The expansive Star Trek universe has ventured into animation for the second time with the CBS All Access comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks, which landed on the American streaming service this week.

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The series takes place between Next Generation's Genesis movie and the flashbacks shown on Prime Video's recent offering Picard. And now, the animated series' creator Mike McMahan has said he has "approval" to use legacy characters from that era.

Speaking to Inverse, McMahan said: "We do have legacy actors who show up in the first season of Lower Decks and we have gotten to have a little bit of where are they now sort of vibe through a Lower Decks lens."

So, who could this be? The first episode of the series, titled Second Contact, could've potentially given viewers a hint, as it featured Jean-Luc Picard's all-terrain vehicle the Argo. Could this mean the Captain himself will make an appearance and will he be voiced by Patrick Stewart? It's anybody's guess at this stage.

Lower Deck follows the underdog crew of the U.S.S Cerritos, one of Starfleet's "least important ships", following a host of wacky characters including Enign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid).

During the same interview, McMahan, who also created Rick and Morty, went on to discuss whether some of the characters of Lower Decks could appear in any of the live-action Star Trek incarnations:

"But I gotta say, if anyone wants Mariner to show up on their live-action Star Treks, you've got to have Tawny [Newsome]."

The first episode aired on Thursday 6th August in the US, but a release date and network in the UK are yet to be announced.

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