Star Trek: Starfleet Academy drops at Comic-Con (trailer).
The first trailer for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has finally warped in from Comic-Con, and it looks like the Federation’s most iconic educational institution is about to go through its most dramatic growth spurt yet—complete with angsty cadets, ancient holograms, and a skyline view of a shockingly intact Golden Gate Bridge (because even in the 32nd century, nostalgia is clearly bulletproof).
Yes, after decades of rumour, rewrites, and rewarmed pitches, the Academy is open for business once more—set in the far-flung 32nd century where Starfleet is still dusting itself off after Discovery’s apocalyptic detour. The twist? This is the first new intake of Starfleet cadets in over a hundred years. So it’s safe to say the syllabus might need a bit of updating—”Introduction to Intergalactic Diplomacy” now comes with a health warning and a phaser.
Starfleet Academy comes from the dependable (depending on your opinion) hands of Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, who are treating this like the Federation’s answer to The Hunger Games meets The Expanse, with a touch of Skins—but, you know, with more warp cores and fewer glowsticks. Gaia Violo pens the pilot, and the first season will run for ten episodes on Paramount+ in early 2026.
The cast is a heady mix of rising stars and nostalgic returns. Holly Hunter leads the show as Captain Nahla Ake, a half-Lanthanite chancellor who also captains the USS Athena—because in the future, work-life balance is still a thing we pretend exists. She’s joined by a multicultural crew of young cadets played by Kerrice Brooks (as a holographic student, which frankly seems like cheating), Bella Shepard, George Hawkins, Karim Diané, Zoë Steiner, and Sandro Rosta. If that list sounds like the start of a new Starfleet boyband, we’re not entirely against it.
But it’s the familiar faces that are making the veteran Trekkies do a happy Vulcan salute. Tig Notaro returns as everyone’s favourite deadpan engineer Jett Reno, and—cue dramatic music—Robert Picardo is back as the Doctor, now a 900-year-old holographic professor with more memory storage than a Dyson Sphere. “He’s as we remember him, but deeper,” says Kurtzman, which may or may not mean he’s finally mastered bedside manner.
There’s also Paul Giamatti as the villain—a Klingon/Tellarite hybrid with a mysterious past and, one presumes, an equally mysterious barber. And yes, that is Tatiana Maslany joining the chaos in a still-secret role, because why settle for just one Orphan Black when you can have all of Starfleet?
Behind the scenes, filming took place in Toronto (standing in for San Francisco because actual San Francisco is still too expensive, even in fiction). The massive set for the Academy’s atrium is apparently the largest Star Trek has ever built—boasting catwalks, trees, lecture halls, and what we assume are heavily monitored replicator stations. Jeff Russo returns to score the series, meaning your tears during cadet bonding scenes will have the proper orchestral support.
Kurtzman promises a “hybrid format”, part coming-of-age drama, part deep-space legacy adventure, with characters graduating (or, knowing Starfleet, exploding) and new ones taking their place. Expect serious themes, scientific problems solved via technobabble, and the occasional appearance by someone who still remembers Captain Janeway.
Here at SFcrowsnest magazine, we do love a good Starfleet yarn, especially when it promises to bridge the gap between generations with both canon-friendly nods and shiny new blood. So grab your uniform, polish your communicator badge, and prepare for warp speed emotions.
If nothing else, Starfleet Academy might finally answer the age-old question: how exactly do you pass a Kobayashi Maru when your classmates are Betazoids, Klingons, and sentient PowerPoint presentations?
Live long, and revise often.
