Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for Season 1 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. We will be discussing casting, photos, posters, the trailer, and comments from the team behind the series. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: Section 31, Picard, Discovery, and Voyager.
It’s Comic-Con season, which means Paramount has rented some very expensive auditoriums to preview some of its upcoming projects! Among those are several new seasons of Star Trek. This time, we’re going to take a look at some of the photos, news, and of course, the first trailer released for Starfleet Academy.
Star Trek needs to demonstrate that it can grow; it needs to be more than just the preserve of people my age, reminiscing about the shows we enjoyed in the 1990s. If there’s going to be a future for Star Trek beyond the second half of the 2020s – which, with all of these cancellations, and a corporate merger to boot, is categorically not guaranteed – new fans and especially younger fans need to get on board. Star Trek needs these people to show up in droves, and ideally stick around and watch other shows, too. We can’t afford to be gatekeepers or try to push people out – it’s up to us to ensure that the Star Trek fan community is a welcoming place for newcomers.
Paramount has made attempts to do this already. We saw it with Prodigy and we saw it with Section 31. Prodigy didn’t succeed because of corporate decisions on the Paramount side – absolutely moronic decisions, to be blunt about it. And Section 31 was a perfectly adequate action-heavy B-movie, but probably not the kind of film that could bring in legions of new fans. Again, corporate idiocy is partially to blame; forcing the Section 31 folks to condense a story written for a full TV series into the runtime of a single film instead of commissioning an all-new script being the most obvious example.
After these failures to grow the Star Trek brand and fan community, Paramount’s hopes now lie with Starfleet Academy. And while the Skydance merger could present a new opportunity for Star Trek on the cinematic side of things, on television/streaming… this feels like the last chance saloon for the franchise, I’ll be honest with you. If Starfleet Academy doesn’t prove that Star Trek still has room to grow and can appeal to a younger generation of television viewers, I don’t see how Skymount or Paradance (or whatever the new corporate entity will be called) could reasonably justify spending more money on the franchise. As we’ve discussed before, the next few years could bring the final seasons and episodes – certainly the last ones I’ll get to see.
Sorry if that’s a bit of a depressing note to start on, but I wanted to be up-front about the challenges Star Trek is facing right now – and the hopes riding on Starfleet Academy to potentially turn things around.
With all of that out of the way… what did I think of the trailer? And of the other announcements and comments? Well… it’s early days, but I’d say it looks reasonably good at this stage. The visual language of Star Trek is present – even though, in this 32nd Century setting, some of that is diminished or just a bit different. But Starfleet Academy feels closer to past iterations of the franchise than the Section 31 movie did earlier this year. I noted with some disappointment that Section 31 basically erased all of the aesthetic features and common design elements of Star Trek in what was apparently a mad rush to tell a generic, comic book-style action flick. Starfleet Academy isn’t doing that – which is something I can appreciate.
There need to be these threads of commonality in a long-running franchise – particularly if your objective is to convert sometime viewers of a single series into fully-fledged fans. It’s difficult to go from Section 31 to even some of the episodes in DS9 or Discovery which prominently featured the organisation, simply because of how little those stories have in common visually – never mind in terms of narrative or tone. Visual language sets the scene; it’s the first thing a viewer encounters. And there’s enough in what I saw of Starfleet Academy to firmly place the series in the Star Trek universe. That’s a positive thing in my book.
We can also see this in the new choice of font. The new typeface was shown off on the promotional posters released for the series as well as at the end of the trailer. I don’t know if this is going to be the show’s new logo, but it’s basically using the same font as the one used in The Motion Picture, several subsequent films, and two of the shows from Star Trek’s ’90s heyday. This is an interesting choice – not least because Starfleet Academy already had a logo that used a kind of rounded version of the typeface used on starship hulls! I happened to like that one, but I was impressed to see this older font brought back.
Starfleet Academy’s uniforms are, naturally, based on those seen in Discovery. We get a mix of colourful uniforms on some of the senior officers, which seem pretty close to those seen in Discovery’s fourth and fifth seasons, with a toned-down grey look for the cadets, which is similar to what we saw in Discovery’s third season. While I think I might’ve liked to see a bit more colour on the cadets, there’s also gotta be a way to distinguish, at a glance, between the cadets and other Starfleet personnel – so this feels like a pretty good compromise.
Then we have combadges! The oval design from Discovery seems to have been changed – at least for the cadets and Academy personnel. The familiar Starfleet delta is still present, of course, but it’s surrounded by a circle with two extended “wings” at the bottom. I’d like to see the badges up close – I assume they’ll be similar in function to Discovery’s tri-com badges, which incorporated transporters, tricorders, padds, and communicators all in one.
The design is creative, though, and I assume at this stage that the new combadges are primarily going to be used by Academy cadets and instructors. The cadet badges seem to look a little different to those on other Starfleet officers, too, which is interesting – and another way to help tell people apart! I think I saw Admiral Vance – who’s returning from Discovery – wearing the more familiar oval tri-com badge, which is why I think these ones could be exclusive to the Academy. Still, the “wings” give the badges a unique design, and I’m glad the familiar Starfleet delta is still prominently featured.
Though it may not be the main focus – and we only caught a couple of glimpses in the trailer – the USS Athena is described by Paramount’s official blurb as “an integral part of the Starfleet Academy campus.” If we assume that the ship we saw in the trailer is the Athena, then the design deviates a little from the usual saucer-neck-body-nacelles of past hero ships. The ship we glimpsed in the trailer seemed to have a movable C-shaped section, with a circular saucer above it. I’d like to get a better look at the ship from all angles before rendering judgement – and this might not even be the USS Athena.
First impressions, though, are positive. I think I’d have preferred something with a bit more of that visual language we were talking about – a ship with a saucer and two nacelles. But this is the 32nd Century, and Starfleet is doing things differently! We’ve already seen several very different Starfleet vessels of this era in Discovery, and the ship from the trailer is at least closer to previous Federation craft than some of those! It’s also possible that this ship, in fact, doesn’t belong to Starfleet at all, but to the season’s villain.
Inside, I felt that the bridge of the USS Athena looked awfully similar to Discovery’s bridge – so much so that I’d call it a redress of the same set rather than an all-new creation. If you think about it from the in-universe side, this doesn’t make a ton of sense. The USS Discovery is a retrofitted 900-year-old ship by this point in the timeline, and we shouldn’t really be seeing much of its design, lighting, and overall aesthetic being repeated. I don’t think it looks “bad,” but rather that some aspects of the design just feel a little too familiar. And while we’ve admittedly only seen the bridge while apparently at red alert, it’s awfully dimly lit. This was a criticism some folks had of Discovery’s sets, too.
On the more positive side, I liked that the bridge was wide and expansive, and seemingly has room for multiple different cadets – and possibly teachers, too – at every post. The chairs having Starfleet delta-shaped bases was cute, too. The design also incorporates a large ramp, and several different levels radiating out from the elevated captain’s chair in the middle. Those are all fun features, too, and I daresay I’ll get used to this design in time – just as I did with the USS Discovery and Strange New Worlds’ redesigned Enterprise.
We saw small teases of the Academy itself, and the sets which have been constructed to depict it. There’s some kind of assembly area, a cafeteria that reminded me of one I used to have lunch at when I was at university, an observation deck or a room with a view over San Francisco, and a bench in an outdoor space. I don’t know how much time we’ll spend at any of these locations, but they all looked solid.
The CGI used to depict the Academy was on form. I liked seeing the opening shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, the wider shot of a futuristic San Francisco, and obviously the Academy buildings themselves. Paramount’s VFX has improved a lot in recent years, and Starfleet Academy is reaping the rewards. There’s enough continuity with previous iterations of Star Trek for long-time viewers to feel that the Academy is in the same place – and especially if you compare some of the shots in the trailer with the Academy’s most recent appearance in Star Trek: Picard, I think you can see the similarities.
Alright, let’s talk about the characters!
The trailer seems to have shown clips of most of the main and secondary cast, and in addition we got photos for each of them – which you can see below. There are five main cadets, who will presumably be the show’s protagonists across Season 1, three returning characters – two from Discovery and one from Voyager – the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, and the season’s main villain. If you’ve followed my coverage of Starfleet Academy since the series was announced back in 2023, you might remember me saying that I’m a tad sceptical about a serialised story with a villain; Star Trek has done the whole “existential threat to the galaxy” thing over and over again in recent years, and not always successfully!
I’m still hopeful, though, that Starfleet Academy will be closer in structure, tone, and style to Strange New Worlds than to the likes of Picard and Discovery – more episodic in nature, retaining character arcs and some serialised trappings, but throwing the cadets into a variety of different situations. Such a story could work with a main villain; the villain’s plan could run parallel to the cadets’ adventures, or he could only appear to bookend the story, for instance.
I’m still not convinced that a series like this needs to have one overarching villain, especially not one with a connection to a main character and who apparently poses a threat to the entire galaxy, as has been previously teased. That basic story outline has, for me, worn out its welcome after being recycled in every season of Discovery and Picard.
One thing you can’t criticise Starfleet Academy for is its casting. Paul Giamatti will play the aforementioned villain – described as a half-Tellarite, half-Klingon who has a connection to one of the cadets. Given that we have a Klingon cadet… that seems like a possible point of connection! Holly Hunter, who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in 1993’s The Piano, is playing the Academy Chancellor/Captain of the USS Athena. So we have an Oscar winner and an Oscar-nominated star occupying those two roles!
Additionally, I’d suggest that Starfleet Academy was clever in its choices of who to include from past iterations of Star Trek. Oded Fehr has been brilliant as Admiral Vance; one of the highlights of Discovery’s later seasons for sure. Tig Notaro has been a blast as Reno, too. And Robert Picardo… coming back as the Doctor in live-action after his role in Prodigy! That’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic! I half-theorised, half-hoped that we might’ve seen the Doctor in Discovery after the series shot forwards in time, so having him here is going to be wonderful.
My only teeny tiny concern at this stage with the returning characters is this: will the series strike the right balance between the young cadets, the new Academy personnel, the villain and his crew, and the returning characters? The Doctor has been billed as a recurring character, so I’m expecting we won’t just get a series premiere cameo, like we did with Dr McCoy in Encounter at Farpoint. But if it was me in the writers’ room, I’d be sorely tempted to spend a lot of time catching up with the Doctor, and I think there has to be a balance there!
Firstly, we should establish whether this is the original Doctor or his Living Witness backup copy! But then, will the Doctor just be a kind of advisor or even just an instructor for some of the cadets, or will he play a larger role in their mission? I know the Doctor has been featured in Prodigy, but this is going to be his first live-action appearance since Voyager, and catching up with even a tiny fraction of the things he’s been up to in the hundreds of years since we last saw him would be a priority for me. But… this is a new series, and with presumably ten episodes in Season 1 and an unknown number in Season 2, we really have to give the new characters a chance to shine on their own.
One other interesting-looking character is the half-Jem’Hadar, half-Klingon first officer of the USS Athena. I hope we get to learn a bit more about the Dominion in this era through her eyes, and that she isn’t just present as an “easter egg” for fans. Discovery dropped the barest of mentions of the Dominion War in either Season 3 or 4 (I forgot which; oops) but we didn’t really get an exploration of what the road to peace looked like. Given the actions of the renegade changeling faction in Picard’s third season, there were clearly complications after the war. But how was peace ultimately achieved, and did it last? Those are still open questions.
Also… aren’t Jem’Hadar artificially created? I always imaged that the Dominion churned them out fully-formed as adults, so how does one get a Jem’Hadar hybrid of any kind? Do… do Jem’Hadar have genitals? I never thought about that before, but now… this character’s inclusion seems to raise some questions. Joking aside, I hope this character won’t just be present in a background role, and that we’ll get to spend a bit of time with them, considering the implications of a half-Jem’Hadar Starfleet officer, and what that could mean for diplomatic relations between the Federation and Dominion in this era. For all we know, a renegade band of Jem’Hadar defected centuries ago, and she’s one of their descendants. But in any case, I’ll be very interested to find out.
Four of the five cadets have a speciality, and one was listed as “undeclared.” Within those specialities, we have two commanders, one science – who Paramount later clarified wants to be a medical officer – and one operations. If you think of the typical Starfleet crew from past shows, we’e missing a couple of key positions! Most notably an engineer, though that could cross over with operations, I guess. And the two command cadets could both be competing for the same spot, or one could be aiming for a role like helm officer, where personnel typically wear the command colours.
As for our “undeclared” cadet… that’s an interesting word choice, isn’t it? This character was described as an “orphan with a troubled past,” potentially teeing up a connection with the season’s villain, and also as an “unlikely” Starfleet cadet. But that word – “undeclared” – keeps coming back for me. It’s not a synonym for “don’t know” or “hasn’t chosen yet;” instead it’s a word that could mean “I know but I haven’t told you.” So… could this be some kind of Starfleet Intelligence career path, or maybe even something connected with Section 31? The other cadets have red, gold, or blue trim on their uniforms; this character’s is dark grey or black. That could suggest some kind of Section 31 connection… couldn’t it?
There were several interesting name-drops, references, and “easter eggs” in the trailer, with a “James T. Kirk Pavilion” and a wall of names which included not only several familiar characters but a handful of producers and writers, too! But the one I want to focus in on the most is something the trailer lingered on for only a couple of seconds: Benjamin Sisko, Emissary of the Prophets. Was this just another callback, like Kirk’s pavilion? Or… might we finally get to learn what became of Sisko after he disappeared in the Fire Caves?
To be clear: I’m pretty confident that Avery Brooks won’t be reprising his role. As much as I’d love nothing more than to see Sisko return, I just don’t think it’s gonna happen. Brooks has been quoted as saying he didn’t want to return to the character, and as fans we have to respect and accept that. But with this moment in the trailer… I can’t help but wonder. Is it just a reference? Or are we going to get a storyline which might finally answer the question of what happened to Sisko? Sisko did promise to return one day, and it makes sense that he’d have done so while his friends and family were still alive, right? So maybe – maybe – we’ll get some kind of confirmation that Sisko did return from the realm of the Prophets sometime in the late 24th or early 25th Centuries.
So I think that’s all of the specific points I wanted to delve into. The trailer overall was solid. I liked the soundtrack, I liked Captain Ake’s inspirational speech, and I think we got a glimpse of the series without really spoiling any key story points – which is important! I am getting a teenagery/young adult vibe from some of the clips featuring the cadets; there could be at least one blossoming romance, they seem to visit a club of some kind, and the way they interact together just feels like a secondary school or university group of friends – which is what they are, at the end of the day.
Does that mean that Starfleet Academy won’t be “my thing,” though? I suppose it could, if the show really leans into teenage storylines about fitting in, first loves, and rebelliously sneaking off-campus to visit a bar! But I’m okay with that – even if it means I don’t personally vibe with everything the series has to offer. In my opinion, its most important objective is to win over younger viewers, appealing to a new audience and turning some of those folks into Trekkies for the first time. I hope that Starfleet Academy can be the “first contact” for a legion of new fans, in the same way as The Next Generation was for me in 1991. Realistically… this could be Star Trek’s last chance to do that.
That’s all for now. I think there are some really interesting ideas, characters, and designs in the Starfleet Academy trailer and photos, and I’m glad to see Paramount making a start with the show’s advertising push. We won’t be seeing Starfleet Academy until 2026 – as I think most of us were expecting. So there’s plenty of time over the next six-plus months for Paramount to tease us with a few more clips, trailers, and details! If that happens, be sure to check back here on Trekking with Dennis – because I’ll be doing my best to cover all of it.
Comic-Con also included a tease of a very unusual Strange New Worlds episode from Season 4, as well as our first look (or should that be “first listen?”) at Star Trek: Khan – the scripted podcast/radio play set on Ceti Alpha V. I’ll be taking a look at that in the days ahead, if you’re interested. And later this week we’ve got A Space Adventure Hour – the next instalment of Strange New Worlds’ third season.
Until then… Live Long and Prosper!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will premiere on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available in 2026. The Star Trek franchise – including Starfleet Academy and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
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