actor with a wide range of skills, as the show often found ways to torment the character by thrusting emotion and illogic into his storylines. The actor best suited for this role is Aldis Hodge, known for Leverage and Underground. Hodge’s presence matches that of Russ’s Tuvok, and he could easily bring a fresh and interesting look at a character who had many complexities and conflicting loyalties throughout the series.

Dascha Polanco as B’Elanna Torres

Half-human and half-Klingon, former Maquis rebel B’Elanna Torres brought a lot of baggage with her to Star Trek: Voyager, not the least of which was her discomfort with her own heritage and her resistance to embracing her Klingon nature. Originally played by occasional Star Trek TV director Roxann Dawson, the intelligent, loyal, and fierce Torres serves as Chief Engineer on the USS Voyager after the crew of the Val Jean joins them in the Delta Quadrant. Orange is the New Black and In the Heights alumnus Dascha Polanco would be an excellent recasting choice for the bright but self-conscious Torres, and an eventual relationship between Polanco and a Dylan O’Brien-portrayed Tom Paris could be fascinating.

Operations officer Harry Kim may be one of the most interesting characters in Star Trek canon, but viewers never really got a chance to know the young lieutenant, as played by Garrett Wong. Throughout Star Trek: Voyager,  Harry Kim is killed and resurrected multiple times, and his lack of self-confidence leads him to hold back sometimes, but his friendship with Tom Paris and later Seven of Nine are realistic and enjoyable to watch. One way for a recasting to improve upon the character would be to inject a stronger sense of humor and characterization. For that type of role, comedian Ronny Chieng, who plays Jon Jon in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, would be a perfect fit. Chieng has proven his ability to play the loyal soldier, but his wise-cracking personality would benefit the character of Harry Kim, and the entire crew of the Voyager, greatly.

Rob Lowe as The Doctor

An often unlikely hero of Star Trek: Voyager is the Emergency Medical Hologram program, personified by a hologram called “The Doctor,” played by Robert Picardo. Picardo’s dry sense of humor, his self-deprecating facial expressions, and his perfect comedic timing added a brilliant bit of levity to many tense scenes. A similar sense of timing makes veteran actor Rob Lowe, recently of 9-1-1: Lone Star perfect as a recast for this character. Lowe’s Chris Traeger on Parks and Recreation is an excellent example of the actor’s ability to play a serious character who adds laughter and genuine goodness in a way that would perfectly suit Voyager‘s prototype EMH doctor.

AnnaSophia Robb as Kes and Patton Oswalt as Neelix

The unlikely couple of Kes and Neelix were two alien members of the crew of Star Trek: Voyager in the early seasons of the series. Neelix, a Talaxian scavenger, had fallen in love with an Ocampa named Kes, and the two of them decided together to serve as guides to the newly displaced crew of Voyager as they try to find their way home from the Delta Quadrant. Aboard the ship, the outgoing Neelix came to serve as a chef and a morale officer for the crew, while Kes studied to be an assistant to the EMH doctor and worked with Tuvok to improve her telepathic abilities.

Though the two characters were often panned by critics of the series, an updated approach could bring new life to the duo. Pairing a comedic actor like Patton Oswalt with a talented young actress like AnnaSophia Robb, of Dr. Death, would be a great start. Oswalt, who has proven himself capable of both hilarity and serious emotion, is perfect for the role of Neelix, much the same as original actor Ethan Phillips was. But a skilled and experienced actress like Robb would bring a more thoughtful approach to the character of Kes, who despite facing a great many serious and horrible situations, often came across as dreamy and disconnected, as portrayed by Jennifer Lien.

Anya Taylor-Joy as Seven of Nine

During the fourth season of Star Trek: Voyager, the crew encountered the Borg and a new character, former Borg drone Seven of Nine. Played by Jeri Ryan, Seven has become one of the most well-known Star Trek characters, and her history with the Borg has created plenty of drama throughout multiple iterations of the franchise. Seven is smart, determined, and loyal, but in her early months on Voyager, she was vulnerable, confused, and maladjusted as she worked through the trauma of assimilation. Actress Anya Taylor-Joy, known for her roles in The Queen’s Gambit and Peaky Blinders, would be a perfect addition to the crew as a young, confused, and brutally capable Seven of Nine.

While Star Trek: Voyager lives on in the collective memory of longtime viewers of the franchise, newcomers may not enjoy the episodic and dated content of the mid-’90s series. By updating Star Trek‘s themes and tech, and recasting the series with an eye toward diversity, character arcs, and connecting canon, a reboot of the property could bring the old stories to a new generation of Trekkies. As new viewers find Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and as kids get hooked on Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks, the minds behind the franchise may eventually decide that recasting Star Trek: Voyager — whether it be for a new series or a film version — is just what the EMH doctor ordered.