{"id":207374,"date":"2025-12-28T06:54:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/207374\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T06:54:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T06:54:07","slug":"new-star-trek-show-finally-completes-the-redemption-of-the-next-generations-most-hated-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/207374\/","title":{"rendered":"New Star Trek Show Finally Completes The Redemption Of The Next Generation’s Most Hated Character"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Paramount\u2019s takeover heralding a new era for Star Trek<\/a>, 2026 will see what could be some of the last releases of the old era. Even with a forward gaze, Star Trek\u2019s modern shows<\/a> always look to the past and actively embrace their status within wider Trek lore, often while challenging that lore. That means being able to fix wrinkles, and in one very specific case, officially recalibrating the legacy of one of the most hated characters in the history of Star Trek.<\/p>\n

Because 35 years after he left The Next Generation in season 4\u2019s \u201cFinal Mission\u201d, Wesley Crusher is being honored by 2026\u2019s Starfleet Academy<\/a>. In a newly-released scene (courtesy of Star Trek\u2018s Instagram) from the upcoming Trek show<\/a>, Crusher\u2019s name appears on a mural that celebrates past Starfleet officers, and pointedly appears as Holly Hunter\u2019s Captain Nahla Ake mentions \u201c\u2026our greatest officers\u2026 who went on to become legendary.\u201d Finally, Wil Wheaton\u2019s Wesley is getting his dues, and while it may seem like empty fan service, there\u2019s a good discussion to be had around his inclusion\u2026<\/p>\n

Wesley Crusher DOES Deserve Praise (But Would Starfleet Actually Give It?!)<\/p>\n

\"Wesley<\/p>\n

When Crusher left the Enterprise back in 1990, he was an Ensign, having been promoted by Captain Picard (after he was initially commissioned as an acting Ensign for \u201coutstanding performance in the best Starfleet tradition\u201c). That all sounds quite harmless now, but at the time (and for years since, in fact), Crusher\u2019s rank created waves of annoyance. We should actually be thankful that The Next Generation wasn\u2019t released in the YouTube and X era. Because Wesley was called both a Mary Sue and an instrument of Deus Ex Machina, and his position never felt earned.<\/p>\n

Crucially, though, that very quickly became nonsense. Even if Wesley didn\u2019t deserve his position to begin with, the exploits he was involved in as a part of the USS Enterprise\u2019s bridge crew more than justified the first field promotion at least. Plainly, Wesley should have been given medals several times over, even with a relatively short career. He may have been comparatively sidelined after the first season, and then moved on entirely, but his accolades during those first three and a bit seasons were indeed legendary. We simply overlook them because he was part of the crew, and because the nature of the show made heightened drama and warfare an expected constant.<\/p>\n

So yes, on the strength of that, Wesley does belong on the mural in Starfleet Academy. But you also have to question whether the fan service fits actual Starfleet logic. Remember, Wesley left his position (he was granted leave, but ultimately dropped out of the Academy), and while it was for the greater good, it feels a little odd that the institution would officially recognize his career. That\u2019s especially difficult to accept when you consider that Starfleet Academy is set hundreds of years in the future, and Crusher is part of a very narrow window of time that seems to have borne the entire mural\u2019s list of names. But then, this is fan service, and after everything Wesley was forced to endure, I think he\u2019s earned enough goodwill to squint and accept this one.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the\u00a0ComicBook Forum<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Paramount\u2019s takeover heralding a new era for Star Trek, 2026 will see what could be some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,53913,66342,93185,411],"class_list":{"0":"post-207374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel","11":"tag-regular-news","12":"tag-star-trek-generic","13":"tag-star-trek-starfleet-academy","14":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}