Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: Discovery, Picard, and Prodigy.
At time of writing, we’re just over five weeks away from the premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy! Paramount/Skydance has begun ramping up the show’s marketing, with interviews, a new poster, and most recently, a new clip from the show. I thought we could take a look at those today, as well as look back at earlier trailers and teasers, and just talk a little about my thoughts, fears, and hopes for the Star Trek franchise’s newest series.
First of all… I still feel, based on what we’ve seen and heard since the Skydance takeover, that Starfleet Academy will be the final Star Trek series, at least for the foreseeable future. And unless it were to truly explode in popularity, storming the streaming charts to genuinely compete with the likes of Wednesday, Squid Game, and Stranger Things, I also feel increasingly confident that the two already-announced seasons will be all the show will get. This is not one of Skydance’s pet projects, and I get the impression that – as with Strange New Worlds – Star Trek’s new corporate overlords will fulfil their contractual obligations, but won’t pursue any kind of continuation for the series beyond what had already been lined up. I could be wrong – and I hope Starfleet Academy will prove such an overwhelming hit that it prompts a rethink in the Paramount-Skydance boardroom! But that’s where I feel the show, and the wider franchise, are at right now.
The USS Athena.
And from that negativity to… some more negativity. Sorry.
I… did not think very much of the new clip, to be blunt. Don’t get me wrong: there are some interesting things and some great acting performances, and it was wonderful to see the Doctor back in live-action for the first time. But there are also some pretty disappointing things to see, one of which ties into something I’ve been saying about Starfleet Academy since before the show was even officially announced: this didn’t need to be a serialised story with another galaxy-threatening, over-the-top villain.
Paul Giamatti is *fantastic.* I loved him in the miniseries John Adams a few years ago, and this is a man who’s won three Golden Globes, an Emmy, and been nominated for two Academy Awards. Giamatti was talking about Starfleet Academy at a recent promotional event, and he seems genuinely enthusiastic about Star Trek, recalling watching the show as a kid, and even talked positively about Deep Space Nine. Which makes it such a shame that, from everything I’ve seen of his performance in the previous trailer and now in the new clip, he seems flat, one-note, over-the-top to a totally unnecessary degree, and just… boring.
Do you see what I mean?
Star Trek *can* do great things with bad guys who get under your skin and really chew the scenery. Khan was like that, if you think about it, and yet fans adore both Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan to this day. But in this modern era, after we’ve had Discovery’s Klingons, the Control AI, the Zhat Vash, Osyraa and the Emerald Chain, various Borg Queens, the Diviner Vadic, Moll, and… whoever else I can’t call to mind right now, do we need *yet another* villain in that mould? After we’ve had so many “villain with a mysterious connection to a main character,” and “villain seeking revenge against Starfleet/a main character” storylines across the past decade… do we need to go down that road again?
To me, Starfleet Academy seemed like the perfect vehicle to do something different. The show would benefit, in my opinion, from following the Strange New Worlds style – leaning much more heavily on episodic storytelling, and leaving things like a main villain and galaxy-ending threats behind. Star Trek, in its prime, was the best kind of episodic television, and while there’s always been room for sequels, character growth, and ongoing story and character arcs… a show like Starfleet Academy, with its focus on a new generation of up-and-coming officers, just seems like it should be perfectly placed to bring back that style of storytelling.
Paul Giamatti in the makeup chair.
Maybe, if Nus Braka didn’t seem so cartoonishly over-the-top, I’d be a bit less critical. And despite what I’ve said, I really will try to give the character – and Starfleet Academy – a fair shake in January. I’m not going to turn up for the show wanting to have a bad time, just so I can say “I knew it” later on. But when one of the things that had excited me the most about Starfleet Academy, before we knew anything else about the show, had been the casting of Paul Giamatti… I’m decidedly unimpressed with what I’ve seen from him so far.
If there’s more subtlety and nuance to the character of Nus Braka in Starfleet Academy, I will happily take back everything I’ve had to say about the character and the performance. And I’ve been wrong before – going into projects with low or no expectations only to be left genuinely impressed. Heck, I was not on board with the idea of re-casting Pike, Spock, and Number One for Discovery’s second season… and look how that turned out! So if I’m wrong, I’ll gladly hold up my hands and admit it. But… if I *am* wrong, and this character isn’t the one-note, scenery-chewing villain stereotype that he seems to be, it’ll leave me wondering why the clips and trailers were cut in such a way as to leave me with that impression!
Nus Braka.
The second performance from the recent clip that’s giving me pause is Gina Yashere’s. Yashere plays the role of Lura Throk – an interesting character on paper, as she’s half-Jem’Hadar, half-Klingon. But the way she delivered the couple of lines she had in the clip really just felt amateurish to me. I’m only familiar with Yashere’s work as a comedian; several of her stand-up specials were televised here in the UK, and she also appeared a few times on a comedy panel show called Mock the Week.
Lura Thok *looks* great – there’s some fantastic prosthetic makeup that’s really brought the character to life. And I’m genuinely intrigued at the possibility of learning more about the Jem’Hadar – and by extension the Dominion, perhaps – in this new 32nd Century era. But the way she delivered her lines left me incredibly wary and unconvinced; it felt like I was watching a fan film, when Lura Thok was in focus. Again, these are short moments, and the performance may come across way better in the finished product. But… this is Starfleet Academy’s big push, and the show should be putting its best foot forward to attract as wide of an audience as possible. Performances like that are not the way to do it.
Lura Thok with Captain Ake.
After criticising those two performances, I find myself wrangling with Starfleet Academy’s status and its place in the franchise. When I’ve spoken about two other Star Trek projects in the past – Prodigy a few years ago and Scouts earlier in 2025 – I went out of my way to note that they’re productions aimed at a younger audience. That, by definition, changes how we approach them and where we might choose to be critical. In short, Prodigy and especially Scouts aren’t really being made for the likes of you and I – adult fans who’ve been Trekkies for a long time. They’re aimed at children, with a view to expanding the Star Trek franchise beyond its usual niche.
Is Starfleet Academy in the same camp? Or, to put it another way, am I being too harsh on the show already under the mistaken impression that, because it’s in live-action not animation, it should be held to the same standards as the likes of Strange New Worlds?
Nahla Ake in the captain’s chair.
This gets to a deeper question, I guess. What’s the purpose of Starfleet Academy? Is it to give Trekkies and sometime fans of the Star Trek franchise another show to enjoy? Or is it aiming to attract a younger audience – tweens, teens, and young adults, the kinds of folks who’ve shown up in droves for the aforementioned Wednesday and Stranger Things? And if it’s the latter… should we be a bit more forgiving about some of the things we don’t like?
Some entertainment products which are supposedly made for kids or aimed at a younger audience end up going way beyond their target demographics. I have a neighbour who’s in his 80s, and in a random conversation with him he brought up that he’d watched and enjoyed Wednesday, having been a fan of The Addams Family decades earlier. And speaking for myself, I greatly enjoy some films and TV shows aimed at a younger audience: just this year I’ve watched and enjoyed Phineas and Ferb, for instance, and the film KPop Demon Hunters. So I don’t necessarily think that the argument “it’s for kids, dumbass” can or should be used to cover any and all flaws; there’s good and bad kids’ entertainment, just as there’s good and bad entertainment made for adults. But, at the same time, Starfleet Academy’s marketing material has shown me pretty clearly that, as someone in their 40s, I’m not really the target audience for a show about young adults at their equivalent of university. And I’m okay with that!
Star Trek: Scouts is a new web series aimed at a preschool audience.
I want to judge Starfleet Academy as fairly as possible, and meet it where it is, on its own terms. This is something I’ve said before on multiple occasions – earlier this year, for instance, I wrote that Star Trek: Section 31 felt, to me, like a perfectly adequate B-movie; not great, not terrible, the kind of mindless action flick that’s the television equivalent of “easy listening” and that doesn’t demand much thought or attention. When I realised that I was watching a B-movie, I kind of went with it. While I get that there was a lot of disappointment in the fan community around Section 31, on its own terms, it was okay. Not the best thing I’ve ever seen the franchise put out… but in context, it was fine.
So… shouldn’t I try to be consistent and hold Starfleet Academy to that same standard?
Rather than judging Starfleet Academy by the standards of Picard and Strange New Worlds, I think – based on what I’ve seen so far – we need to compare it to something like… Dawson’s Creek or The O.C. It’s clearly being pitched to younger folks as a “teen drama” set in the Star Trek universe, not a Star Trek show which just happens to have young adult characters. And maybe that means we’ll get storylines about first loves, skipping class, overly-strict teachers, and all of the tropes that come with that kind of television. That isn’t usually my cup of tea… but I will try to keep that in mind when I talk about Starfleet Academy and the stories it aims to tell.
The main cadet characters, as seen in the first trailer.
The recently-released poster also leaves that impression. I’ve seen some Trekkies online complaining about or criticising the poster – which depicts the cadets in a casual pose, lying on the grass, presumably in between classes! It evokes a kind of carefree schooldays feel, as if the characters are taking a break from their lessons and whatever personal conflicts or drama may be brewing.
Again, trying to keep in mind who Paramount-Skydance is trying to appeal to… I think that’s probably a good way to go. If the objective is for Starfleet Academy to be a teen drama first and a Star Trek show second, this kind of promo is *exactly* what I’d have suggested. It doesn’t mean we’ll get to see the poster recreated in the show itself, but rather the sensation or feeling that the designers and marketers wanted to create is one of carefree youth. Hopefully it’ll reach the right eyes and convince some new folks to tune in.
The new promotional poster.
To get back to the latest clip, I’m glad we got to see the Doctor in action. Robert Picardo seems to have slid effortlessly back into the role, and I’m really keen to see what this new take on the character will look like. We’re catching up with the Doctor centuries after we last saw him, though I got the impression from a recent interview that *maybe* the Doctor’s holo-programme hasn’t been running continuously for all of that time. Don’t quote me on that, it’s as much a guess as a “theory,” at this stage!
Although the Doctor will clearly have some kind of role as an educator, the clip showed him back in action, tending to and potentially treating wounded cadets and Starfleet personnel after the attack on the USS Athena. Even if that’s the only time the Doctor plays that kind of role… I’m still glad to see it! As an artificial life-form, the Doctor should retain all of his knowledge and skills, even after all this time. I hope the Doctor’s role won’t just be a succession of short cameos, though. There are only ten episodes in the new season, and we’ve got a whole new cast of characters to meet and new storylines to follow. But if Star Trek is gonna do this – bring back another legacy character – they have to be handled with care, and given enough time in the spotlight to feel like they’re there for a purpose. Otherwise… it’s just a nostalgia play to get grumpy old gits to tune in for this new kids’ show!
The Doctor… and the patient.
We didn’t see very much of the cadets in the recent clip. A scene on the bridge with Captain Ake was interesting – and we’ve learned fairly recently that she’s a Lanthanite. The Lanthanites are a long-lived humanoid species, of which Pelia, from Strange New Worlds, is the only member we’ve met so far. I wonder if there’ll be a connection between them, or some kind of reference to Pelia in the new series.
Holly Hunter, the Academy Award-winner who plays Captain Ake, was far and away the standout performer in the recent clip. She seems to have perfectly brought to life this character who’s both a captain and a teacher, ancient and wise yet constantly surrounded by children. There wasn’t much of Pelia’s light-heartedness in Captain Ake’s characterisation, but that’s fine. I don’t think that, just because one member of a species acts a certain way, every subsequent character must do the same! I’m not sure how I feel about her choosing to wear glasses, though – but perhaps it’ll be explained that that’s a quirk she’s retained after centuries of life? I dunno.
Captain Nahla Ake.
I’m not *wild* about the design of the USS Athena. To be fair, I don’t think what I’ve seen of the exterior of the ship is atrocious, and it’s probably in line with other 32nd Century Starfleet designs that we saw in Discovery… but I wasn’t especially keen on those, either. Inside, the bridge still feels to me like a redress of the USS Discovery bridge set, rather than a totally original creation. Combined with an exterior that doesn’t feel all that special, the USS Athena just doesn’t strike me as being particularly memorable. When I think about some of the best starship designs, my mind goes to iconic vessels like the Excelsior-class, Galaxy-class, or Intrepid-class. All I can say is that I hope the Athena will grow on me over the course of the show.
One thing I did like, though, was the design of Braka’s ship. Three separate pieces seem able to break apart and come together. It reminded me of a cross between Booker’s ship, which we saw in Discovery, and the USS Prometheus from Voyager, which also had a three-part separation sequence. Perhaps there was also a dash of the Shrike – Vadic’s ship from Picard – thrown in there, too. Certainly a more memorable design than the Athena!
Nus Braka’s three-part ship.
The callback to Discovery’s programmable matter was interesting – but I hope this will be developed a bit more in the new series. In Discovery, programmable matter was basically a glorified macguffin, used to fill holes in a few storylines but without ever really being explained. Star Trek’s technobabble has always been like that, but if programmable matter is as important to Starfleet in this era as it appeared in Discovery, and is going to be used by the villain of this story, I hope we get to look at it in a little more detail this time.
One thing I noted in the clip was that Caleb – the cadet we saw being rescued by Captain Ake, and who seems to have a mysterious connection to Nus Braka – didn’t know what this programmable matter attack was. Does that tell us something, perhaps, about his life prior to enlisting in Starfleet? I thought it was potentially interesting that, of all the cadets who could’ve filled that role, it was Caleb who was the one to get the “what is that?!” line. It could be nothing of consequence, though, if Starfleet Academy ends up following Caleb’s story more closely than those of the other cadets.
Does this moment mean… anything?
I think that’s everything I had in my notes for today.
This time last year, I said that I was sceptical about the Section 31 TV movie. I felt that it was targeting a younger audience, raised on action and superhero flicks, and that that kind of film might not be to my taste. But I tried to set appropriate expectations and gave the film as fair a shake as I could. I will endeavour to do the same for Starfleet Academy, which likewise feels like a project that may not be “my thing.”
I hope this has been interesting, and I hope I didn’t come across as too harsh, unfair, or overly negative. I really will try to be fair to Starfleet Academy when it premieres next month, and to go into the show with an open mind. Even if it is the kind of teen drama that I’m assuming, based on its marketing material, that doesn’t, by default, mean it will be unenjoyable! The clip may not have impressed me, and I do have some concerns about the show’s villain and a potential return to serialised storytelling. But I’m also crossing my fingers and hoping that – finally, belatedly – *this* will be the project to bring a new generation of fans to the Star Trek franchise.
The programmable matter attack…
In January, I plan to review Starfleet Academy’s premiere, which I think I’m right in saying will be two episodes. After that, I will make a decision about whether or not to review individual episodes or the season as a whole – that’s not something I want to commit to until I’ve got more of a feel for the show. But regardless, I will review Starfleet Academy in some form in the new year, so I really hope you’ll join me again for that.
And until then, I’ve still got a couple of other reviews from 2025 that I’m working on, and later in the month there’ll be my annual End-of-Year Awards, in which I’ll hand out some imaginary trophies and made-up statuettes to some of my favourite entertainment experiences of the year. Hope to see you for some of those!
Live Long and Propser, friends!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will premiere on the 15th of January 2026 on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the copyright of the Skydance-Paramount corporation. This preview contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for upcoming seasons of Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: The Undiscovered Country, Voyager, Discovery, Prodigy, and Picard.
The Star Trek franchise popped up at New York’s Comic-Con event this week, building up the hype for Starfleet Academy and the next season of Strange New Worlds. I thought we could take a look at them together, as we begin to get excited for next year’s Star Trek projects.
First of all, it does seem, based on the release of the teaser clip and Starfleet Academy’s mid-January premiere, that Strange New Worlds Season 4 is on the schedule for 2026. That’s good news! After the two-year gap in between Seasons 2 and 3, and with Starfleet Academy still in post-production, I wasn’t sure if Strange New Worlds would manage a 2026 broadcast, but it’s good news in my book that we don’t have to wait too long for the next instalment in what is still my favourite modern Star Trek series.
Starfleet Academy will be on our screens in just over three months!
Since we’re talking Strange New Worlds, let’s take a look at the teaser clip first.
Firstly, I’m not 100% sure if this was one continuous sequence, or if there wasn’t at least one cut somewhere in the middle. It kind of feels, to me, like a scene or two might be missing… but that could also be where the title sequence will appear in the finished episode, I guess! In any case, the Strange New Worlds teaser was taken from a single episode, and it shows Pike and the crew getting into trouble with what looked somewhat like a plasma storm or ion storm.
How, exactly, a plasma storm might’ve thrown the Enterprise to a different point in space is… debatable! But we’ve seen similar things happen before; I actually got a “Caretaker” vibe from that part of the clip, as the ship got caught in an expanding space storm and ended up somewhere different. I’m not saying this will be the Delta Quadrant, of course! But as I’ve said before, sometimes Star Trek stories kind of rhyme, and this clip was definitely reminiscent of Voyager’s premiere for me.
The USS Enterprise in the Season 4 teaser and the USS Voyager in Caretaker.
I’m glad that we got to see Ortegas back at the helm after her Gorn encounter. I think, having sat with it for a month or so, that Terrarium might be the best episode of Season 3, and I’m definitely excited to spend more time with Ortegas (and some of the show’s other original characters) before Strange New Worlds wraps up. Ortegas was also present on the shuttle mission at the end of the clip, and really seems to be back in her element in the pilot’s seat.
Another character I was pleased to see was Pelia! Pelia seemed to draw the short straw in Season 3, with Scotty taking over key engineering storylines in episodes like A Space Adventure Hour, but she’s at least going to be present in Season 4 and hasn’t just been unceremoniously shuffled off-stage. That makes me happy; Pelia is a great comic relief character and has had some of the best and funniest lines in Seasons 2 and 3. Getting the right balance between Pelia and Scotty – the chief engineer and the deputy – is something Strange New Worlds still needs to work on, but I think Pelia’s presence in the teaser clip is promising, at least.
Pelia.
Spock and La’an were seen together in the clip – though not in a romantic setting! La’an did seem to be looking at Spock, though, and I suspect that their relationship will continue at least at the beginning of Season 4. As I said, though, when Season 3 was on the air: I kind of need a break from that. I don’t want more “Spock comedy,” or “Spock romance,” not with only a few episodes remaining before Strange New Worlds will be over. So I hope the writers aren’t going to push for more of those things in Season 4. Hard to tell from just this one clip, of course!
We also caught a glimpse of a new Vulcan character – a cadet, who seems to be shadowing Uhura on the bridge. Giving Uhura a mentorship role could be a fun way to extend her character arc, so I’m on board with that! Part of me wonders if this character is intended to be someone familiar: perhaps Tuvok’s wife, T’Pel, who we saw briefly in Voyager, or even someone like Saavik or Valeris. Given Valeris’ later role in The Undiscovered Country, that could be interesting.
Uhura with the Vulcan cadet.
Pike’s line to Una, asking her if she’d miss space exploration if she had to give it up, felt poignant – and could be related to Pike’s impending accident and disability. Perhaps his knowledge of the future is weighing on him during this mission, maybe he’s still mourning Captain Batel after losing her at the end of Season 3, or it could be connected to the fantasy life we saw in the Season 3 finale. In any case, the line stuck out to me, and clearly indicates that Pike has a lot on his mind beyond just the mission at hand.
This aspect of Pike’s characterisation – his knowledge of what lies in store for him – has made this iteration of the character incredibly impactful and relatable to me personally. I read his story through the lens of my own poor health; I’ve been Captain Pike, hearing bad news about my health and future prospects, knowing there isn’t anything I can do, and the way Anson Mount brings that to the screen has always been nothing short of fantastic. Given that it will probably be a big plot point in the cut-down fifth season, I’m not sure how important Pike’s imminent accident will be this time around, but this clip seems to hint at it being important for him in at least one episode.
Pike’s line to Una really stood out to me.
I don’t remember the element iridium being mentioned a lot in previous Star Trek stories, but I like this little expansion of the lore of Star Trek. According to Scotty, iridium is necessary to “ignite” the warp engines – presumably meaning it’s important to the antimatter reaction along with dilithium. In any case, missing iridium seems like a suitable driving force for a story that looks set to take Una, La’an, and Ortegas to – as Captain Pike put it in a kind of too on-the-nose line – a “strange new world.”
Not sure what else to say about the Strange New Worlds clip. I think the episode looks like it’ll get off to a solid start, it was nice to see most of the crew getting a line of dialogue or something to do, and there were enough little teases to get me excited. Pike’s story looks like it could be complex, a new Vulcan cadet could be a fun addition to the bridge, even if she’s only present for an episode or two, and I’m genuinely curious to learn more about this mysterious storm in space and where it might’ve taken Pike and the Enterprise. Could I be about to get my “Pike versus the Borg” story that I’ve been harping on about for years? Erm… no!
Destination: unknown.
Next, let’s talk about Starfleet Academy.
In a frankly bizarre move, comedian and late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert was announced as having a voice-only role in the series. Apparently, Colbert is a bit of a Star Trek fan, and he’ll be providing the voice of the “Digital Dean of Students” at the Academy. Colbert treated us to what he said was one of the actual lines from the show – and it was… fine, I guess?
I’ll be honest: this feels like stunt casting; hiring a big-name star for no other reason than, well, they’re a big-name star. However… if it helps draw a few more eyes to Star Trek, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m just not convinced it’ll be as big of a deal as Paramount/Skydance would’ve liked, and I’m not sure it was the best possible way to close out the Comic-Con revelations and news. Maybe this is because I’m from the UK, and perhaps to an American audience, someone like Stephen Colbert is much more of a draw. I just wasn’t blown away by it, and my feelings toward the announcement were more like “erm, okay?” rather than “woah, what a great idea!”
Stephen Colbert is joining Starfleet Academy for a voice role.
I’ve said this before, but I don’t think a show like Starfleet Academy benefits from having a main villain. I had hoped that Starfleet Academy could’ve adopted the Strange New Worlds model and done something a lot more episodic – that kind of thing feels like it’s well-suited to a show about younger characters learning about serving in Starfleet. It’s still my hope that we’ll get some of that, but it’s seemed for a while like the series is going down a serialised route similar to Discovery.
In fact, I felt echoes of Discovery in the connection between the villain, Nus Braka, and the young cadet Caleb. Every season of Discovery seemed to follow a very familiar pattern: there’s a villain who’s threatening the Federation or the entire galaxy, and somehow, that villain has a connection to one of our heroes. We had it with Lorca, Voq, and Tyler in Season 1, the Red Angel in Season 2, the Emerald Chain and the Burn in Season 3, the DMA and Tarka in Season 4, and the Breen and Moll in Season 5. Picard even got in on the action with Q and the Borg Queen in Season 2, and Vadic and Jack in Season 3, and so did Prodigy with Gwyn and the Diviner.
And I’m just so thoroughly burned out on that repetitive story concept at this point.
Nus Braka: Starfleet Academy’s villain.
However! It wasn’t all doom and gloom in the Starfleet Academy trailer. We caught a glimpse of Mary Wiseman’s Tilly for the first time in any Starfleet Academy material, which is great news. Tilly was a fun character in Discovery, and it seemed – for a time, at least – as if Starfleet Academy might be being constructed around her as a central character. There was even that backdoor pilot in Season 4 – though none of the cadet characters seem to have shown up in the new series, for some reason.
But with Tilly having been absent from all of Starfleet Academy’s marketing so far, I can’t’ve been the only one who was beginning to wonder whether she’d show up at all! Rumours suggest that Tilly may only be a guest-star for a single episode in the show’s first season, but I’m sure she’ll still be a welcome addition to the cast. It was great to catch sight of her for the first time, in any case.
It’s Tilly!
The rest of the Starfleet Academy trailer looked… well, it looked “teenager-y.” Which makes sense, of course, given the show’s younger characters and target audience! Plenty of shows and films aimed at a younger audience or featuring younger characters still have a lot to offer to the rest of us – look at the likes of Wednesday or Stranger Things (neither of which I’ve actually seen, but they’re good examples nevertheless!) Some of the clips in the trailer seemed to show characters at the Academy falling in love, going on dates, and talking in that kind of angsty way you sometimes get in teen dramas. I’m not sure whether all of that (or any of it) will be to my taste, but I’m content to give the show and these characters a chance to impress me.
One thing I hadn’t clocked until recently was that Sam – one of the new cadets – is a hologram. I think this is really interesting given that Voyager’s Doctor is also going to be present in the series, and I can already see the two of them developing a connection over a shared (or similar) heritage. That’s something that could be really interesting, and I wonder if we’ll get an exploration of how holographic rights developed in the years after Voyager.
Sam and the Doctor.
Nahla Ake, the captain and Chancellor of the Academy, is sure to be one of the series’ breakout characters. She’s brought to life by Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter, and the Star Trek franchise really lucked out to land a performer of such calibre. Though I’m not sure her personal connection with Caleb is the right move narratively, I’m really excited to see what this new character will be like, how her style of command will be, and how the rest of the cadets will respond to her. I think there’s a ton of potential there.
It was a deliberate choice to make Starfleet Academy a spin-off from Discovery, set in that same far-future time period. I’ll be curious to see how the show will lean into that, and whether the “post-apocalyptic” setting caused by the Burn and its lingering aftershocks will be a big part of the main storyline. In a way, I hope that Starfleet Academy will be able to do something more meaningful with that idea than Discovery managed… but I won’t lie: a big part of me regrets that this show couldn’t have been set in the Picard era instead.
Caleb.
It seems like Starfleet Academy is setting up Caleb, Captain Ake, and Nus Braka to be the principal characters, all tied up together in a “mystery box” type of story surrounding Caleb’s missing mother. I’m still not convinced that this was the right approach, but maybe if it’s a solid enough story it will at least be worth following to its conclusion. Based on what we saw of him in the trailer, I wasn’t actually wowed by veteran actor Paul Giamatti’s performance – he felt too over-the-top for my liking. And that’s a shame; Giamatti is a fine actor, and someone I’ve been looking forward to seeing in Star Trek. Hopefully it’s just a consequence of the way the trailer was cut; in context, those moments might feel better and make a lot more sense.
I hope Starfleet Academy isn’t going to do the clichéd (and also played-out) trope of “everyone has a hidden secret backstory.” We seemed to get hints at at least two of the other cadets – Genesis and Darem – having some kind of issues with their families or in their past that are driving them to seek positions in Starfleet. I don’t think every character needs that kind of motivation – especially not young, school/university-aged characters. Isn’t it enough to say they’re looking to make something of themselves, or that Starfleet appealed to them because they wanted to be scientists or explorers? Complexity can make a character great in any work of fiction – but not every complex character needs to have some kind of mysterious or traumatising past to explain why they are the way they are. I’m just a little concerned that Starfleet Academy is leaning too much into that kind of storytelling.
Why does Genesis say she “needs” to be a captain?
I hope this has been an interesting glimpse at both Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds. I still haven’t decided yet whether I’m going to review every Starfleet Academy episode or not – I think, at the very least, I’ll review the premiere, just to see how the series is starting off! But whether I do individual episode reviews or review the rest of the season in one hit, I hope you’ll join me for that in January. And I’m hopeful that Strange New Worlds Season 4 will debut later in 2026, too – and I will definitely write up individual episode reviews there, as I did for Season 3 earlier this year.
Obviously, Strange New Worlds remains the Star Trek project I’m most excited for; nothing in the Starfleet Academy trailer convinced me that I should change my mind about that! But, despite what I’d consider to be some narrative red flags, I’m still hopeful that Starfleet Academy will be fun. Even if it’s not “my thing,” perhaps it will finally be the series that reaches out to a new generation of viewers, turning them into Trekkies and kick-starting a renaissance for the franchise that the fan community arguably needs.
In any case… we don’t have much longer to wait!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will premiere on Paramount+ in January 2026. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1-3 are available to stream now on Paramount+ and Season 4 looks set to premiere later in 2026. The Star Trek franchise – including all shows and properties discussed above – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
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.
Here’s hoping Starfleet Academy will bring in new viewers and new fans!
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.
Captain Nahla Ake.
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.
Jay-Den Kraag, one of the new cadets.
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.
The cadets in the cafeteria.
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.
Close-ups of several combadges.
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.
The spaceship from the trailer.
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.
The new bridge.
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.
The USS Athena approaching Starfleet Academy.
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!
The main cadets (and the poster).
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.
Nus Braka: the season’s main villain.
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.
Captain Ake flanked by the Doctor and Admiral Vance.
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.
The Doctor.
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.
Lura Thok: the half-Klingon, half-Jem’Hadar first officer.
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?
Is this cadet possibly in Section 31?
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.
Captain Sisko’s appearance…
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.
I hope a new generation of fans will fall in love with Starfleet Academy – and Star Trek.
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.
Spoiler Warning: Beware of spoilers for the following Star Trek productions: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Enterprise Season 3, Discovery Seasons 1-5, Picard Seasons 1-3, Prodigy Season 1, Strange New Worlds Seasons 1-2, and Starfleet Academy.
Eight years ago, Star Trek returned to its small-screen home after over a decade in the wilderness. However, in 2025, thanks to a corporate merger, an under-performing, loss-making streaming platform, and some laughably idiotic decision-making by morons in suits, it feels like Star Trek might, once again, be coming to the end of the road. The cancellations of all but one series, failures to get a new feature film off the ground, and Paramount+ continuing to flail around in a competitive market all indicate to me that Paramount and Skydance are at the very least considering bringing production to a halt.
There will be time in the months and years ahead to talk about who’s to blame and what precisely went wrong. But that isn’t the purpose of today’s article. Instead, I want to take a look ahead. Beginning with the assumption that Skydance/Paramount aren’t interested in producing more Star Trek after the second half of the 2020s, what stories should the franchise’s writers and producers aim to tell over the next three or four years? Is there room to resolve dangling story threads, throw in a bit of fan service, and perhaps revisit characters and factions we haven’t seen in a while? Or… should Star Trek’s corporate overlords roll the dice again and chase trends in the hope of bringing in new viewers?
An early tease of Star Trek’s small-screen return. Photo Credit: TrekCore
2016 doesn’t feel like a particularly long time ago. But it’s been nine years since we got those early teases of what would go on to be Star Trek: Discovery, and since then, production has ramped up only to tail off again far more quickly than I’d expected. To go from the excitement of Star Trek’s return to the very real prospect of its total cancellation in the span of less than a decade is making my head spin! But realistically, after the cancellation of most of the main shows and with the corporate merger seeming to have put a stop to any new announcements… that’s where we’re at. If Star Trek isn’t bringing in viewers and helping Paramount+ on its long road to profitability… what did we expect? Corporations aren’t going to piss away money forever on something that isn’t making a profit… even if the reason why Star Trek, in its current incarnation, has struggled is, I would very strongly argue, entirely the fault of executive fuckwits making appalling decisions!
The cancellation announcement of Strange New Worlds kind of embodies that for me. Season 3 is literally days away, the cast and crew are about to start making the rounds on the interview circuit, hype for the new season is beginning to build… and that’s the moment that Paramount’s executives decide to announce that the show’s cancellation. This coming just a couple of years after they had to rapidly un-announce a new Star Trek film when it emerged that none of the cast had actually signed onto the project. After the merger is complete and these morons are all laid off… I hope not one of them ever works in the entertainment industry again.
But as I said, that’s not what we’re here to talk about on this occasion!
Former Paramount CEO Bob Bakish.
I’ve been thinking a lot about some of the Star Trek stories that I’d most like to see. If Star Trek does get fully cancelled later in the decade, and remains off the air for a good number of years as happened in the ’70s and the 2000s/2010s… this could be it for me. This could be the last new Star Trek I’m gonna see. Because of my health, sticking it out to the 2040s or beyond for a possible, hypothetical revival seems… well, it seems unlikely, to be blunt about it! So the next few years could bring me the final batch of Star Trek stories that I’m going to be able to watch. It’s with that mindset that I approach this piece.
So let’s clear a few things up before we go any further. These story ideas are pure fantasy, meaning I have no “insider information,” I’m not claiming any of them will actually be made, and it’s very likely that nothing we’re about to discuss will ever actually be seen on screen! This is a wishlist from a Trekkie, and should be taken in that spirit. Secondly, all of this is the wholly subjective take of just one person. If you hate all of my story concepts, or if I don’t mention a favourite of yours… that’s okay. There should be enough room in the Star Trek fan community for different ideas and the kind of polite discussion that doesn’t descend into argument and toxicity.
With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of my story ideas.
Story #1: Bring back the Xindi.
Xindi in Enterprise.
The Xindi have technically appeared in Discovery – albeit in a non-speaking, background role. And Xindi-Reptillians were also seen in a slightly bigger capacity in Prodigy’s first season. But we haven’t gotten a proper Xindi story since Enterprise – not one that examines the Federation’s relationship to the faction, at any rate. I’d love to see the Xindi revisited in a big way, catching up with them after the events of Enterprise and perhaps finding out a little more about what became of them after the disappearance of the Sphere-Builders.
Starfleet Academy could, for instance, introduce a Xindi cadet – perhaps one of the first Xindi to be a Starfleet officer in some time. Or Captain Pike could be sent on a diplomatic mission to the Xindi homeworld barely a century after the attempted attack on Earth. Either of these shows could incorporate a Xindi storyline, and it would be a lot of fun to either lay the groundwork for a future Federation-Xindi alliance or see what became of that in the far future.
Two Xindi from Prodigy’s first season.
A story set in the far future could also reference the Sphere Builders and perhaps expand upon something Discovery never really explained: the ban on time travel. It always struck me as an impossible thing to enforce, especially given the shattered state of the Federation, but perhaps a Xindi character in Starfleet Academy could lecture the cadets on the dangers of trying to interfere with the past.
If Pike and the Enterprise visit the Delphic Expanse, we could get a story about the Xindi’s first attempt to reconcile with Earth. They might’ve retreated back to their homeworld after their defeat, and this could be the first time they’ve reached out to the Federation in decades. There could even be a resurrection of the plot to attack Earth, perhaps some disaffected Xindi faction feels that it’s the only way to restore their world to greatness. If so, Captain Pike could have to follow in Archer’s footsteps and stop them!
Story #2: A sequel to In The Pale Moonlight.
Garak and Sisko.
Have you ever wondered what might’ve happened if the Romulans ever figured out what Garak and Sisko did during the Dominion War? I have! And it’s one of my all-time favourite fantasy storylines. I don’t think this would even need to include Sisko or Garak necessarily – though I’d love to bring back both Avery Brooks and Andrew Robinson to reprise their roles. But a story set sometime after the Dominion War could revisit this absolute cracker of an episode and address some of the lingering questions that it posed.
Though this could be another far future story, I guess, where I think it would work best would be in the Picard era. Perhaps the Romulans discover, in some of the documents and data that they saved from the supernova, the fake recording that Sisko and Garak created and revisit it, finally realising that it was fake. That could have massive implications for Romulan-Federation relations… or maybe the new Romulan government, relying on the Federation for aid and supplies after the cataclysm, would choose to cover it up. If Legacy had gotten off the ground, this would absolutely be a story I’d have wanted to see in that show.
This could’ve been a great episode of Star Trek: Legacy…
I can picture it already: Starfleet contacts the Enterprise, ordering Seven, Raffi, Jack, and the rest of the crew to parley with the Romulans. Seven’s Romulan connections from Picard Season 1 could come into play here, justifying Starfleet tapping the Enterprise for the mission. Upon arriving at the new Romulan homeworld, several angry Romulans – leaders of the Senate and Tal Shiar, perhaps – confront her over the deception. Seven and the crew genuinely have no idea what’s going on; Sisko and Garak told no one. In desperation, Seven contacts DS9, potentially being received by a familiar face.
At this point, the story could go in lots of different directions – all with plenty of those shades of grey which made In The Pale Moonlight so compelling. There could be genuinely uncomfortable real-world parallels – the lies told in order to start wars, threats of aid being withheld from desperate survivors of the supernova, and good people forced into impossible situations by the actions of others a generation ago.
Story #3: A 60th Anniversary Special.
Janeway and Tuvok with Sulu and Rand from Voyager’s 30th anniversary episode, Flashback.
In 1996, two episodes were produced that really aimed to celebrate Star Trek’s thirtieth anniversary: Trials and Tribble-ations and Flashback. Both were, in my humble opinion, excellent – though fans have a clear preference for Trials and Tribble-ations! It’s been a frankly astonishing twenty-nine years since then… meaning Star Trek’s 60th is just around the corner.
A decade ago, Star Trek Beyond was the only production released during the 50th anniversary year, but Discovery was already filming. This time, I’d really love to see Paramount go all-out, using all of the resources at their disposal, to really celebrate all things Star Trek. Obviously this idea felt more likely before the recent cancellation announcements, and I would note that we’ve already had an excellent crossover between Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds that kind of occupies a similar space! But that wasn’t an anniversary special… so I think Star Trek and Paramount can do something, at least, to mark the occasion.
Star Trek has recently done an ambitious crossover episode.
There are two shows in production that could – somehow – cross over. The best idea I can come up with at this stage would be the Starfleet Academy cadets running a simulation of Kirk’s Enterprise… which I realise sounds a lot like the maligned These Are The Voyages, but I think that same concept could’ve worked if it had been handled better and wasn’t intended to serve as Enterprise’s finale! So let’s say that, under the direction of Tilly and Vance, the cadets are aboard Kirk’s Enterprise, using the sets built for Strange New Worlds. What next?
Well, Strange New Worlds already has Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty – so we could use those characters and revisit a classic episode from The Original Series! Perhaps something like The Doomsday Machine, with the cadets observing Kirk’s actions for their assignment. This could mutate into a “the holodeck done goofed” type of story, perhaps, with the cadets having to genuinely fight for their lives alongside Captain Kirk and Spock. It wouldn’t be a pure crossover in the sense that Pike and some of the other Strange New Worlds characters would be missing… but I think it could be a huge amount of fun.
Story #4: Save Captain Lorca!
Captain Lorca.
This has been a theory/fantasy of mine going all the way back to the announcement of Section 31 in 2019! In short, the prime timeline version of Captain Gabriel Lorca, from Discovery’s first season, switched places with his Mirror Universe counterpart before the events of the show. Mirror Lorca is dead – but we never learned what became of our universe’s version of the character. Admiral Cornwell just assumed that he’s dead… but Lorca always struck me as a resilient, resourceful man. So maybe there’s a way that he managed to survive.
Section 31 obviously went on to be a completely different thing, but we still have a show set in the 23rd Century where this kind of rescue mission might be possible: Strange New Worlds! Captain Pike confirmed back in Discovery that he knows about the existence of the Mirror Universe, and while any crossover story would have to keep characters like Spock, Uhura, and Scotty out of it, I think it could be made to work. Furthermore, we could get a glimpse of Pike’s past; perhaps he served with Lorca before either of them assumed their commands, or maybe they became friends while working together as starship captains.
Captain Lorca is trapped in the Terran Empire.
In my fantasy version of the story, Admiral April would contact Captain Pike with a top-secret assignment. Starfleet has received a brief message from across the divide between universes, confirming that Captain Lorca is still alive. Based on what Starfleet learned from the USS Discovery’s time in the Mirror Universe, they’ve found a way to send a small ship through the looking-glass – and Pike, as one of the few officers aware of the Mirror Universe and because of his connection to Lorca, has been chosen to lead the mission. Pike would select Ortegas to be the shuttle’s pilot and another character – perhaps La’an for security or Pelia to keep the shuttle flying and maintain its systems – for a clandestine mission akin to the one Picard undertook in Chain of Command.
Once in the Mirror Universe, Pike and the others would have to trace the source of Lorca’s signal – it’s coming from a Terran Empire prison camp. They’d come up with a plan, break him out, engage in a shootout with a few Terrans, and possibly catch a glimpse of Mirror Spock before making it home safe and sound. I think this could be a really fun story – and a great way to bring Star Trek’s current crop of shows full-circle by returning to the events of Discovery’s first season.
Story #5: Captain Pike vs. the Borg Collective!
The first Borg drone ever seen in Star Trek.
Okay, now we’re getting silly. But I still think that a Borg Strange New Worlds episode isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds! Let me explain why. Firstly, just like the Captain Lorca episode above, this one would have to take place in an alternate timeline. Somehow, someway, thanks to some technobabble interstellar phenomenon, the Enterprise is thrust into a parallel universe – one in which the Borg have come to dominate the entire galaxy. Pike and the crew would have to face off against a horde of cybernetic adversaries while struggling to make it home.
Characters like Spock and Una could suggest that this cybernetic race – the Borg – might not exist in the prime timeline, potentially explaining how Pike’s run-in with the Borg was never mentioned by anyone else! I think that clears up that particular issue much better than Enterprise did with its Borg episode! But I also like the idea of leaving just a little bit of ambiguity right at the end – perhaps Pike submits his report, and the camera hangs on Admiral April as he looks pensive and concerned.
How would Pike handle the Borg threat?
After Picard arguably overdid it with the Borg, I can appreciate why bringing them back so soon might not be to everyone’s taste. And when there are so many factions and races from past iterations of Star Trek still waiting to be revisited, I can entertain the argument that doing another Borg story might not be the way to go. But when I think about the most iconic villains in Star Trek, the toughest enemies to beat, and the most frightening… the Borg are absolutely up there in all three categories, and I think they’d pose a massive challenge for Pike and the crew.
The most important thing for me is setting a story like this in an alternate universe, not the prime timeline. There’d be enough wiggle-room to have an encounter like this without treading on the toes of fantastic episodes like Q Who and The Best of Both Worlds that way.
Story #6: Push the Burn into an alternate timeline.
The Burn.
As a parting gift to potential future Star Trek storytellers, I can’t think of anything this current crop of shows could do that would be better than pushing the Burn and the far-future setting into an alternate reality. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to see Discovery and Starfleet Academydecreed to be “non-canon,” and the far-future setting had some interesting ideas that led to some genuinely great episodes. But… as the ultimate destination for the entire Star Trek galaxy, the Burn and the post-apocalyptic hellscape it created are incredibly depressing. Not only that, they risk constraining future stories, making them feel meaningless or unimportant.
Any new Star Trek project set prior to the 32nd Century becomes, by default, a Discovery prequel. And when we know how awful Discovery’s far future was for pretty much everyone… that’s not great. It completely changes how we view stories like Picard’s third season; we knew, even subconsciously in the backs of our minds, that even if Picard managed to save the day and defeat the Borg, the Burn was still going to happen. No other Star Trek project has done more to restrict and reframe subsequent productions than Discovery’s third season.
Any Star Trek episode or film set in the 23rd, 24th, or 25th Centuries becomes, by default, a prequel to Discovery’s far future… and the Burn.
And I think, all things considered, “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” didn’t work as intended – at least not in Discovery with the kinds of stories the production team wanted to tell. So let’s assume Starfleet Academy will get two seasons before a cancellation in 2027 or 2028. The absolute best thing that show could do in its final episode is find some way to push this version of the future into a pocket universe or alternate timeline. You’d have to come up with some kind of technobabble and a reason why; maybe the Burn will have knock-on effects that ultimately lead to some additional disaster, and the only way to prevent it will be to travel back in time and stop the Burn from ever happening. I don’t know. But there’s gotta be someone who could write a story like that!
What this story would have to do is thread the needle. Discovery and Starfleet Academy could continue to exist for folks who enjoyed them – and I certainly hope to be among the people who enjoy Starfleet Academy! But the main storyline of the Burn could push those shows into some kind of parallel universe – paving the way for Star Trek projects in the future to not have that massively depressing destination.
Story #7: Star Trek: Legacy.
The Enterprise-G.
This one isn’t a single “story” so much as an entire TV movie! In short, I’d love to see Terry Matalas’ Legacy pitch revisited, somehow. If we stick with our assumption that cancellation is coming, then it seems beyond unlikely that a brand-new big-budget series is going to get out of the starting gate. But maybe, just maybe, there’s room to turn Legacy into a Section 31-style TV movie. If it does well in that format, then who knows? Maybe Skydance/Paramount will want a continuation.
I really hope that the negative reception Section 31 received earlier in the year won’t dissuade Star Trek’s corporate overlords from revisiting the TV movie idea. There are so many stories that could work in that format – even if they couldn’t carry an entire series on their own. While I’d absolutely love to see Legacy in its originally-envisioned form as a full-blown series, a TV movie could be the next best thing… and a way to test the waters to see if the 25th Century could be Star Trek’s saviour.
Seven and Raffi could return…
I’ve argued repeatedly that the Star Trek franchise can’t just coast on nostalgia and past successes, and needs to do more to bring new, younger fans on board. That’s something I hoped Section 31 could’ve done… but that doesn’t seem to have happened, unfortunately. A restructured Legacy, with just enough of a connection to Star Trek’s past without going overboard, could be the gateway into the franchise for new fans – connecting back to characters from The Next Generation era while setting the stage for new adventures in the 25th Century.
I’ll caveat all of this by saying that no one knows what was in the original Legacy pitch – it might’ve been absolute dog shite that we would’ve all despised! And there’s clearly a reason why Paramount didn’t go for it in 2022/23. But as with other missed opportunities in recent years – like Quentin Tarantino’s film idea – I can’t help but feel the decision not to move forward was the wrong one. Perhaps Legacy can still be revived, even if it has to be a one-off TV movie instead of a full series.
Story #8: “Cardassia Prime.”
If you’re a regular reader, you might remember my fantasy “episode pitch” for Strange New Worlds from a few months back. I titled the story Cardassia Prime, and it would tell the story of first contact between the Federation and the Cardassians. But wait, there’s more! I’d also bring an elderly T’Pol into the story, serving as an ambassador and diplomat for the Federation in her later years.
The episode would start with Captain Pike receiving new orders – a Federation colony ship has been attacked by an unknown faction, and a special ambassador is coming aboard the Enterprise to help defuse the situation. The ambassador will be revealed as T’Pol – now well over a hundred years old, but still working for the Federation. I’d love to see some interaction between an elderly T’Pol and a younger Spock; perhaps she’d have some advice for him on working closely with humans and discovering personal connections with them that could foreshadow Spock’s deep bond with Kirk.
This episode would feature an older T’Pol.
We’ll also discover that the aggressive, territorial power T’Pol has been sent to negotiate with is the nascent Cardassian Empire – and they’ve laid claim to a system that a Federation colony ship inadvertently ventured into. This kind of hostile first contact, with an emphasis on competing claims for star systems along a shared border, could set be the precursor to the Carsassian Border Wars of the 24th Century, foreshadowing events referenced in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. I like the idea of a non-violent resolution; Captain Pike shouldn’t have to fire his phaser even once, despite Cardassian intransigence!
We’ve never seen how first contact between Starfleet and the Cardassians went, and I just adore the idea of an episode bringing together elements from all three of Star Trek’s main eras: the 22nd Century, represented by T’Pol, the 23rd, obviously represented by Pike, Spock, and the Enterprise, and the 24th, represented by the Cardassians, who were first introduced in that era and who were a major antagonist. If you want a longer look at my “Cardassia Prime” story outline, you can find it by clicking or tapping here.
Story #9: 32nd Century Klingons.
A Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
After shooting forwards in time far beyond anything we’ve seen in Star Trek before, Discovery disappointed me by showing us remarkably little of the galaxy in this era. With storylines focused on the next “massive galactic threat” and Burnham’s soap opera-like personal relationships, the show just didn’t even try to give us a bigger picture look at some of the factions and races we remember. A few were glimpsed – literally, just glimpsed in the background with a single character, like a Ferengi or Lurian. But we’ve seen hide nor hair of the Klingons.
Of all the races in Star Trek, the Klingons are perhaps the most iconic and narratively important. So it feels odd to have spent three full seasons in Discovery’s far future without so much as glimpsing a single solitary Klingon! There are so many ways this could’ve gone, too – the Klingons could’ve become fully-fledged Federation members by this time, returned to isolationism, or even broken their alliance to become an enemy once again.
Gowron and Martok in Deep Space Nine.
And then there’s the Burn. The Burn was, in a roundabout way, caused by a Federation citizen aboard a Federation ship… so what would the Klingons make of that revelation? How did the Burn even impact their empire – or whatever was left of it by the 32nd Century? Is there still an extant Klingon state at all, or did their empire fall apart centuries ago, with surviving Klingons existing as second-class citizens under the jurisdiction of the likes of the Breen or Emerald Chain?
I’d love to see Starfleet Academy begin the process of answering these questions! Even though, as stated above, I think pushing this vision of the far future into a separate timeline would be for the best, I’m still curious to catch up with the Klingons in this era, finding out what happened to them in the centuries after we last saw them.
Story #10: Tie up Picard’s loose ends… or some of them, at least.
Hi, Narek…
Who are the “alliance of synthetic life,” and what were their goals? Who created the mysterious transwarp anomaly/weapon? Could those two stories, from Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard, be related somehow? I’d love to get some closure on these two apparently-massive storylines that Picard’s writing team dropped without bothering to explain!
This is another storyline that could’ve emerged in Star Trek: Legacy… but I think there’s at least the potential for Starfleet Academy to tie up these loose ends. Even if all we get is a short scene, a few lines of dialogue, and confirmation that the super-synths tried to attack the Federation before being defeated by a renegade Borg ally… that would be something. Maybe we could learn that Starfleet established relations with the “alliance of synthetic life” and they maintain an embassy. If the writers really wanted to lean into this idea, we could even connect it to a synthetic character like the Doctor – who we know is coming back in Starfleet Academy’s first season.
The mysterious anomaly from Season 2.
As I’ve said before, Picard was a jumbled, contradictory mess of a show – one that dumped characters and storylines with no explanation, overwrote significant story beats from one episode to the next, and while it managed to pull out a satisfactory ending to its third season… there was a lot left on the cutting-room floor as the credits rolled. Getting some kind of closure to some of these points – even centuries later in a completely different context – would be fantastic.
As Trekkies, we like the world of Star Trek to make sense. And when whole storylines which appear to involve impossibly-powerful enemies and adversaries just disappear without a trace… well, that isn’t very satisfying. Even if Starfleet Academy could find time to include a couple of throwaway lines of dialogue referencing and providing some kind of closure to the super-synths and the mysterious anomaly… I think that would do a lot to improve how I feel about those storylines.
So that’s it… for now.
Star Trek Online’s USS Excalibur.
With Strange New Worlds not even halfway through its four-and-a-half season run, and Starfleet Academy having been announced but not so much as glimpsed yet… it feels strange to be thinking about Star Trek as a whole potentially being shut down in just a few years’ time. However, unless something massive changes – and quickly – that seems to be what we’re headed for. It’s a depressing thought, especially since cancellation in the late 2020s could very well mean that these upcoming episodes and stories will be the last brand-new Star Trek I’ll ever see. But what can you do, eh?
I hope this has been an interesting thought experiment, at least. There are some stories and episode ideas that I’d really love to see brought to the screen over the next few years, and if they’re to be among the last in this current incarnation of Star Trek… well, let’s just hope they’re good ones!
Thanks for tuning in, and as always… Live Long and Prosper!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 are in production and will be broadcast on Paramount+ in the months ahead. Other Star Trek shows and films are already on the platform now, and may also be available on DVD and/or Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including all episodes, films, series, and 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.
Spoiler warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-5. Spoilers are also present for the following Star Trek productions: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1-2, Picard Season 3, Prodigy Season 2, and pre-release info for Starfleet Academy.
Did Discovery’s “post-apocalyptic” take on Star Trek work as intended from Season 3 onward? If not… what went wrong? Why might a far future setting with a galaxy in ruins have been the wrong choice for this franchise? If another group of writers had tackled the same concept in a radically different way, could it have worked better? What does it all mean for Starfleet Academy? Those questions and more are what we’re going to ponder today!
Although Discovery has now concluded its five-season run, there are still topics to consider and debate. And it’s only now – after the series has concluded and we’ve seen three full seasons of its far future setting – that we can truly begin to wrangle with the “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” idea that began in Season 3. I held out hope for a while – particularly when Season 5’s marketing material and trailers seemed to be teasing a different kind of story – that Discovery might be able to do something creative, interesting, and engaging with this new idea. But, for me at least, post-apocalyptic Star Trek didn’t really work.
Discovery’s “post-apocalyptic” setting began in Season 3.
I think it’s worth discussing this subject for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Discovery was the franchise’s flagship series during its run. It brought Star Trek back to its small screen home after more than a decade in the wilderness, teed up the excellent spin-off Strange New Worlds, and for our purposes today, it also created this far future setting. Shooting forward in time centuries beyond The Next Generation, Picard, and even anything we’d seen in time travel episodes elsewhere in the franchise, Discovery had a completely virgin, unspoiled setting and time period for the writers and producers to craft.
Secondly, while Discovery may be over, there’s more Star Trek to come – at least for the next couple of years. A second spin-off – Starfleet Academy – intends to keep this far future timeline going, and it’s not impossible to think that Paramount might want to set new films or shows in this era, too. Given the issues Discovery had, it’s important to understand what worked about the setting and what didn’t – so future creatives can double-down on the positives while avoiding a repeat of the mistakes.
The cast and crew at a table read for the Season 3 finale.
As always, a couple of important caveats before we go any further. This may be a controversial topic; Discovery has always elicited strong reactions from the Star Trek fan community (to put it mildly!) It’s worth keeping in mind that all of this is the entirely subjective opinion of one old Trekkie. I’m not claiming that I’m right and that’s that – different folks will have different opinions about some of these storylines and narrative concepts, and that’s okay.
If you followed along with my Discovery reviews, you’ll know that I’m a fan of the series on the whole – not any kind of hater. Some storylines worked better than others, and I pulled no punches in criticising episodes and narrative choices that I didn’t like. But I’m glad Discovery exists and remains a part of Star Trek’s official canon! The fact that we’re talking about whether the post-apocalyptic tone worked from Season 3 onwards – and what I personally didn’t like about it – shouldn’t be taken as me “hating” Discovery or any of its writers and producers. I share my opinion with the Star Trek fan community in the spirit of polite discussion.
With all that being said, if you aren’t in the right headspace to tackle a potentially controversial subject, that’s totally okay. This is your opportunity to jump ship if you’d rather not get into the weeds with Discovery and its “post-apocalyptic” tone.
Concept art of Season 2’s time-wormhole.
To begin with, I think we need to consider why Discovery’s post-apocalyptic vision of the future exists at all. I tackled part of this question in a different article – which you can find by clicking or tapping here – but here’s the short version: Discovery wouldn’t have left the 23rd Century if the writers, producers, and executives were happy with the show. The decision to shoot forwards in time is, in my opinion, a tacit admission from the folks at CBS that setting Discovery a decade before Captain Kirk’s five-year mission was a mistake. It was an attempt to rectify that “original sin” which, some may say, came two seasons too late.
But leaving the 23rd Century behind didn’t mean Discovery had to arrive in a galaxy devastated by the Burn. That was a creative choice on the part of the show’s writers and producers; an attempt to transplant Star Trek’s core themes of hope for the future, optimism, peaceful exploration, and a post-scarcity society into a completely different environment. And to be clear: I don’t think Discovery’s writers lost sight of what those concepts were or what Star Trek had been, as some have suggested. But they misunderstood how important those things were to the foundation of Star Trek’s setting, and why it was so important to see a vision of the future where many of the problems of today have been solved. In attempting to be clever and subversive – or perhaps thinking they knew better – they robbed Star Trek of not only its most important defining feature, but also one of the key differences between Star Trek and most other popular sci-fi and fantasy worlds.
Discovery’s co-showrunners for Seasons 3-5: Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise.
A post-apocalyptic setting clearly appealed to executives at CBS because of how popular it had proven to be elsewhere. From the late 2000s and through the entire 2010s, shows like The Walking Dead, Falling Skies, The 100, Jericho, The Strain, and 12 Monkeys had found critical and/or commercial success, as had films like Children of Men and Snowpiercer, and games like The Last Of Us and the Metro series. Star Trek has occasionally set trends in entertainment – but it’s also never been shy about following them. After two seasons of Discovery that had proven controversial – and crucially, hadn’t been a resounding success commercially – piggybacking on an apparently popular trend wasn’t an awful idea in principle.
Discovery’s creatives wanted to take Star Trek’s foundational sense of optimism and hope and completely reframe it; using the same core ideas but in a radically different way. By taking away Starfleet and the Federation, and leaving much of the galaxy devastated, in ruins, or struggling for resources, there was potential – they believed – to tell stories about bringing people back together, finding hope in a bleak setting, and even considering the impact of this level of devastation on the crew’s mental health.
Early concept art of the USS Discovery circa 2016. Image Credit: Frogland Archive
At the peak of the Cold War, with America and the Soviet Union staring each other down atop piles of nuclear weapons that could destroy the planet, The Original Series presented a peaceful future in which humanity had overcome those struggles. Later, in the 1990s, Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War didn’t show a devastated Federation on the brink of defeat, it showed good people struggling to save the “paradise” that had been built. These shows were different from one another in many ways – but at the core, one of the foundational pillars of Star Trek is that the future is bright and it’s going to be worth fighting for.
This is something fundamental to Star Trek; it’s a huge part of what makes the franchise what it is. And there’s a massive difference between a show that says “humanity has overcome all of these obstacles, so let’s explore the galaxy” and one that says “everything is ruined but we can rebuild.” These two narrative ideas both have the themes of optimism and hope – but they’re very different kinds of optimism and hope, and they’re presented in totally different ways. It’s not so much that one works and the other doesn’t; see the list of post-apocalyptic media above, all of which use those themes and ideas in some form. But in this case, the post-apocalyptic setting took away something foundational from Star Trek’s setting, utterly transforming Discovery into a completely different kind of series.
The Burn.
Here’s the bottom line: Discovery didn’t do anything exceptional with its post-apocalyptic setting. I still think such a massive change to the core of Star Trek would’ve attracted criticism even if the show’s writing had been exceptional from Season 3 onwards, but the simple fact is that it wasn’t. There were some decent episodes and creative ideas in the mix, don’t get me wrong… but Discovery’s biggest problem both before and after this switch to a post-apocalyptic setting was that its storytelling was small, repetitive, and overly reliant on levels of interpersonal conflict and relationship drama that we seldom get outside of soap operas. In short, Discovery’s post-apocalyptic setting turned out to be nothing more than background noise; set dressing for less-interesting stories to play out in front of.
Such a huge change to Star Trek’s galaxy and the damage done to the Federation needed more time in the spotlight and it needed to serve a purpose. In Season 3, part of the story focused on the Burn and figuring out what happened. This story was an ultimately frustrating one, with dead ends and red herrings before arriving at an ending that no one could have predicted. Season 3 teased viewers with a mystery, stringing us along and seeming to reveal clue after clue in different episodes, only to then pull a bait-and-switch to something out of left-field that didn’t feel properly set up. It was pretty annoying – and I know I wasn’t the only one who felt that way at the time.
A 32nd Century market.
Worse, though, was that Season 3 spent such a long time on what felt like unimportant fluff in comparison to the Burn. The first episodes of the season showed us how far the Federation had fallen; humans on Earth couldn’t even travel as far as Titan, within their own solar system – such was the shortage of fuel and supplies. Earth and Vulcan had both withdrawn from the Federation, and Starfleet wasn’t able to contact many of the Federation’s outlying member worlds and colonies. But instead of exploring what this could mean and telling a story about figuring out what went wrong and how to fix it… Discovery’s writers told half-baked stories about depression, Burnham’s on again-off again relationship with Starfleet, Book and Burnham’s love affair, and more.
To be clear: I don’t think the post-apocalyptic setting would’ve been the right choice regardless, for the reasons outlined above. But Discovery’s writers didn’t even give that premise or the far future setting a chance to win me over. Instead, they tried to jump right back in with stories about Michael Burnham: Chosen One™ – and it just fell so incredibly flat.
Michael Burnham in the comic book Adventures in the 32nd Century. Image Credit: IDW Publishing/Paramount
There was a metaphor buried in the far future setting that could’ve been timely. But the end of Season 3 ruined it. By taking one of Star Trek’s core technologies – warp drive – and saying that the galaxy as a whole was running out of fuel, there was a chance for Discovery to do what Star Trek has always done: use a sci-fi lens to examine a real-world issue. We rely too heavily on limited supplies of fossil fuels here in the real world, and Season 3 could’ve made a point about the need to innovate, invent new methods of travel and power generation, and tie those issues into the theme of rebuilding and coming back stronger. That could’ve been a powerful story if done well, and it also could’ve finally found a proper use for Discovery’s most controversial addition to Star Trek: the spore drive.
But the discovery of a near-unlimited cache of dilithium toward the end of the season totally undermined all of that. It would be like writing a story about Earth running out of oil and humanity coming together to build new vehicles and methods of power that don’t rely on fossil fuels… only for the story to end with a massive untapped oilfield being discovered. This mixed messaging, and unwillingness to commit to telling stories that could’ve taken advantage of this kind of setting, really tripped up Discovery. The most powerful – and potentially interesting – ideas that could’ve been explored in this kind of setting were just left feeling flaccid and half-hearted.
The Verubin Nebula contained a massive cache of dilithium – and the answer to the mystery of the Burn.
Many post-apocalyptic shows and films tell character-focused stories, and these settings can lend themselves to high-stakes drama. But most of the time, the environment that the characters are confronted with – whether that’s a zombie apocalypse, an ecological disaster, a pandemic, or something else – is at least part of the cause of the tension and interpersonal conflicts. A character like The Walking Dead’s Governor is who he is because of the world he inhabits. Many of the arguments between characters in shows like The Strain or films like City of Ember happen because of the environment they’re in. Even relationships can begin – or be ended – by the stresses of a post-apocalyptic life, as we see in films like Shaun of the Dead or shows like 2008’s Survivors. But Discovery couldn’t even get this right most of the time.
Most of Discovery’s storylines in the far future could’ve worked just as well – better, even, in some cases – without the post-apocalyptic backdrop. Seasons 4 and 5 in particular are both in this camp. The Dark Matter Anomaly that devastated parts of the galaxy would’ve arguably been more impactful if it had been attacking a fully-intact Federation. And the threat of the Breen attack and the Progenitors’ device in Season 5 is the same. They would’ve worked in the same way Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War did: as threats to Star Trek’s post-scarcity technological “paradise.”
The flag of the Federation in the 31st Century.
Smaller storylines are also in this camp. Detmer’s half-arsed mental health story in Season 3, Culber’s equally weak depression in Season 4, Adira and their quest to help Gray be seen again, Burnham and Book’s mostly awful on/off relationship, the Ni’Var stories involving Romulans and Vulcans working together… would any of these have worked less well, or even been noticeably different, without the Burn and the devastation it had caused? Or would they have been able to play out almost exactly the same, beat for beat?
Taking the idea of societal collapse as a starting point, Discovery’s writers could have tied in themes of mental health. The character-focused storytelling that they wanted, with high levels of drama and plenty of “therapy-speak,” was potentially well-suited to the post-apocalyptic environment they’d created. But there was almost no attempt to link these two ideas; instead, characters would suffer or sulk for reasons completely unconnected to the world they found themselves a part of. This feels like a horrible missed opportunity considering the kind of show Discovery’s writers and producers wanted it to be.
Concept art of Burnham (and her costume) produced for Season 3.
For some reason, since Star Trek returned to the small screen, there’s been an insistence on serialised storytelling – but only for one season at a time. Self-contained narrative arcs have been the order of the day, which meant that the Burn, its origin, and crucially, its aftermath were only really in focus in Season 3. A couple of clips at the beginning of Season 4 – as well as a handful of throwaway lines of dialogue here and there – referenced the Burn, but for the most part, it disappeared after Season 3 was over.
There is a partial justification for this: Discovery’s production team were never sure whether cancellation was coming. If there might’ve been one thing worse than a devastated galaxy and an apocalyptic event, it would be leaving the reason for all the destruction unexplained with the show abruptly going off the air! So in that sense, I get why those decisions were taken. Star Trek was still finding its feet in a new entertainment landscape, CBS and later Paramount were on shaky ground amidst the “streaming wars,” and there was no guarantee of a renewal. Setting up the Burn and explaining it in a single season makes sense in that context.
But dumping the Burn after Season 4, and not doing more to explore the consequences of this massive event… that makes less sense to me.
Su’Kal at the source of the Burn.
Star Trek in its heyday was a primarily episodic franchise. There were season-long arcs in Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, as well as Voyager’s seven-year journey back to the Alpha Quadrant. But even in those frameworks, episodic storytelling was still the order of the day for Star Trek. I think it’s no coincidence that the best episodes Discovery told were the ones that were somewhat standalone. Episodes like Season 2’s An Obol for Charon, Season 3’s Terra Firma, Season 4’s Choose to Live, and Season 5’s Face the Strange are all at least partly self-contained affairs. Strange New Worlds has also taken on a much more episodic tone – something that has made that series an absolute joy to watch.
At the start of Season 4, I hoped that Discovery would go down a more episodic route. The Burn could be a starting point, and Discovery could’ve hopped to different planets across the Federation as the galaxy began to rebuild from its aftermath. A story of bringing hope to people who’ve been struggling to get by could have been exceptional if handled well, and the Burn – despite the issues it caused for Star Trek as a whole – was the perfect entry point for telling stories like that. Switching up Discovery to become a more episodic show could’ve given more of the cast a chance to be in the spotlight, with episodes focusing on different planets and different people every week.
Burnham’s brief encounter with these “butterfly aliens” was about as close as Discovery came to the idea of rebuilding the Federation.
To me, this feels like an open goal; a golden opportunity for Discovery to prove the haters wrong. It was a chance to do something meaningful with the Burn and the post-apocalyptic setting that Season 3 – with its unfolding mystery and close focus on Burnham – didn’t really have much time for. Moreover, it would’ve been a great way to explore other aspects of this 32nd Century setting, catching up with factions and races from past iterations of Star Trek.
Despite spending three seasons in the far future, we didn’t so much as glimpse a Klingon. Races like the Ferengi were seen in the background and there were throwaway lines that mentioned the Borg and the Gorn, but none of them ever showed up on screen. Given that the devastation of the Burn was supposedly a galaxy-wide thing, Discovery did absolutely nothing to show us what some of the most iconic and beloved factions in Star Trek were doing in this era or how they were coping. And then there’s the elephant in the room: the Burn was, in a roundabout way, caused by a Federation ship operating under orders from Starfleet HQ. What would the likes of the Klingon Empire or the Cardassian Union do if and when they learned that truth?
How would the Cardassians have reacted to the Burn – and its Federation origin?
Let’s draw the bare outline of a potential story that would take the Burn as a starting point, tie in one of Star Trek’s well-known factions, and use it as a springboard for some character-focused storytelling. This is just a thought experiment, but I think it’ll illustrate the point I’m trying to make!
After discovering the truth behind the Burn and ensuring it won’t happen again, Captain Burnham and the crew are tasked with jumping to the Klingon homeworld, where a Federation ship has gone missing. Upon arriving at Qo’noS, Discovery is confronted by angry Klingons telling them to leave, and they learn the missing ship has been impounded and its crew are being held. The Klingons, whose empire has fractured and who have been suffering the effects of the Burn for a century, blame the Federation for what happened – and in addition to holding one ship captive, they’re massing for war.
This would be hugely triggering for the crew of Discovery – they’re veterans of the 23rd Century Klingon war, a war Burnham still blames herself for causing. It brings back horrible memories for her and another member of the crew, and they have to wrangle with those feelings while trying to avert a war. The Klingon fleet is low on dilithium, but they’re willing to expend the last of their dwindling resources on a quest for vengeance. It falls to Burnham, Admiral Vance, and perhaps President Rillak to talk them down – offering to re-instate the Khitomer Accords and share the cache of dilithium with the Klingons.
An episode re-introducing the Klingons could’ve really leaned into the idea of a galaxy devastated by the Burn and its aftermath.
An episode like this would take Discovery’s post-apocalyptic setting and actually do something with it – using it as the driving force for all of the tension, drama, and personal conflict in the story. The Burn devastated the Klingon Empire and they blame the Federation. Burnham has to come face-to-face with the Klingons for the first time since the war, trying to prevent another conflict while also wrangling with the trauma of the last one. Crucially, we’d get to explore one of Star Trek’s most iconic alien races and catch up with them centuries after we last saw them.
If Discovery had told stories like this one, which took the post-apocalyptic tone as a foundation, I think it could’ve been more successful. At the very least, such stories would’ve made the Burn and its aftermath more meaningful, and we’d have gotten a broader exploration of the consequences. Life in a post-apocalyptic setting was never really in focus in Discovery, and aside from the first two episodes of Season 3 and a handful of other scenes here and there, it never stuck the landing. I’m not saying my story outline as proposed above is perfect, but it would at least have leaned into this post-apocalyptic idea and done something more with it.
Behind-the-scenes during production on Season 3.
Instead, much of the rebuilding and diplomacy seems to have taken place off-screen – if we’re to imagine it happened at all. After defeating the Emerald Chain and securing the Verubin Nebula and its dilithium, Starfleet and the Federation seem to have instantly rebuilt, with very little mention of the Burn and its century-long aftermath in Seasons 4 and 5. Considering how massive and transformative this event was for the galaxy, that’s just not good enough. If there was ever a place where the old Creative Writing 101 adage “show, don’t tell” was important, it was here!
Discovery would still have faced an uphill battle, I fear. Ruining the galaxy, devastating the Federation, and forcing survivors to scrounge for resources for decades feels antithetical to Star Trek in so many ways. But if there had been a conscious effort to lean into this idea and use it as a springboard for storytelling that was well-suited to a post-apocalyptic environment, it could at least have worked better or been less bad. The combination of a post-apocalyptic setting with stories that just didn’t fit made things noticeably worse.
The cast during production on Season 3.
That’s before we come to “the prequel problem,” though.
In brief, Discovery is set in Star Trek’s prime timeline – no matter what some fans might say or what head canon explanations we have, at time of writing Discovery remains in the prime timeline. Everything we’ve seen on screen from Enterprise in the 22nd Century to Picard at the dawn of the 25th takes place in this same setting – which means that the prime timeline is destined to be devastated by the Burn. Going back to watch older episodes of Star Trek doesn’t feel much different, at least not to me, but the Burn and all the chaos and ruination it caused is sure as heck going to taint future stories.
Take Picard’s third season as an example. Admiral Picard and his crew had to come together to defeat a conspiracy targeting Starfleet – and after a hard-fought struggle, they won and saved the day. But because Picard Season 3 premiered after we learned about the Burn in Discovery… at least some of its impact was blunted. Now, don’t get me wrong: Picard Season 3 wasn’t spectacular in its own right. But it was the best and certainly the most complete and coherent story that series had to offer – and yet because we know the Burn is coming in the future, it almost doesn’t matter what Picard and his friends did.
Other Star Trek productions – like Picard’s high-stakes third season – are also affected by Discovery’s post-apocalyptic setting.
You can look at this problem in two ways.
Firstly, we know in the back of our minds that the Federation will survive – no matter how high the stakes may be in a future project. When Admiral Picard was staring down Vadic and the Borg-Changelings, we knew that, somehow, they’d prevail and Starfleet would win the day. This is the basic problem many prequels have; it was present in multiple episodes of Enterprise, for example, even when that show was at its best.
Secondly, anything our heroes do is rendered somewhat impotent – or at least it’s tainted because we know that, no matter how hard they may work to save the day, the Burn’s gonna happen anyway. Earth and Vulcan will leave the Federation, dilithium will be in short supply, the galaxy will be in ruins, and it will be decades before rebuilding can begin in earnest. Any future story set in the prime timeline – whether it’s Strange New Worlds with its Gorn conflict, Picard’s battle against the Borg, or whatever happened at the end of Prodigy that I still haven’t seen – is a direct prequel to the Burn and the events of Discovery’s third season. Knowing that, even on a subconscious level, is a constraint on any story that aims to raise the stakes.
A Starfleet officer and a Gorn in Strange New Worlds Season 2.
Star Trek exists in – to use a modern term – a persistent shared universe. With the exception of the Kelvin films, which are off to one side, every other show and film exists in the same timeline, and no other series until Discovery has done so much to change the trajectory of that timeline for all of the others. By leaping forward by centuries, and then enacting this massive, galaxy-altering event, Discovery’s writers definitely left their mark on Star Trek. But like a crudely-graffitied penis on the wall of a bus shelter, it’s not exactly a mark that the rest of us wanted to see.
If Discovery existed in a vacuum – as it arguably did at the start of its first season – then perhaps I could understand this change a bit more. It would still be a massive change, and it would still be a constraint on future episodes in a way no other storyline arguably has been. But at least if Discovery were the only Star Trek show in town, racing into the future and depicting an event on this scale would’ve been more understandable and less… selfish.
Concept art of the USS Shenzhou from Discovery’s first season. Image Credit: Frogland Archive
Discovery’s third season was in production alongside Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Section 31, and also while pre-production work was happening on the pitch for what would eventually become Strange New Worlds. The show’s producers and writers went out of their way to assure fans that Discovery remained in the prime timeline – and that, by extension, the world they were building in Season 3 is the ultimate destination for the prime timeline. And then, either ignorant of the impact it would have or not caring about it, they went ahead and wrote a story that not only altered the entire galaxy for their own show and any potential spin-offs, but for every other Star Trek show, too. Everything from Strange New Worlds to Prodigy became, by default, a prequel to Discovery. And because Discovery’s writers don’t do half measures, they went all-in on the Burn – devastating the entire galaxy, basically ending the Federation as a faction for decades, and utterly transforming Star Trek in the process.
In order for there to be a post-apocalyptic setting (which Discovery largely ignored after the first couple of episodes of Season 3) there had to first be an apocalyptic event. Because Discovery has never turned down the tempo or lowered the stakes, this event naturally had to impact not just the ship and crew, nor even the Federation, but the entire galaxy. And the consequence of this choice is that every subsequent Star Trek production, no matter how hard they try to ignore it, will take place in a pre-Burn galaxy. The Burn is locked in; it’s the direction of travel for the Federation and Starfleet. Not only is that a massive constraint on future stories… it’s also incredibly depressing for a franchise that has always been about a hopeful and optimistic depiction of humanity’s future.
Slaves at an Emerald Chain scrapyard in the 32nd Century.
When we talked about “head canon” a few weeks ago, I argued that it might be better for Star Trek as a whole to quietly push Discovery’s far future into an alternate timeline. That doesn’t mean abolishing it altogether, but if a future episode – say in the upcoming Starfleet Academy series – were to incorporate that… I think it would be for the best. Star Trek, in my view, ought to do more with the 25th Century setting established by Picard, but the Burn and Discovery’s post-apocalyptic future hangs over any potential new shows or films right now.
Speaking of Starfleet Academy, what does this all mean for the upcoming spin-off?
A series set at Starfleet Academy has been talked about for decades. Gene Roddenberry had the idea originally; his version of the show, as conceptualised in the late ’60s, would’ve seen Kirk and Spock meeting for the first time. Picard’s second season also teased us with a glimpse of the Academy around the turn of the 25th Century – and Prodigy also included similar themes in its second season. But this version of Starfleet Academy has been conceived as a spin-off from Discovery, not only set in the same time period but also bringing in several regular and recurring characters. The likes of Reno, Admiral Vance, and Tilly will be joining the show from Discovery.
The Tillman Water Reclamation Plant and Japanese Garden was the filming location for Starfleet Academy during The Next Generation era. Photo Credit: City of Los Angeles/L.A. Times
I could spend the next few paragraphs lamenting Starfleet Academy’s place in the timeline and explaining why I think it’d work better in the late 24th or early 25th Century. But let’s not do that, eh? Instead, let’s talk briefly about how Starfleet Academy could be more successful with this post-apocalyptic setting than Discovery was.
First of all, let’s try to move back toward episodic storytelling. Look at what Strange New Worlds is doing – it’s possible to mix standalone stories with season-long arcs, and that blend works so much better than anything Discovery or Picard did. That doesn’t mean you can’t have a villain or a big, explosive storyline, as Strange New Worlds has repeatedly proven. It would be so much closer to what Star Trek has been in the past – and, I would argue, much closer to what fans want to see from this franchise.
The cast and crew of Starfleet Academy – the series is already in production.
Next, if Starfleet Academy is going to be set in this post-Burn era, the show really needs to lean into that in a way that Discovery didn’t. The show’s blurb talks about how the Academy is re-opening for the first time in decades… so that needs to be a big storyline. As the galaxy begins the slow process of recovery and getting “back to normal” after decades of decline, devastation, and depression, what does that mean for the new cadets, their families, their instructors, and their homeworlds? How has the environment these kids grew up in impacted their lives? Star Trek often does storytelling by analogy – so this could be a way to examine the real-world impact of the covid pandemic on education, just as an example.
Finally, I’d like to see an examination of the consequences of this galaxy-wide event on at least one other faction. Perhaps Starfleet Academy’s villain – who will be played by veteran actor Paul Giamatti – could be a member of a familiar race or faction seeking revenge for the Burn’s impact on his homeworld. At the very least, the Burn and the devastation it caused should be a significant factor in explaining who this character is and what motivates them. Having to survive in a broken, shattered world takes a toll – and that could explain why this villain is as bad as he is.
Paul Giamatti (Billions, John Adams, etc) will play a villainous character in Starfleet Academy.
Discovery did very little of that. Most of the show’s villains in Seasons 3, 4, and 5 weren’t bothered about the Burn or the post-apocalyptic landscape. The only exception, really, was Zareh; I at least felt that – over-the-top though he was in some respects – he was shaped by the world he inhabited. The rest? Generic, scenery-chewing bad guys who could’ve easily been part of a totally different story set in another era – or another franchise, come to that.
I don’t think Starfleet Academy can really “save” Discovery. By that I mean I don’t think we’re going to look back at the Burn and Discovery’s take on this post-apocalyptic setting after a couple of seasons of Starfleet Academy and re-frame it or change how we think about it. But there is potential, if I’m being as optimistic as I can be, for the new series to make more of this setting than Discovery did, and to perhaps use the post-apocalyptic tone in a different and more successful way, a way better-suited to the environment that the Burn and its aftermath created.
Captain Burnham and Academy cadets.
At this point, you can probably tell that I’d never have given the green light to a storyline like the Burn if I’d been in charge of the Star Trek franchise in the late 2010s! A post-apocalyptic tone clashes in a fundamental and irreconcilable way with Star Trek, taking away one of the franchise’s core beliefs and the main way it differentiates itself from other sci-fi properties. Even if the storytelling in Seasons 3, 4, and 5 had been stronger, this transformational change to what Star Trek is would have still been a hurdle; even the best narrative concepts and ideas that I can think of would’ve struggled.
But the truth is that, while Discovery did manage some solid episodes after arriving in the far future, the main story arcs weren’t all that spectacular. The Burn itself was a frustrating mystery that had too many dead ends and red herrings, and storytelling after Season 3 completely sidelined not only the Burn but the post-apocalyptic environment that it left in its wake. Discovery’s writers, in a rush to do other things and tell different stories that mostly focused on one character, didn’t do anywhere near enough to justify the Burn and the massive impact it had on the world of Star Trek.
Burnham and the crew on a promotional poster for Season 3.
In one of the first pieces I ever wrote here on the website, back in January of 2020, I warned that a post-apocalyptic setting might not be the right choice for Star Trek. But I gave Discovery a chance to impress me and to do something with that idea that I might not have been expecting. Unfortunately, I don’t think the show really did that. Most of its storylines – both big and small – didn’t need a post-apocalyptic setting to work, and the setting itself fundamentally altered Star Trek – not only for Discovery, but in a way, for every other show, too. One of the core tenets of Star Trek since its inception had been that humanity could overcome the struggles of today and build a better future. Discovery took that better future and upended it – really without a good reason or a narrative that justified something of that magnitude – and in doing so, changed the entire franchise. Sadly, I feel this was a change for the worse.
“Post-apocalyptic Star Trek” was wrong in principle and wrong in practice. It misunderstood why themes of hope and optimism worked in the franchise in the first place, it took away one of the foundations upon which successful Star Trek stories had been built for more than half a century, and it seems to have come about from an unfortunate mix of corporate leaders wanting to jump on a successful trend and writers who thought they were smarter and more creative than those who came before them. While Discovery didn’t abandon or lose sight of the themes of optimism and hope that had been so important to the franchise, it bastardised them and used them in completely different – and too often ineffective – ways.
Discovery’s writers and producers chose a post-apocalyptic tone beginning in Season 3 – and it didn’t work.
Moreover, “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” was executed poorly. The Burn – the event that caused all this devastation – unfolded in a frustrating way in Season 3, and I got the sense that for more than a hundred years, everyone in Starfleet had just been sitting on their hands as the world crumbled, waiting for Michael Burnham: Chosen One™ to swoop in, provide all the answers, and save the day. The Burn and its aftermath was then largely ignored in Seasons 4 and 5, despite offering the series – and the franchise – a chance to tell some genuinely interesting stories that could’ve expanded our understanding of this far future setting. By refusing to lean into the post-apocalyptic idea, Discovery’s writers failed to take advantage of the storytelling potential they had created.
Next, “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” impacts the rest of the franchise – from The Original Series to Picard. All of these shows now take place in a pre-Burn world, changing the way we understand them and perceive them on repeat viewings. For new Star Trek stories produced in the years ahead, this is going to be a lot worse because they’re basically all prequels to Discovery and its post-apocalyptic vision of the future. That knowledge challenges future stories and puts a brake on them in a way we haven’t really seen before.
All of Star Trek (except for the Kelvin films) now takes place in a setting we know is bound for an apocalyptic disaster.
Finally, “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” is likely going to be a constraint on Starfleet Academy. I want to be hopeful and optimistic about that series – and I have no doubt that, just like Discovery, there will be at least some fun and creative episodes in the mix. But the backdrop to the show is still a galaxy devastated by the Burn, and I don’t really have confidence in the current production and writing team at Paramount when it comes to doing something meaningful with that. If Starfleet Academy only pays lip service to Discovery’s post-apocalyptic world before racing off to do another “the entire galaxy is in danger!” story, it’ll feel like a waste. If that’s the kind of story the show’s writers want to tell, why not set it in a different time period that might be better-suited to that kind of story?
At the end of the day, a post-apocalyptic setting works for some stories and doesn’t for others. For the stories Discovery’s production team wanted to tell, it just wasn’t necessary for the most part – especially not after Season 3. Unlike other one-off ideas in Star Trek that the franchise has been content to brush aside, this one was so transformative and so utterly changed what Star Trek’s galaxy looks like that walking away from it isn’t possible. There just doesn’t seem to have been any kind of plan for where to take the series after Season 3 or how to use the post-apocalyptic setting to tell stories that wouldn’t have been possible in other iterations of the franchise.
Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery.
So let’s answer the question I posed at the beginning: what went wrong? Fundamentally, “post-apocalyptic Star Trek” wasn’t a good idea as it deviated too far from the franchise’s foundations and roots. It was executed poorly, with most stories either ignoring the post-apocalyptic setting outright or not using it to inform characters or narrative beats. And it relegates any future production set after The Next Generation era but before Discovery’s third season to the status of a prequel, with all of the problems that can bring.
I don’t hate Discovery. There are some genuinely great episodes in the mix, including after the show shot forwards in time. Coming Home, for example, really hits a lot of the emotional notes that it aimed for, especially in the scenes and sequences set at Federation HQ and around Earth. Face the Strange was creative and fun, and a story like Choose to Live felt like classic Star Trek in the best way possible. But given how the show didn’t lean into this post-apocalyptic setting in a big way, devastating the Federation, Starfleet, Earth, and the entire galaxy just doesn’t sit right. It didn’t come close to finding a narrative justification, and given the scale of the change and the resonating impact it will continue to have… that’s not good enough.
Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-5 are available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in production and will premiere on Paramount+ in the future. A broadcast date has not yet been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Discovery 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for upcoming and recent seasons of Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Section 31. Minor spoilers may also be present for other parts of the Star Trek franchise.
The Star Trek franchise recently made a splash at San Diego Comic-Con – one of the biggest such events in the world. With a couple of new trailers and several interesting announcements, I thought it could be a bit of fun to talk about what was discussed and shown off at the event. I’ll try to cover all of the biggest pieces of news as well as share my thoughts on what we learned and saw.
First of all, a couple of caveats. I’ve been feeling unenthusiastic and pretty burned out on Star Trek lately, and I still have some catching-up to do on some of the franchise’s recent outings. That doesn’t mean I’m not still a Trekkie or that I’m not still interested in these latest announcements; far from it. But as Star Trek has added more and more series and films to its lineup, I admit that I’ve struggled to keep up. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, everything we’re going to talk about today is the subjective opinion of one person only! If I’m excited about something that sounds awful to you, or sceptical about something you couldn’t be happier about… that’s okay! There should be enough room in the Star Trek fan community for polite discussion and disagreement.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at what’s been going on at Comic-Con!
Alex Kurtzman and writer Noga Landau at the Starfleet Academy panel at Comic-Con 2024.
The biggest announcement is one that took me by surprise: a new Star Trek series is in development. Though its announcement was haphazard during one of the panels, it has subsequently been confirmed by Paramount (and franchise head Alex Kurtzman) that it is officially in development. With Tawny Newsome (Beckett Mariner in Lower Decks and one of the writers attached to Starfleet Academy) taking a leading role in its creation, the series has been described as Star Trek’s “first live-action comedy series.”
Paramount later released the show’s one-sentence pitch: “Federation outsiders serving a gleaming resort planet find out their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant.”
I’ve long argued that Star Trek and comedy go hand-in-hand, with humour having been a big part of the franchise going all the way back to The Original Series. Not everyone was sold on Lower Decks at first, but I think over time the general consensus is that it’s a solid addition to the franchise, and one that didn’t sacrifice its sense of “Star Trek-ness” at the altar of comedy. That was certainly my takeaway from its first couple of seasons.
This announcement was brief and short on detail!
Paramount’s pitch does leave me a little confused, though. Are we going to be getting something like The Truman Show, with hidden holo-cameras on this resort planet? I can see the idea working well as a one-off story; an individual episode in a longer season. But it feels like a premise that might have its limits, especially when the main characters realise that they’re being recorded. Look at the Futurama episode Fry and Leela’s Big Fling as an example, perhaps.
That being said, it’s nice to hear that Paramount hasn’t given up on Star Trek, despite financial issues. The corporation is soon to merge with Skydance, and that could lead to a shake-up in the longer term, including a proposal that would see Paramount+ and fellow streaming service Peacock join forces. It’s good to see that Paramount – at least in its current form – remains committed to making more Star Trek. Would I have rather seen an announcement for Legacy, or another Picard-era series? Well… sure. But that’s no reason to be negative about this comedy series! With it still untitled and clearly very early in its development, I doubt we’ll see it on our screens before 2027.
Co-creators of the new untitled Star Trek series Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome.
There have been a couple of announcements of cast members joining Starfleet Academy over the last few months. The most interesting prior to Comic-Con had been the inclusion of Paul Giamatti, Emmy and Golden Globe winner and multiple Academy Award nominee. Giamatti will play the season’s villain – a concept I’m still not sold on, for reasons I’ve already discussed – but Paramount could hardly have selected a better, more seasoned actor for the part. At Comic-Con we learned that Oded Fehr and Mary Wiseman will join the series, reprising their roles as Admiral Vance and Tilly respectively on a recurring basis. This was something that, at least as of Season 4 of Discovery, made a lot of sense, as both characters were strongly linked to Federation HQ and Starfleet Academy. Tig Notaro will also join the series, reprising her role as Jett Reno from Discovery.
The most surprising announcement for Starfleet Academy, though, has to be Robert Picardo returning to Star Trek as the Doctor! I talked about this years ago, prior to Discovery’s third season, and how the Doctor (or at least a version of him) could still be active in the 32nd Century. It seems that idea was valid after all, and the Doctor will have a role to play in Starfleet Academy. Whether this will be the original version of the character or a future version seen in the Voyager episode Living Witness isn’t clear – I’d guess the former, but modern Star Trek hasn’t been afraid to make deeper cuts to individual episodes, so we’ll have to see! It’s worth noting that the Doctor has recently appeared in Prodigy, so his return in Starfleet Academy doesn’t come entirely out of nowhere.
The Doctor in Prodigy’s second season.
So Starfleet Academy really sounds like it’s taking shape, with its main characters having seemingly been cast and its first season’s story written. There are some interesting announcements and ideas in the mix, though I confess I remain unconvinced at the series’ apparent direction of having an overarching villain and a serialised main story. For me, a series like Starfleet Academy felt like it could’ve been perfect for a return to a more episodic format, akin to what Strange New Worlds has been doing, with different planets to visit week-to-week. Still, the inclusion of the Doctor and the return of characters from Discovery is good news in my book!
Starfleet Academy has also seemingly gotten its official logo/typeface, which you can see below.
The Starfleet Academy logo.
Though I could be reading too much into this, I feel like the font used is a slightly softer, more child-friendly version of the Original Series film-era typeface that we’d often see on starships. The refit USS Enterprise, the Excelsior, and other ships in those films and through the early part of The Next Generation era used a similar font. This seems to carry the same outline, but in a slightly softer and more rounded form, and with a curve to the text that wouldn’t seem out-of-place on a university/college sweatshirt. First impressions are positive, at any rate!
Just prior to Comic-Con there were comments from Prodigy’s co-creators and some of the voice actors about a potential third season for the show. Since we’re doing Star Trek news I’ll share my thoughts on that, and in a word I’d say a third season of Prodigy feels unlikely. It’s clear that the series didn’t do much for Paramount or Paramount+, hence its cancellation and sale to Netflix and other broadcasters. Re-starting production at this stage would be complicated, with question-marks over the rights to the show and how proceeds would be divided. As nice as it would be to think a third season is possible… my gut feeling is that it won’t happen, despite some enthusiasm for the series since it landed on a more accessible, kid-friendly streaming platform.
Prodigy’s second season found a new home on Netflix.
Returning to Comic-Con, we got our first trailer for Section 31. In terms of style, the trailer was undoubtedly the most energetic and modern that the Star Trek franchise has done in a long time; it wouldn’t have felt out-of-place at the cinema in between trailers for big-budget superhero films and summer blockbusters. As a piece of marketing material, I think it was excellent. It had a great soundtrack, clips that looked exciting and entertaining without giving too much away, and it genuinely felt like a project that could open up Star Trek to new fans and especially younger fans. All of that is positive!
However, I do have a couple of notes that are a tad more negative. Firstly, in just the few clips in the Section 31 trailer, I saw several barely-redressed sets from Discovery. I would have hoped that a project like Section 31 would’ve had new sets built, or at least that redresses would have been less obvious. Maybe there are in-universe reasons for that – such as Georgiou and her crew commandeering another Crossfield-class ship, perhaps. But I wasn’t blown away by seeing the same sets and, at one point, the same special effect as I’ve already seen elsewhere in Star Trek.
Section 31 looks explosive… and maybe a little familiar.
Secondly, although the tone of the trailer was positive and modern, I didn’t get a real sense of “Star Trek” from what we saw. The nature of Section 31 as a black ops division always meant that this story would have more freedom to step away from typical Starfleet officers and missions, and that’s something I’m generally supportive of. And as mentioned, I feel that Section 31 having a more modern identity could entice new viewers to the franchise – something that Star Trek needs if it is to survive.
But there should be a balance between telling this kind of one-off story with Star Trek’s core identity. The Kelvin films went in a more action-heavy direction but still managed to retain at least some of what made Star Trek feel like Star Trek, as have other productions post-2017. I don’t want to pre-judge Section 31 based on a few carefully-edited clips, but if one character hadn’t mentioned Starfleet during the trailer, there really wouldn’t have been much else in there to tie in with the wider franchise.
Michelle Yeoh is reprising her role as Empress Georgiou.
I like the idea of exploring more of Georgiou’s background… up to a point. As I’ve said before, prior to discovering her humanity in Discovery’s third season, Georgiou could feel quite one-dimensional. In the trailer, she seemed at her most interesting, I would argue, in what must be a flashback to her ascent to the Terran throne in the Mirror Universe; present-day Georgiou seemed to be back to her old tricks. This leaves me conflicted. I don’t think Section 31 would benefit from being “Star Trek does Suicide Squad,” where a gang of criminals and murderers without much nuance are the only main characters. That would conflict a little too much with what we know of Section 31 from its earlier appearances.
But at the same time, pushing the boat out and doing new things with Star Trek is a good thing. Reintroducing Georgiou to a more casual audience is also going to be necessary, given that it will have been five years since her last appearance by the time Section 31 lands on our screens next year. Flashing back to her time as Empress could be a great way to set up the character – as well as show how much she’s grown.
Is this the moment Georgiou assumed control of the Terran Empire?
The trailer didn’t tell us much about the plot or who the central villain(s) might be – and again, I think that’s probably a smart move. There was enough action and excitement to tease fans and get us invested without revealing too much or spoiling big story beats ahead of time. I’m sure we’ll get to see more in a second trailer before Section 31 arrives – and that trailer could introduce the main villain or show us a glimpse of what Georgiou and her crew are up against.
I will say that I’m a little disappointed that Ash Tyler, played by Shazad Latif in Discovery’s first two seasons, isn’t going to be part of Section 31. Tyler was an interesting character, and he could have been a moderating influence on Georgiou’s more violent methods. We didn’t get to see much of the new characters, but one is reportedly a chameloid – the shape-shifting species introduced in The Undiscovered Country. That could be a fun inclusion, and actor Sam Richardson is a fine addition to the cast. We’ll also get to know a younger Rachel Garrett – the captain of the Enterprise-C who we met in The Next Generation third season episode Yesterday’s Enterprise. There’s definitely a lot going on in Section 31!
Section 31 is scheduled to arrive next year.
There were also trailers for the third season of Strange New Worlds and the fifth and final season of Lower Decks. Despite not being fully up to speed on either series yet, I braced myself for spoilers and decided to take a look! Generally, I liked what I saw from the trailers, and while we didn’t get any massive news about either series, it seems like their upcoming seasons are in good hands. As with Discovery, I’m a little concerned that cancellation came too late for Lower Decks’ writers and producers to have written a conclusive ending to the series… but that may be a blessing in disguise if a revival could be on the cards one day! Perhaps that’s clutching at straws… but you never know. These things happen in animation – just ask Futurama!
The Strange New Worlds teaser was really an extended scene from one of the upcoming Season 3 episodes, and it was genuinely hilarious. We talked before about comedy in Star Trek… well, look no further! The crew are turned into Vulcans for reasons unknown, and the entire sequence was just a ton of fun. There were callbacks to events in The Original Series, as well as to Spock’s half-human heritage. Seeing several main characters dressed up as – and acting like – Vulcans was a blast. I hope the rest of the episode can live up to the scene we just got to see!
Captain Pike and his crew are transformed into Vulcans!
The Lower Decks trailer emulated a commercial that I vaguely remember from the ’90s or early 2000s promoting one or other of the Star Trek films. I wish I could remember which one – but clearly the Lower Decks crew are geekier than I am. It was a neat callback, at any rate, and one that definitely plucked a nostalgic note for this old Trekkie!
We got to see a few clips from the upcoming season, including one that seems to feature a crossover with an alternate USS Cerritos from another timeline. That could be fun, and exploring alternate versions of our favourite characters is something that Lower Decks’ comedic style could be perfect for. There were also scenes showing Klingons, an undercover mission, a decontamination chamber, and more. Though I still need to fully catch up with Lower Decks, I liked what I saw and it seems like the show’s final outing will be a blast.
Getting sticky in a decon chamber!
So to recap: we got big news about returning characters in Strange New Worlds, and I’m especially keen to catch up with the Doctor almost a millennium after we last saw him! A new live-action series is in early development, and it has a comedic focus. Section 31 looks like it’s going to take Star Trek in a different direction. And Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks will be returning in style.
All in all, I’d say that Star Trek had a pretty successful outing at Comic-Con this year. There were enough teases and trailers to keep fans engaged, but nothing went overboard. Maybe the untitled series’ announcement was a tad premature, as we really don’t have much to go on, but given the recent cancellations and the confusion over Paramount’s merger, taking the time to confirm that more Star Trek will be produced after Section 31 and Starfleet Academy is a good thing – it’s reassuring to both fans and investors that the brand isn’t going anywhere until at least 2027 or 2028!
Robert Picardo will be returning to live-action Star Trek.
I think my favourite announcement was the return of the Doctor. Ever since Discovery headed into the far future at the end of Season 2 back in 2019 – more than five years ago now – I’ve wondered whether the Doctor could still be around in that time period and if he might make an appearance. Although technobabble magic could have, in theory, brought back any character, as a hologram the Doctor had an easier explanation than most for his survival into the far future. I’ll be interested to see what role he might have in Starfleet Academy… as well as whether he might have some connection to the villain of the season!
So I hope this has been a fun look ahead. Some of the teases and announcements seem all but certain to keep Star Trek in production and on our screens for several years to come, and at a time when Paramount has been struggling and its flagship streaming platform has seemed to be in trouble, that’s good news in my book. Now all I have to do is catch up on the episodes and seasons I’ve missed before all of this new stuff arrives!
The Star Trek franchise – including all films, series, and properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. Lower Decks Season 5 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in October 2024, Section 31 and Strange New Worlds Season 3 are scheduled to be broadcast on Paramount+ in 2025, and Starfleet Academy may follow in 2026. The untitled live-action series has no release date on the schedule. All broadcast dates are tentative and subject to change. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Beware of potential spoilers for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as well as spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery.
As hard as it may be to believe, it’s been a whole year since Paramount announced Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Though it had long been rumoured to be in production, and seemed to get a “backdoor pilot” during Discovery’s fourth season, it was only at the end of March last year that the show was officially added to the Star Trek lineup.
Today, I want to talk about Starfleet Academy and look at how pre-production may have been progressing.
This might not need to be a particularly long article, because there’s been a surprising dearth of news about Starfleet Academy over the past twelve months. Given Paramount’s financial dire straits, the shaky position Paramount+ is clinging to as the “streaming wars” rage, and talk of a corporate merger or takeover, you’d be forgiven for wondering whether the series was still going ahead. I know there have been moments over the past year where I’ve had my doubts about it!
The titular Starfleet Academy – as it appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I’m still surprised by how poorly-timed and threadbare the official announcement of Starfleet Academy was. In early 2023, we learned that Discovery had been cancelled, and it seemed to me that rolling that bit of bad news in with the Starfleet Academy announcement would have made a lot of sense. As it happened, Paramount seemed to be blowing hot and cold on its commitment to Star Trek, when that really could’ve been avoided.
By the time Discovery’s cancellation was being made official, Paramount was already committed to Starfleet Academy – and it would’ve looked a heck of a lot better if the news read something like: “The Discovery era will continue in the brand-new spin-off Starfleet Academy.” Instead, fans were left hanging on for weeks with the distinct possibility of Star Trek as a whole coming to an end. As has become typical for Paramount, they can’t even get the basics right. No wonder the corporation is losing money hand over fist, eh?
Will Paramount ever get its act together?
Starfleet Academy’s official announcement in 2023 was pretty barebones. The only thing we can reasonably infer from the way the statement was worded is that it’s a Discovery spin-off and will presumably be set in the same 32nd Century time period as that series. That could lead to crossovers, connections, and more… which could be fun and interesting elements to include. But we don’t know at this stage whether characters like Tilly and Kovich – who have connections with the Academy and Federation HQ as of Discovery Season 4 – will be part of the series or not. That may have been the original intention during production on Discovery’s fourth season, but we don’t know whether either of those characters – or the cadets we met in Discovery – are still part of the equation.
In a recent interview with Collider, Alex Kurtzman – who’s in charge of the Star Trek franchise at Paramount – gave us a few little tidbits of information. Firstly, the series is being pitched at a younger audience. That’s something that, again, I think most of us were able to infer from the announcement and setting. Putting younger characters front-and-centre – similar to what Prodigy tried to do – could lead to a series that appeals to a tween/teen audience, and bringing fans in those age groups on board is going to be key to the future of Star Trek. So as a general point, that’s positive.
Alex Kurtzman recently spoke about Starfleet Academy in an interview.
We also know that Tawny Newsome, who plays Beckett Mariner in Lower Decks and is a well-respected writer and comedian in her own right, has contributed in some way to Starfleet Academy on the writing side of things. Whether she’s single-handedly crafted whole episodes and storylines or whether she’s been involved as part of a broader writing team wasn’t entirely clear… but her inclusion could speak to Starfleet Academy having somewhat of a light-hearted edge, at least at points. Comedy and humour have been a part of Star Trek going all the way back to The Original Series, so again I think that should be a net positive if it’s done right.
The final confirmed piece of news is this: Starfleet Academy is targeting a 2026 release date. This was also something that, as time has worn on, seemed to be looking more and more likely. Strange New Worlds Season 3 is currently filming, and the Section 31 TV movie has recently wrapped up, and both of those projects are on the schedule for 2025. With a potential further season of Lower Decks also being broadcast next year, 2025 was beginning to fill up – so a 2026 release date for Starfleet Academy seems reasonable. As I’ve said in the past, spreading out the various Star Trek projects instead of bunching them all up is a good thing!
President Rillak with a class of new Academy cadets in Discovery’s fourth season.
Knowing that the show’s broadcast isn’t imminent means that the production team can take their time with things like casting and writing, as there’s less urgency and less of a need to rush. Hopefully that will mean a higher-quality product at the end of the day! I’m all for the producers and showrunners taking their time, and even considering re-writes or changes if necessary – and while I would still expect the series to enter full production this year, the months of pre-production since the official announcement have hopefully been put to good use.
There is one thing we’ve learned from Starfleet Academy’s pre-release material that gives me pause, and makes me feel a twinge of anxiety about the show’s narrative. When the series was announced, one line in the blurb stated that the class of cadets will have to tackle “a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.” To me, that sounds like the set-up for yet another serialised story that puts the whole galaxy in danger.
Putting the whole Federation in danger – again – would not be my first choice for the new show’s storyline.
After four seasons of Discovery and three of Picard that used this exact setup… I’m pretty fucking sick of it, to be honest. Lowering the stakes is something that I’ve argued Star Trek needs to do, and a return to stories that are smaller in scale – but still impactful for the characters involved – would be my preference. A series with a teen or young adult focus doesn’t need to have a “massive galactic threat” as a foundational part of its narrative in order to be exciting, entertaining, or emotional. And in too many ways, modern Star Trek’s over-reliance on this kind of storyline has been to its detriment.
One of the things that worked so well in both Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks has been storytelling that didn’t feature these kinds of existential threats and catastrophes. Both shows stand as testament to how Star Trek can still tell fun, adventurous, and engaging stories without relying on an enemy or entity that threatens the entire Federation or the whole galaxy. I just hope that Starfleet Academy isn’t overwhelmed by this one narrative concept, and that there’s room for episodic storytelling, exploration of new characters, and other narrative beats.
Hopefully there will be room for standalone episodes – as in Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds.
I liked what Alex Kurtzman had to say about not wanting to alienate different groups of Star Trek fans, and I think there has been an effort on Paramount’s part over the last few years to at least try to keep the fan community together. Not every show is going to be to everyone’s taste – and that’s been true since The Next Generation, or even since The Wrath of Khan took Starfleet in a more militarised direction forty-two years ago! But modern Star Trek has really leaned into the idea of diversifying its output, with a kids’ show, an animated comedy, and serialised dramas in the mould of other modern made-for-streaming productions. Not every Trekkie will be interested in a show with a younger cast that’s pitched at a tween or teen audience – but I feel a sense of hope, from what Alex Kurtzman has had to say, that Starfleet Academy won’t just ignore the rest of us in the fan community!
One point I made last year, when the show was first announced, is that a series set at the Academy is actually a Gene Roddenberry idea. As far back as the late ’60s, when The Original Series was still on the air, Roddenberry was working on pitches and concepts for Star Trek spin-offs or successor shows, and a series set at the Academy – which would have featured a young Kirk and Spock meeting for the first time – was one such idea that was under consideration. So don’t let anyone tell you that “Gene Roddenberry would never have approved,” because in this case that accusation is demonstrably false!
Starfleet Academy as it appeared in Picard Season 2.
So that’s where we’re at – at least as of early April 2024. Starfleet Academy looks set to begin filming later this year, and while there hasn’t been a glut of news about the series yet, there are reasons to feel positive. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any cast announcements, especially if there are any familiar actors joining the Star Trek family or characters crossing over from Discovery. If we get any big news about Starfleet Academy or a teaser trailer, I’ll do my best to take a look at it here on the website.
So stay tuned! I hope this has been an interesting look ahead. Discovery’s fifth and final season has just begun, and while I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing by way of reviews yet, I’m sure I’ll have something to say about the season when I get around to watching it. Likewise for Starfleet Academy: I’m not sure yet whether I’ll do individual episode reviews or a full season review. But with the series perhaps more than two years away, I have plenty of time to decide! Thanks for joining me on this brief look ahead – and Live Long and Prosper!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in pre-production and will be broadcast on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available in 2026 (or later). The Star Trek franchise – including Starfleet Academy, Discovery, 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard.
Well, this is an interesting development! The long-rumoured Starfleet Academy series has just been officially announced by Paramount, with production due to begin next year. As I said the last time we talked about the series, I think it’s an idea that has a lot of potential.
In typical Paramount style, this announcement was low on detail and badly-timed, arriving a couple of weeks after news broke that Discovery has been cancelled. Rolling these two announcements into one would have made a lot of sense, shoring up Star Trek and reaffirming Paramount’s commitment to it instead of seeming to blow hot and cold on the franchise’s future and prospects. The announcement of Starfleet Academy seemed to suggest that it may be set in Discovery’s 32nd Century – perhaps existing as a spin-off from that series. While I don’t think that would be my personal preference in terms of setting, it’s definitely another good reason for combining these two announcements.
The series’ official announcement graphic. Image Credit: StarTrek.com
I’m not 100% sure if this new series is live-action or animated, as the official announcement didn’t actually state that outright, being surprisingly threadbare. I guess Paramount would have explicitly said if it was an animated production, though, and I’ve seen a few other outlets make the assumption that this will be a live-action series. If so, that’s good! With Picard and Discovery both ending within the next twelve months, Starfleet Academy can join Strange New Worlds and keep the flag flying in live-action.
The line in the official announcement about the Academy re-opening “for the first time in over a century” is where the 32nd Century setting seems to be referenced, as it was noted in Discovery’s third and fourth seasons that the Academy had been shut down sometime after the Burn. And I’m in two minds about this, if I’m being honest.
Starfleet cadets in the 32nd Century.
On the one hand, Discovery’s 32nd Century has been an interesting experiment, and an opportunity to do what Star Trek has always done: move the timeline forward. But on the other, it’s disconnected from the rest of the franchise by a span of centuries – making it much harder for characters, factions, or even themes to cross over from one part of the Star Trek franchise to another. With other projects set in the more familiar 23rd and 24th Centuries still ongoing, it’s also a decision that keeps Star Trek as a complicated, convoluted franchise that can be difficult to get started with for newcomers or for folks who haven’t watched for a long time.
A reorganisation of Star Trek is sorely needed – and the announcement of Starfleet Academy was an opportunity to do so. Bringing all of the current and upcoming shows into a single time period makes so much sense, and I fear we may look back on this decision as a missed opportunity. As much as I enjoy what Discovery has done with its far-future setting, and as much potential as that setting has, it would not have been my first choice for a new series at this juncture.
Starfleet Academy as it appeared in the early 25th Century.
If Starfleet Academy is to be set in the 32nd Century, it’s odd that Paramount isn’t explicitly touting the series as a Discovery spin-off. The fourth season episode All Is Possible felt like a backdoor pilot for Starfleet Academy – and I wasn’t alone in saying so at the time of its broadcast. This announcement didn’t mention All Is Possible, nor did it mention Lieutenant Tilly or any of the cadets from that episode. I wonder if the reception to All Is Possible shook up pre-production on Starfleet Academy – and with Tilly seemingly involved in some capacity in Discovery’s fifth and final season, perhaps she won’t be included in this spin-off series.
If that’s the case, it would throw the setting of the series into question even more – and I come back to what I said a moment ago about the 32nd Century not being the best choice. But I suppose we’re getting ahead of ourselves! Paramount’s lack of clarity on some of these points is leading to unhelpful guesswork!
The second announcement graphic. Image Credit: StarTrek.com
One of the big advantages to Starfleet Academy should be the show’s youthful focus – and with that, an ability to reach out to a new generation of viewers. Kids who’ve cut their teeth on the likes of Prodigy could view Starfleet Academy as the next step in their burgeoning fandom, and the series could also appeal to teen viewers who are looking for something a bit different. The announcement made it sound as if youthful cadets will be a big part of the show’s focus – and that can and should lead to the series appealing to precisely the kinds of viewers that Paramount needs more of.
If the series stands somewhat apart, without being tied too closely to past iterations of Star Trek, it could be a soft landing for new viewers – and the 32nd Century might actually prove advantageous here. There’d be scope to perhaps harken back to the events of classic episodes and films through the lectures and classes that the cadets attend – and that could allow Starfleet Academy to drop exposition and re-tell classic stories in a way that feels natural.
25th Century Academy cadets.
One thing in the announcement has caused a little concern, though, and I fear that Paramount hasn’t learned the right lessons from some of Star Trek’s recent successes and failures. The announcement promised “a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself” – and doesn’t that sound just like the setup for another fully-serialised story?
Since returning to the small screen in 2017, serialised storytelling has been – at best – a double-edged sword for Star Trek. On the one hand, the franchise has tried to move in a more modern direction, adopting a model used by successful titles like Lost and Game of Thrones. But on the other… well, it isn’t exactly controversial to say that not all of Star Trek’s serialised stories have been successful. Don’t get me wrong, they’ve all had their moments, but taken as a whole, Star Trek and serialised storytelling hasn’t always been a good combination.
The USS Discovery at warp.
In 2022, there’s no debate that the best-received and most successful Star Trek series was Strange New Worlds. The franchise took a step back toward episodic storytelling while retaining many of the trappings of more modern shows. Strange New Worlds was the perfect blend of “monsters-of-the-week” with season-long character arcs – and it was beautiful, riveting television that quickly became the high-water mark of modern Star Trek.
In contrast, Discovery’s fourth season and Picard’s second didn’t do so well. Discovery Season 4 pulled out a creditable ending – but I’m not alone in feeling that it spent a lot of time treading water before it reached that point. And well… the less said about Picard Season 2 the better, quite frankly. It was awful.
Yup.
When Discovery’s cancellation was announced, I said that it might prove to be a net positive for the franchise – if Paramount could use it as an opportunity to refine and refocus Star Trek. Look at what’s worked and what hasn’t since Discovery’s premiere, and pick the best and most successful elements from five different productions. There’s a place for serialised storytelling in Star Trek, sure… and there has been going way back to Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War arc. But just because other made-for-streaming shows are going down the serialised road… that doesn’t mean that every Star Trek show has to as well.
A kid-friendly series – as Starfleet Academy should aim to be – is particularly well-suited to a more episodic kind of storytelling. There can be ongoing character arcs and storylines within that framework, as Strange New Worlds has demonstrated. But if the main thrust of the series is episodic it would feel accessible to a more youthful, casual audience – and it could open up a much wider range of potential storylines.
Starfleet Academy could bring in a younger audience.
If there’s time between now and Starfleet Academy entering production next year to make this case, I hope someone at Paramount will listen! Look at what Strange New Worlds achieved in its first season and try to emulate that model instead of making another fully-serialised show in the mould of Picard or Discovery. That would be my single biggest wish – and my single biggest piece of advice to Paramount and the producers of Starfleet Academy.
The announcement of any new Star Trek show should be a time of great excitement – and I do feel excited! After Discovery’s cancellation, the catastrophic failure of a proposed new Kelvin timeline film last year, and poor financial news from Paramount, there was no guarantee that Starfleet Academy – or any other new project, for that matter – would get off the ground at all. So I’m relieved that Paramount remains committed to making new Star Trek shows. With Picard and Discovery both coming to an end, there will certainly be room in the lineup!
This is good news for Star Trek.
There are concerns, though. Does the announcement of Starfleet Academy mean that a Picard spin-off is now off the table for the foreseeable future? What of the Section 31 series, which has been languishing in development hell for more than four years? Is the 32nd Century the right time period for a brand-new series? Is another serialised show in the Discovery mould really the right move in light of how well Strange New Worlds worked? Is this Alex Kurtzman’s last hurrah? I have a thousand questions like this right now!
A series that could appeal to a younger audience has a ton of potential, and I will watch Starfleet Academy’s progress with enthusiasm and as much hope as I can muster! When the show is ready I’ll do my best to review each and every episode – and between now and then, I’ll cover any big developments such as casting announcements, teaser trailers, and more. So I hope you’ll stay tuned here on Trekking with Dennis!
This was a surprising announcement in some ways, but one that has been a long time coming in others. I’m glad that Star Trek has a future beyond Discovery and Picard’s final seasons, and I’m genuinely excited to see what Starfleet Academy has to offer.
Live long and prosper!
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has just been announced and won’t enter production until at least 2024. The series will premiere on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the service is available sometime in 2025, 2026, or beyond. Further international distribution has not been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Starfleet Academy and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of CBS Studios and Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the Star Trek franchise, including Picard Season 2, Strange New Worlds Season 1, and Discovery Season 4.
It’s been known for a while that there are unannounced Star Trek projects that are being worked on behind-the-scenes, and from time to time someone senior at Paramount will re-confirm this fact in public! Just last month at Comic-Con, we got yet another statement about these secretive projects, this time from Alex Kurtzman himself – the man who’s in charge of the overall direction of the Star Trek franchise. Kurtzman stated that there are two unannounced series that are in active development, so today I thought it could be a bit of fun to speculate about what exactly those projects could involve!
In the past I’ve put out lists of prospective Star Trek shows, but this time I want to be more focused. Rather than wild speculation or pure fantasy, I want to stick as close as possible to what we know based on statements that have been made in public, filings by Paramount, and plausible rumours from around the Star Trek franchise. Rather than saying “here’s a list of my fantasy Star Trek projects,” I want to try to stay realistic and consider some projects that feel genuinely plausible. So that’s what we’re going to do today – no “hospital ship” or “colony world” concepts here! As nice as those would be from my perspective, they don’t seem like ideas that are being actively considered by Paramount at the moment.
Despite wanting to stick to the real world as much as possible, my usual caveat applies: I have no “sources” close to the production of Star Trek nor any “insider information.” I’m not trying to say that any of these projects are definitely going to be made, let alone that an announcement may be imminent! I’ve tried to base the entries on this list on statements from people involved with Star Trek, official notices and filings from Paramount, and plausible, persistent rumours – but all of it could be easily wrong or otherwise untrue. So please take all of this with more than a few grains of salt!
The reason why I’m putting together this list now is twofold. Firstly, Star Trek Day is coming up in just under three weeks from now, and there’s the possibility of a big announcement as part of that event. Secondly, Season 3 of Picard will be that show’s last, so in my view Paramount will already have something lined up to replace it – and an announcement of that project may be forthcoming sooner rather than later. Announcing Picard’s replacement too close to its third season risks overshadowing the show as it comes to an end; getting the announcement out of the way ahead of time will give fans time to properly digest it.
So with all of that out of the way, let’s jump into the list!
Series #1: Section 31
Sloan, director of Section 31 during the Dominion War era.
Although a series based around Section 31 has technically been “announced,” the lack of any official news for almost four years at this point clearly means that the series has hit some bumps in the road. While I wouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that it’s been cancelled altogether, it’s still possible that the Section 31 series will be reworked and perhaps even re-announced along with a premiere date.
As I’ve said more than once, the Section 31 series was announced far too early. Not only was it completely overshadowed by the hugely positive response from fans to Captain Pike and Spock in Discovery’s second season – something that seemed to catch Paramount completely off-guard – but its main character desperately needed the development she would receive in Discovery’s third season in particular before she could begin to feel like someone who could carry her own spin-off.
At the time the Section 31 series was first announced, many fans viewed Georgiou as a kind of sociopathic monster.
When the Section 31 series was first discussed, Michelle Yeoh’s Empress Georgiou was about as flat and one-dimensional as Star Trek characters get. Moreover, she wasn’t just a villain, she was a psychopathic, genocidal monster who kept slaves, ate sentient beings, and seemed to revel in torture, violence, and death. Even for an organisation as roguish and off-the-books as Section 31, Empress Georgiou seemed extreme – and asking fans to support a series centred around a character like that was, for many, too much.
It wasn’t until the two-part Season 3 episode Terra Firma that we really saw a change in Georgiou. After spending time away from the Mirror Universe she began to view aliens as equals rather than sub-human, and had even adopted some Federation-inspired ways of thinking. By the time she stepped into the Guardian of Forever’s portal she had changed just enough that she could be an anti-hero rather than an out-and-out villain, and both she and the Section 31 series needed that development.
Georgiou enters the Guardian of Forever’s portal in Terra Firma, Part 2.
My gut still says that the Section 31 series isn’t going to happen, and we should brace for a quiet cancellation sometime in the future rather than a big announcement. I haven’t heard anything about the series since its premature announcement back in January 2019 that sounded even slightly positive, and with Star Trek branching out in different directions, it’s possible that Section 31 simply missed the boat.
However, at time of writing the Section 31 series still exists, Paramount has retained the trademarked name, and it isn’t impossible to think that it will be revived. Perhaps a new team of writers and producers will take over the project and rework it in some way – potentially even without Empress Georgiou.
Series #2: Seven of Nine and Raffi
Seven of Nine and Raffi at the end of Picard Season 2.
With Picard concluding its run before any of the other current Star Trek projects, a spin-off from that series feels like a distinct possibility when considering its replacement. The time period that Picard established – the dawn of the 25th Century – is not represented by any other current Star Trek project, so if Paramount wants to keep that era alive – and potentially bring in more legacy characters from Deep Space Nine and Voyager – then a series occupying the same timeframe could be a possibility.
A lot of work went into Picard Season 2 in terms of sets being constructed for the brand-new USS Stargazer – but those sets were only used in the premiere and the second half of the season finale. That seems like a lot of work for relatively little screen time, so part of me has been wondering ever since whether those sets may be destined for use in a spin-off project!
Could a Seven and Raffi series be set aboard the new USS Stargazer?
With Seven of Nine being awarded a role in Starfleet at the end of Picard Season 2, she could be being groomed for command. Depending on how she and Raffi get on in Season 3 – which we’ll see in the first half of next year – a spin-off could see those two characters headline a new show, perhaps one set aboard the USS Stargazer.
Seven of Nine was, at one time, my least-favourite Voyager character. But Picard has given her some much-needed development that led into a wonderful arc across both seasons of the show so far, culminating in her taking the Stargazer’s captain’s chair in the Season 2 finale. I would never have expected to write these words in 2000-2001, but I think I’m ready for a Seven of Nine series!
Seven of Nine takes the captain’s chair.
Both Seven and Raffi have tactical backgrounds, so we could potentially see a series set aboard a kind of rapid-response vessel. The Stargazer’s mission could be less about exploration and more tactical in nature, potentially serving as Starfleet’s “muscle” in dangerous situations. That concept isn’t one that Star Trek has done before (not as a whole series, at least) so it would be something different for the franchise.
There are other 25th Century concepts that could replace Picard, but a direct spin-off featuring at least one new character that was introduced in that series could be just what the Star Trek franchise needs. Keeping some consistency and some ties between different projects isn’t a bad idea, and I’m sure that a Seven and Raffi series could find a way to stand on its own two feet without the presence of Admiral Picard.
Series #3: Project Khan and/or Ceti Alpha V
Iconic Star Trek villain Khan could make a return.
Earlier this year it was reported that Paramount had trademarked the name Project Khan. This follows on from a pitch by The Wrath of Khan writer/director Nicholas Meyer, whose project would focus on Khan’s life in between the events of Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan. Although these two ideas could be totally separate, there does seem to be an appetite from someone at Paramount to see this iconic villain make a comeback.
If we take the two ideas as separate for now, Project Khan could be connected to the Eugenics Wars, and could even be a spin-off from Picard. Season 2 antagonist Adam Soong very prominently picked up a folder titled “Project Khan” at the end of his storyline, with the series seeming to imply that he plans to resume working on some kind of genetic engineering.
How might this moment from Picard Season 2 connect to Project Khan?
This is a complete hypothetical, but if we were to get a series starting from that point, Khan himself may not appear. This could be a Brent Spiner project with Adam Soong attempting to recreate Khan’s work in the 21st Century, and could potentially see things like the outbreak of World War III, which purportedly happened in that era. Such a series could see the return of Chris Rios and Dr Teresa Ramirez – they could be trying to stop Dr Soong’s work.
Alternatively, Project Khan could step back to before the events of Picard and focus on Khan’s rise to power in the 20th Century. This would be an interesting concept, but it would have to be handled delicately. In short, the Star Trek timeline has, until now, been pretty vague about events in the modern day and how they relate to real-world history. If it were set in the 1990s, Project Khan could completely transform our knowledge of that era – but it could also tread on the toes of a number of other Star Trek stories.
Khan in Space Seed.
Then we come to the Ceti Alpha V pitch. As much as I admire Nicholas Meyer’s work on Star Trek, I have to be honest: this isn’t a series I would give the green light to if I were in charge. We’re talking about the least-interesting chapter of a story where the ending is already known, and I just don’t see what Ceti Alpha V could tell us about Khan or his ambitious plans that we don’t already know from Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan.
There is the tantalising possibility that a Khan-focused project could connect with Strange New Worlds, though, as the character of La’an Noonien-Singh is a descendant of Khan. That could certainly be a point in favour of doing a new Khan story. Last year I took a longer look at the Ceti Alpha V concept, and you can find that article by clicking or tapping here.
Series #4: Starfleet Academy
The logo of Starfleet Academy in the 24th Century.
Last year (at Star Trek Day) Alex Kurtzman came pretty close to confirming that a Starfleet Academy series may be in the works. It’s certainly the nearest we’ve gotten to any kind of outright confirmation – and as above, Starfleet Academy is a title that Paramount has trademarked, this time all the way back in 2018.
Combine that with what felt like a bit of a backdoor pilot during Discovery’s fourth season, and I think we have a solid case to make that a Starfleet Academy series could be in the works! The Discovery Season 4 episode All Is Possible featured Lieutenant Tilly heading off on an away mission with a trio of new Starfleet cadets at the recently-reopened Starfleet Academy. It ended with her deciding to take up a permanent teaching post at Starfleet Academy and departing the USS Discovery – although she would reappear in the season finale.
Tilly’s departure.
All Is Possible definitely feels like a backdoor pilot, although the attention wasn’t on Tilly and the cadets all of the time. Tilly’s presence would connect the series to Discovery in a major way, and there’d be the possibility of crossover episodes with both shows set in the same 32nd Century time period. A Starfleet Academy show could also feature David Cronenberg’s character of Dr Kovich – a somewhat mysterious character who I still can’t figure out!
Alternatively, a Starfleet Academy series could ignore the 32nd Century and instead be set in the 25th. This version of the series could feature characters like Raffi and Elnor – the latter of whom is a cadet, and who was resurrected at the last minute in a sequence in the Season 2 finale that feels seriously underwhelming right now. Perhaps Elnor’s survival could be given new meaning and purpose if he were to be a major character in a Starfleet Academy series.
Cadet Elnor.
As a series concept, Starfleet Academy has been around the longest! While The Original Series was still in production in the 1960s, Gene Roddenberry came up with the idea of a show that would have focused on young Kirk and Spock during their Academy days – something we eventually saw (albeit in an alternate timeline) in 2009’s Star Trek reboot film.
I feel like a Starfleet Academy series could be a strong addition to the franchise. Not only would it be something different, but it could also be a great first contact for younger viewers – and perhaps even a second port of call for those who’ve recently become fans of Prodigy, too – as they find their way into the Star Trek fandom. Having several cadets as major characters would mean younger viewers could find this iteration of Star Trek easier to relate to and get started with, and that can only be a positive thing. I took a longer look at the Starfleet Academy concept last year, and you can find that article by clicking or tapping here.
Series #5: Enterprise Season 5/The Earth-Romulan War
The NX-01 Enterprise and two Romulan vessels.
This one is a bit more speculative, but I’m not the only one to wonder if there may be an attempt to bring back the 22nd Century in the near future. Calling this one “Enterprise Season 5″ might be a bit of a stretch, but any 22nd Century project could bring back at least some of the characters from that series for another adventure.
Prior to its cancellation in 2005, there were plans being drawn up for a fifth season of Enterprise. According to one of the show’s producers, if it had gone ahead Season 5 would’ve shown more of the origins of the Federation, and particularly the Earth-Romulan War that was first referenced in The Original Series. That could be the starting point for a revived Enterprise or a new 22nd Century series.
The Earth-Romulan War was established in The Original Series Season 1 episode Balance of Terror.
The Earth-Romulan War is a major event in Federation history, one that pushed the founding members of the Federation closer together. It was also a devastating conflict in its own right, and a series focusing on the war could have echoes of Deep Space Nine’s Dominion War arc. Star Trek can do war stories incredibly well – as we’ve seen in episodes of Discovery and Strange New Worlds just in the last couple of years – so this could be a great fit for an expanding franchise.
Any franchise has to be careful about coming across as too backwards-looking and introspective if it dives deeply into chapters of its own lore and backstory, but I think there’s space as Star Trek continues its renaissance to potentially step back to the time of the Earth-Romulan War. I know a lot of fans would happily welcome back Captain Archer or any other members of the Enterprise crew, so this project could be a real “love letter to the fans.”
The NX-01 Enterprise.
There were a number of factors that led to Enterprise’s cancellation in 2005, and although it was sad at the time, in many ways the Star Trek franchise needed a break and a reset. But maybe the time is right to bring back some of the characters and stories that had been conceived for unproduced seasons of Enterprise now that the franchise is back on solid ground.
There are definitely arguments to be made against establishing yet another different time period for Star Trek, as the franchise can already feel overcomplicated, especially for newcomers. But there are points in favour of returning to the 22nd Century, too, particularly if a series had a relatively tight focus on something like the Earth-Romulan War.
Series #6: Captain Worf
Worf on a promo poster for Picard Season 3.
Along with most of the rest of the main crew members from The Next Generation, Worf will be returning in Season 3 of Picard next year. It’s no secret that actor Michael Dorn has been talking up his own “Captain Worf” idea for the better part of a decade, and with the casting announcements for Picard, part of me has been wondering if that show’s final season might lead into a Worf spin-off.
As the character with the most Star Trek appearances to date – 274, in case you were wondering – we’ve spent a lot of time with Worf already! We’ve seen our favourite Klingon wrangle with his heritage and his duty to Starfleet, gain promotions, establish friendships with two different casts of characters, become a father, get married, become a widower, and much more besides. Is there room for another chapter in Worf’s life after the events of Deep Space Nine? I still think that’s an open question!
Is there room for new Worf-focused stories?
This one really depends on how Picard Season 3 goes down. Executive producer Terry Matalas has described Picard Season 3 as being a “send-off” for the crew of The Next Generation, presumably including Worf, and that sounds pretty definitive and final. We may see some characters killed off as the season goes on, especially if Picard and the crew are facing off against some kind of galaxy-ending threat. Even if Worf survives, it’s possible that all of the characters’ stories will come to a conclusive end, and if that’s the case there may be no room – and no need – for a Captain Worf series.
But it’s also possible that Picard Season 3 will be testing the waters to see whether certain spin-off ideas are viable. We’ve already considered the possibility of a Seven of Nine and Raffi series, and that’s one possibility. But maybe there’s a chance that, if fans respond incredibly positively to Worf in his new role, he could finally take the lead in his own series.
Worf as he appeared in Season 1 of The Next Generation.
For me, I feel that Worf in a leading role is an untested idea, and one that may not work. Although there are nuances in Worf’s characterisation, many episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine played up his Klingon traits, and while I’d never call him something like “flat” or “one-dimensional,” there’s definitely a case to be made that a character like Worf works best in a supporting role rather than a leading one.
But we can reserve judgement on that until we see what role has been created for Worf in Season 3 of Picard. Maybe he’ll get a fantastic ending to his decades-long story, one that feels conclusive and satisfying, rounding out his arc and tying up loose ends from both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. But maybe, just maybe, he’ll establish himself as the next character deserving of a spin-off project.
So that’s it!
Where will Star Trek go next?
Paramount (and subsidiary CBS Studios) has trademarked other names associated with the Star Trek brand that may be connected with shows or films that are currently in development, but it’s very difficult to know what to make of some of them! Vague titles like Star Trek: Destiny, Star Trek: Revolution, or Star Trek: Reliant have all been trademarked over the past few years – though several of these have now lapsed and haven’t been renewed. It isn’t clear whether any or all of these names were even intended to be used for films and television shows, or whether they were meant for merchandise and other projects. The interesting-sounding Star Trek Continuum trademark, for example, isn’t connected with a film or TV show at all, but is instead an official line of awful-looking NFTs.
For now at least, these are the Star Trek projects that seem to be the most likely based on what we’ve heard through official and unofficial channels. It’s definitely possible that work is ongoing in secret to develop some completely different Star Trek projects that we can’t predict at the moment, but in terms of what may be announced in the weeks or months ahead, the projects we’ve talked about today feel the most likely.
Next month’s Star Trek Day could be the venue for a big announcement…
Although trademarks exist for Ceti Alpha V and Starfleet Academy, if it were up to me I’d pick a 25th Century series to fill the hole that will be left when Picard finishes its run. Lower Decks and Prodigy will still be representing the late 24th Century, but I think it’ll feel like something’s not right if the 25th Century that Picard has only just begun to explore is abandoned with that show’s conclusion. Not only because we won’t get to carry on the journey, but because that era feels like the natural next step for a franchise that found so much success in the 1990s with shows set in the 24th Century.
But we’ll have to wait and see what the creative team at Paramount has in store! I think it’s possible – but by no means guaranteed – that an announcement could come as soon as next month. The Star Trek Day live broadcast has promised “announcements, reveals, and surprises” in its official press release, and the inclusion of certain actors – such as Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd – could hint at something big to come.
I hope this has been a bit of fun! I tried to steer clear of baseless rumours and fan-fantasies to focus instead on concepts and pitches that are known to exist and that seem plausible. But we’ll have to wait and see whether any of them are really going to happen!
The Star Trek franchise – including all properties (and potential 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the entire Star Trek franchise, including Picard Season 2, Discovery Season 4, Prodigy Season 1, Strange New Worlds Season 1, and more.
With Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard purportedly being the series’ last, I’m not ready to give up the 25th Century! Ever since Nemesis in 2002, I’d been desperately keen to see Star Trek show us what happened next; to move its timeline along. After the briefest of glimpses in 2009’s Star Trek, it was Picard that finally scratched that itch! Although Discovery is still in production with a fifth season being worked on, that show’s 32nd Century is far removed from the characters, factions, and themes of The Next Generation era. That’s why today I wanted to consider ten possibilities or concepts for shows that could pick up the baton from Picard.
For me, The Next Generation era – i.e. the late 24th Century setting that also includes Deep Space Nine and Voyager – is the franchise’s “golden age.” These shows – and the four films made during that time, too – represent the bulk of Star Trek’s 800+ episodes, and while there are definitely points of interest in the 22nd Century and 23rd Century that the franchise could revisit, for me it’s this time period that I’d like to see picked up for more adventures.
Captain Picard.
With Star Trek: Picard having established the dawn of the 25th Century as its setting, I really do feel that there’s scope to build on what’s been created so far. Season 3 may spend more time with Starfleet, but as of the end of Season 2 at least, there’s a lot we haven’t seen of this era. Picking up some of the characters, factions, storylines, and themes from past iterations of Star Trek is a big part of why spending more time in this era is worthwhile, but that doesn’t mean that every potential 25th Century project has to be a straight-up sequel to something that’s come before. I’d be thrilled to see a Strange New Worlds-style semi-episodic exploration-focused series with a brand-new cast, for example, set in this time period.
Although Picard Season 3 is still being worked on and likely won’t hit our screens until next year, I sincerely hope that the creative teams over at Paramount have already considered their next move. Alex Kurtzman (who is in charge of the Star Trek franchise for Paramount) has stated that there are other concepts in early development, and that as the current shows come to the end of their runs, these new shows would begin to be worked on. Whether any of the series concepts that he was referring to are going to be set in the 25th Century is unknown – but there are significant advantages to doing so.
Alex Kurtzman was interviewed by Wil Wheaton for Star Trek Day back in September and commented on the potential Starfleet Academy series.
I would wager that a significant portion of the Star Trek fan community would rank at least one of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, or Voyager in their top two favourite shows. And fans under the age of forty literally won’t be able to remember a time before The Next Generation! Most fans of my age will have either come to Star Trek during The Next Generation era or will have encountered it soon after becoming a fan; The Next Generation era was dominant from 1987 to 2002.
Fans who were invested in storylines like the Dominion War, the Maquis, Voyager’s journey home, and many, many more are interested to know what came next for their favourite characters. Picard has shown us a little of this – with a focus on Admiral Picard himself, naturally – and there have also been teases and glimpses in Lower Decks, Prodigy, and potentially in Discovery’s 32nd Century, too. But there’s a heck of a lot of room to do more.
The new USS Stargazer.
With Strange New Worlds flying the flag for the 23rd Century, and Discovery off doing its own thing in the far future, there’s a gap in live-action Star Trek that at least one 25th Century project needs to fill. Having established a few interesting details about what we must now call the Picard era, it would be positively criminal for Paramount to just abandon it. There are so many characters who we could catch up with, so many incomplete storylines to resume, and so many codas and epilogues still to be written.
Time is marching on, too – a sad reality for all of us. It won’t always be possible to bring back original actors and the characters that they portrayed, so it’s really a case of “if not now, when?” Wait too long to greenlight projects set in this time period and it may be too late to bring back certain characters.
So with all of that in mind I’ve put together a list of a few Star Trek projects that I personally think could be interesting and could pick up the baton from Picard. Although I feel confident that conversations are happening about future projects set in this era behind closed doors, my usual caveat applies: I have no “insider information.” I’m not trying to claim that any of these ideas will be picked up and make it to screen. This is a wishlist from a fan, and nothing more! It’s also entirely subjective, so if you hate all of my ideas or I don’t include something that you think should obviously be included, then that’s okay! There’s plenty of room within the Star Trek fan community for respectful disagreement and civil conversations!
Concept #1: Starfleet Academy
The emblem of Starfleet Academy.
When Lieutenant Tilly departed the USS Discovery early in Season 4, she became an instructor at Starfleet Academy in the 32nd Century. With her departure episode feeling like somewhat of a backdoor pilot thanks to introducing us to a handful of cadets, I’m sure I’m not alone in assuming that the heavily rumoured Starfleet Academy series will be set in the 32nd Century with Tilly as a major character. So that’s a big caveat to this potential project!
But a 25th Century Starfleet Academy series has a lot of potential, too. As a direct spin-off from Picard it could bring back characters like Raffi and Elnor, the latter of whom has already been established as a Starfleet cadet. That could even give meaning to Elnor’s unexpected survival at the end of Season 2.
Cadet Elnor in Picard Season 2.
A 25th Century Starfleet Academy series would be perfect for bringing back all sorts of characters from Star Trek’s past. We could learn, for instance, that Miles O’Brien is still at the Academy teaching engineering – as was established at the end of Deep Space Nine. Even if Chief O’Brien wasn’t a major character he could still make occasional appearances in that role.
One of the big advantages to a Starfleet Academy series right now is how it could serve as a kind of soft landing for new, younger fans who’ve been enjoying Prodigy. A series starring young adult cadets (or featuring cadets in major roles even if they aren’t the exclusive focus) would be a natural next step in so many ways, and could be a gateway into the Star Trek fandom for legions of newcomers. Just as holo-Janeway has been a guide in Prodigy, a returning character could fill a similar role here.
Concept #2: The Seven and Raffi show
Seven of Nine and Raffi in the Picard Season 2 finale.
When Season 2 of Picard premiered, I really thought that a USS Stargazer spin-off with Captain Rios in command would be a fantastic new series. That can’t happen now (and after Rios’ disappointing regression in Season 2, I don’t think I’d want it anymore anyway), but there is still the possibility to see a direct spin-off. This version would feature Seven of Nine and Raffi.
Although Seven of Nine’s captaincy of the USS Stargazer in Farewell felt very much like a brevet or a temporary thing, I feel there’s potential to see her given a commission in Starfleet. Raffi certainly felt that she would make an excellent captain! So maybe the next Star Trek series could be Star Trek: Stargazer with Captain Seven and XO Raffi taking the USS Stargazer on all kinds of adventures.
Captain Seven.
Seven of Nine is particularly well-suited to feature in stories that focus on the Borg, but there’s more to her character than that. I’m not sure whether a traditional exploration-focused series would be the best fit; maybe Seven and Raffi’s ship would be a rapid-response vessel designed for combat and tactical missions. An overtly action-oriented series would be new to Star Trek, so this could be a fun experiment to see how well it could work.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Seven of Nine’s arc across the first two seasons of Picard. It’s been cathartic to see a character I once disliked for her dull and repetitive storylines undergo genuine and lasting growth, and we might just be reaching a point where Seven of Nine is a strong enough character to take on the challenge of headlining a brand-new series of her own… supported by Raffi, of course!
Concept #3: Captain Sisko’s return
Captain Sisko.
Perhaps better-suited to being a miniseries or limited series, I really love the idea of Captain Sisko finally returning to the galaxy after spending time with the Prophets. At the end of Deep Space Nine, Sisko promised us that he wasn’t really gone and that he would return “one day.” After more than twenty years, could “one day” finally be just around the corner?
It’s worth acknowledging that Avery Brooks has seemed less willing than some other former Star Trek actors to reprise his role, and although there has been speculation as to why that may be, there’s never been any definitive statement from the man himself. I wouldn’t want to see Sisko recast at this moment in time (nor recreated through some kind of CGI process), so if Avery Brooks isn’t interested, the project won’t get off the ground.
In The Pale Moonlight is one of my all-time favourite Star Trek episodes.
One massive advantage to bringing back Captain Sisko is that he’d make a wonderful point-of-view character for us as the audience. As someone who’s spent decades away from the galaxy, Sisko would be just as interested as we are to learn what happened to his friends, to Deep Space Nine, to the Cardassians and Dominion, and so on. A Sisko-focused series could get away with dropping a lot of exposition in a way that feels natural, bringing us up to speed on the events of the past couple of decades without it feeling out-of-place.
More than that, though, I want to spend more time with Captain Sisko. Although picking favourites is hard, Sisko has always been one of the best and most interesting characters of The Next Generation era, and one of the best captains in the Star Trek franchise. Bringing him back would be just as impactful as bringing back Picard has been, and providing an epilogue and closure to Sisko’s story would be absolutely worth doing.
Concept #4: Section 31
A black Section 31 combadge in the mid-23rd Century.
The untitled Section 31 series was announced in 2019, shortly before Season 2 of Discovery aired. But since then, the supposedly ready-to-go project has been sidelined. Lack of interest from fans was part of the equation, perhaps, but Strange New Worlds certainly stole its thunder too!
The proposed series was to follow ex-Terran Empress Georgiou as she worked with the shadowy organisation that was first introduced in Deep Space Nine, and after Georgiou went through some significant character growth in Discovery’s third season, she finally seemed to get to a place where she could potentially take on the role of a morally ambiguous Section 31 leader without feeling like someone who resorts to violence and literal genocide at the drop of a hat.
Empress Georgiou’s departure.
To briefly recap, Georgiou had to leave the 32nd Century due to suffering from a technobabble illness that appeared to be fatal, and she was permitted to do so by the Guardian of Forever. If a suitable explanation could be found, Georgiou could potentially emerge in the 25th Century, setting the stage for her to play a role in Section 31 in this time period.
Alternatively, a Section 31 show set in this era could drop Georgiou altogether and focus on new characters instead. With Borg, Romulans, super-synths, strange anomalies, and other potential threats to the Federation that we’ve glimpsed in Picard, Section 31 could have a lot of work to do in this era!
Concept #5: A new exploration-focused series
The original USS Enterprise.
Strange New Worlds is currently flying the flag for semi-episodic “old school Star Trek” with a big focus on exploration. But this is the foundation of Star Trek; the franchise’s roots. Returning to this format in the 25th Century could be absolutely fantastic – and it could be a fun way to include a mix of new and legacy characters.
One of the limitations faced by Strange New Worlds is that it’s set a decade before The Original Series. There’s still a lot of wiggle room in that time period, and we could see Captain Pike make first contact with new and familiar alien races alike. But there are still constraints on which alien races can be included and how, and what stories Captain Pike and the crew could reasonably take part in.
Captain Pike.
In contrast, a new exploration series set in the 25th Century would basically have free rein to hop all across the galaxy, meet brand-new aliens, and bring back classic factions without treading on anyone’s toes. As long as such a series avoided Unknown Species 10-C (basically the only major new faction introduced in Discovery’s far future that Captain Burnham made first contact with), a show like this one could do what The Original Series, The Next Generation, and to an extent Voyager all did: set out on a mission of exploration with a blank canvas.
Seeking out strange, new worlds is where Star Trek began; it’s the core mission of Starfleet and the main goal of the Federation. Strange New Worlds is already proving that fans enjoy a series with that kind of focus, so picking up that concept and reworking it to be set in the Picard era absolutely could work.
Concept #6: Hospital ship
The USS Pasteur – a Federation medical ship.
In the ’90s, when I was watching and enjoying the shows of The Next Generation era, this was a concept that I thought could be a ton of fun! I imagined “ER in space,” with a hospital ship like the USS Pasteur being the show’s main setting and a chief medical officer as the main protagonist. My original version of this concept would’ve seen characters like Dr Pulaski and Dr Bashir return; a team-up of some of my favourite medical characters from other Star Trek shows.
Although Dr Pulaski is unlikely to be part of such a series now, there’s definitely scope to bring back the likes of Dr Bashir or Voyager’s EMH, as well as secondary medical staff like Nurse Ogawa, as part of a series that also introduces new characters.
Nurse Alyssa Ogawa.
The hospital ship would travel around the Federation and beyond, lending its services to planets, bases, and starships in need. There’d be illnesses and diseases to cure, natural disasters to bring aid to, and the ship could even be part of major military engagements and battles, tending to wounded soldiers and crewmen. Star Trek has shown us all of these basic concepts before, but this time they’d have an overtly medical focus.
There’s a huge audience for shows like House, ER, and Grey’s Anatomy, and a medical Star Trek series could have an appeal that extends far beyond the franchise’s typical sci-fi niche. Without the constraints of the real world, and with numerous aliens as both staff and patients, there’s almost unlimited potential in terms of creativity as well. We could see new deadly diseases created that could be timely reflections of our pandemic-afflicted world, and we could even take a deeper dive into diseases and medical conditions that have been referenced in past iterations of Star Trek.
Concept #7: Captain Kim
Ensign Harry Kim.
It’s become a bit of a joke in the Star Trek fan community: Harry Kim spent seven years as an ensign without being promoted. Perhaps he could finally get the command he’s always wanted and headline a new Star Trek show in the process!
Harry Kim would be the second major character from Voyager to play a role in this era of Star Trek, and that could lead to crossovers. It could be a lot of fun to see an older and more mature Harry Kim reunite with Seven of Nine – perhaps for the first time in many years. The series could even feature a Voyager reunion of the kind seen in Endgame. And of course, any time we’re talking about Voyager these days there’s the potential to tie in with themes and ideas present in Prodigy.
An older Harry Kim (from an alternate future) in the episode Timeless.
Captain Kim could show us a different side of Starfleet. Perhaps he’s in command of a hospital ship as we were discussing above, or perhaps his vessel is much more scientific in its mission; charting anomalies and stellar phenomena rather than making lots of first contact missions. A series like that would be more personality-driven and serialised rather than episodic with a “monster-of-the-week” to engage with, and I think someone like Harry Kim would excel in that kind of role.
Out of everyone on Voyager, I’d suggest that Harry Kim has perhaps the most potential for growth if he were to return. Considering that we met him on his first mission after graduating – and that he stuck with that “young and eager” characterisation for a long time during Voyager’s run – there’d be something rather cathartic about being reintroduced to an older, more mature Captain Kim.
Concept #8: A Klingon series
General Martok, a 24th Century Klingon leader.
This one would be quite a radical departure from anything that Star Trek has tried before. Leaving the Federation and Starfleet behind, this show would be set aboard a Klingon vessel. A Starfleet officer could be present as a point-of-view character and a way to help us as the audience find both a way in and a frame of reference, but the rest of the characters would be Klingons.
With Worf returning for Picard Season 3, he could become a recurring character on a Klingon-focused series. A character like Worf bridges the gap between the Klingon Empire and Starfleet, and along with a Starfleet officer aboard the ship he could also help ground the series.
Kol, a 23rd Century Klingon who recently appeared in Discovery.
What I like about this idea is that it would be something genuinely bold and different. We’ve spent a lot of time with the Klingons across various iterations of Star Trek – they’re probably the faction we know the most about after the Federation itself. But there’s still plenty of room to expand our understanding of the Klingons, and to show us the next chapter for their Empire in the aftermath of the Dominion War and their alliance with the Federation.
What kind of mission would a Klingon vessel have? If it’s exploration, how different would their approach be to what we’d expect from Starfleet? A Klingon series could also show off different roles for Klingons beyond that of “warrior.” How does a Klingon crew treat its engineers, scientists, and medical personnel, for example? Far from being one-dimensional “baddies,” there’s plenty of room for nuance and to show us a different side to the Klingons, and different Klingon personalities.
Concept #9: Captain Worf
Could Michael Dorn finally get his Captain Worf series?
Sticking with the Klingons, Michael Dorn has been talking about his pitch for a Captain Worf series for the better part of a decade at this point! Although I confess that I remain sceptical of the proposal for a number of reasons, with Worf’s imminent return in Picard Season 3, it has to be considered at least a possibility that there’ll be some kind of backdoor pilot or an attempt to test the waters to see if a Captain Worf series could be viable.
As the character who’s made the most Star Trek appearances (280+, not counting upcoming appearances in Picard Season 3), I feel that we’ve seen more than enough of Worf! We’ve seen his inner conflict between his Klingon and Starfleet identities, his struggles with fatherhood, his marriage and the grief he felt at losing Jadzia… and I’m just not sure where else there is to go.
Worf as he appeared in Season 1 of The Next Generation.
But despite my personal reservations, a Captain Worf series could prove me wrong and be the right move for Star Trek once Picard ends. Like Picard itself, a Captain Worf series would be anchored by its familiar face but perhaps rounded out with a fun group of new characters. There would be potential, perhaps, depending on how things go in Season 3, to bring in someone like Raffi as Worf’s first officer, tying the show to Picard in an even greater way.
As with Seven of Nine and Raffi above, a Captain Worf series could go all-in on action, with Worf commanding a tactical vessel and rushing into dangerous situations and combat missions. Or, in an attempt to put a completely different spin on the character, maybe Captain Worf would be in command of a lightly-armed science vessel on a mission of exploration! That could be a fun way to go and a twist on the expected premise of the series.
Concept #10: Super-synth invasion
The mechanical noodles of the super-synths.
Spoiler alert for a future theory article, but one of my guesses about Picard Season 3 is that the Admiral and his friends will have to face off against the super-synths from Season 1 – and that they’re responsible for the anomaly in Season 2. That would be a neat way to tie all three seasons of the show together!
But assuming that doesn’t happen, I’d love to revisit the super-synths that we only caught a glimpse of in the Season 1 finale. Assuming that their intentions were hostile, and that they planned to attack organic life in the Alpha Quadrant, could a new spin-off revisit that concept and perhaps show the super-synths making their invasion attempt?
Did Soji paint a target on the Alpha Quadrant thanks to her beacon?
This is a reworking of another concept that I’ve had kicking around for some time: a Borg invasion series. But with the Borg having already played a big role in Season 2, perhaps the super-synths could be subbed in to become the antagonists of a series (or miniseries) that sees the Federation involved in a war for its very survival.
This kind of existential threat has been used and re-used in Discovery, and I could understand if some fans wouldn’t want to see it brought back so soon! As I’ve said recently, it’s my hope that Discovery will try something different in Season 5! But it would be fun to bring back the super-synths and to revisit the Federation at war for the first time since Enterprise’s conflict with the Xindi – and it could be a great way to bring in a mix of new and legacy characters.
So that’s it!
Admiral Picard.
Those are ten concepts for Star Trek shows that I think could pick up the baton from Star Trek: Picard in the years ahead, sticking with the early 25th Century and potentially expanding on what Picard has already done.
My “first contact” with Star Trek back in the early 1990s was The Next Generation, and I was a big fan of Deep Space Nine and Voyager during their original broadcast runs as well. With live-action Star Trek series set in the 23rd and 32nd Centuries, it seems to me that Picard’s eventual finale is going to leave a pretty significant hole in the franchise. Even if every major character from The Next Generation returns and gets an amazing goodbye, there are still characters, themes, storylines, and more from Deep Space Nine and Voyager that I’ve been longing to see picked up for more than two decades!
Deep Space Nine.
If it were up to me, the early 25th Century would probably be the main setting that I’d want to use for the majority of new Star Trek projects. There was even scope a couple of years ago to bring Captain Burnham and Discovery into this time period, and I think that could’ve worked exceptionally well too. I don’t think that Picard necessarily needs a direct spin-off, bringing back main characters in a huge way, but I’d dearly love to see the setting and time period re-used in future.
I’m hopeful that Season 3 will be a fun adventure with the crew of The Next Generation, and that it can serve as a launchpad for one or more new Star Trek projects set in this era. Whether any of my own ideas will make it… well, I doubt it. But who knows! More than ever it feels like Paramount is listening to Star Trek fans; without a massive fan campaign we would never have seen Strange New Worlds. So there’s a possibility, perhaps, if Picard Season 3 is well-received that a spin-off or follow-up could indeed make it. Time will tell!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will be broadcast on Paramount+ in the United States and on Amazon Prime Video around the world sometime in the next year or so. The Star Trek franchise – including Picard 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.
Spoiler Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: Discovery Season 3, Picard Season 1, 2009’s Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager.
We’ve known for a while that there are more Star Trek projects in development in addition to the shows and films currently in production. As early as the announcement of Star Trek: Picard in 2018 rumours were flying around, and not long after the official announcement of the Section 31 series – a show whose fate I fear hangs in the balance right now – came confirmation that further Star Trek television shows were actively being worked on. One of those shows we now know to be Strange New Worlds – but there are other projects both for film and television that remain officially unannounced.
September’s Star Trek Day broadcast featured an interview with Alex Kurtzman, the man in charge of the Star Trek franchise for ViacomCBS. In the interview, Kurtzman hinted – though stopped short of confirming outright – that one of the shows in early development will be focused on Starfleet Academy. Today I thought it could be fun to consider what a Starfleet Academy series could look like, and answer the crucial question: “is it a good idea?!”
Alex Kurtzman teased a Starfleet Academy series at Star Trek Day.
As the Section 31 series has unfortunately demonstrated now that it appears to be on the verge of outright cancellation, developing an entirely new television series is not a straightforward process. However, the fact that Alex Kurtzman was willing to discuss the prospect of a Starfleet Academy series at all – and in a pre-recorded interview that ViacomCBS allowed to be broadcast, no less – means that we have to take the idea seriously. It’s still possible that the proposed series won’t make it to our screens in its presently-envisioned form, but ViacomCBS is clearly laying the groundwork for a future announcement.
Sometimes companies like to tease or even leak information like this to gauge the reaction and see what fans think. Any new Star Trek television series has to have appeal beyond the existing fanbase, of course, but if Trekkies aren’t at least interested if not enthused at the prospect of a new show, that could mean the corporation chooses not to press ahead. If I were to speculate – and as always, I’ll tell you up front that I have no “insider information” – I would say that might well be the fate that befell the Section 31 series.
We’re still waiting to hear news about the poor Section 31 show…
We’ve recently talked about some of the poor business decisions that ViacomCBS has made in regards to the Star Trek franchise, so it wouldn’t shock me to learn that none of it is planned and the corporation is just winging it! But I like to think that there is some direction and control to the way the Starfleet Academy series has been teased, and that there are folks over at the company analysing the response from the fanbase to see how Trekkies feel about the idea.
So… how do Trekkies feel about the idea? I’m not the most active person on social media, but even so I would’ve expected to see some chatter. Prior to the announcement of Strange New Worlds, for example, I quickly lost count of the number of posts and messages I saw from fans who were clamouring for a “Captain Pike show.” So far, from my limited perspective at least, I’m not seeing any of that for a Starfleet Academy series. Maybe people who study social media in more depth than I do, or who are members of fan clubs and the like, have heard more from the fan community about this – but I think it’s worth noting that the prospect of the show has, thus far at least, failed to get large numbers of folks excited.
I haven’t seen much talk in the fan community on social media about a potential Starfleet Academy series just yet.
To be fair, though, the only mention of a Starfleet Academy series from anyone close to the production of Star Trek came in that one Star Trek Day interview. The Alex Kurtzman interview lasted only a few minutes and was by no means the main event in a broadcast that lasted for three hours and also debuted trailers and teases for shows that have already been announced. So perhaps the reason for the muted response is that a lot of folks are still unaware of the concept – or if they are aware they’re still waiting for something more official.
For my part, I think the series has a lot of potential. I’d place it far higher on my list than any of the other rumoured or quasi-official pitches and concepts that have been floating around out there! Whether it’s Captain Worf, Captain Proton, or the Ceti Alpha V miniseries that we talked about a while ago, a Starfleet Academy show has – in my subjective opinion at least – far more potential to be interesting and exciting.
I’d definitely prefer a Starfleet Academy show to a Captain Proton show!
Starfleet Academy is not a new concept for a series. As early as the 1960s, while The Original Series was still on the air, Gene Roddenberry was actively considering a prequel which would have focused on Kirk, Spock, and Dr McCoy meeting for the first time at Starfleet Academy. The concept was revisited by Gene Roddenberry at least twice: in the early 1970s, prior to work commencing on the project that ultimately became The Motion Picture, and again in the mid-1980s before work began on The Next Generation. Seeing Kirk, Spock, and Dr McCoy at Starfleet Academy would eventually be realised in 2009’s Star Trek film.
Gene Roddenberry would have approved, then! Which is great news for all longstanding Trekkies! I don’t think we need to worry too much that previous attempts to get a Starfleet Academy project off the ground didn’t succeed. The truth is that there were other competing ideas at the time, and even though Gene Roddenberry and others did seriously consider the idea, there were always other competing projects. I think we can all agree that the feature films of the 1980s and The Next Generation were great ideas too!
Gene Roddenberry worked on several Starfleet Academy series and film concepts during his life.
Had Enterprise not been cancelled, I think it’s possible that the Starfleet Academy concept could’ve been revived 15 years ago as well, as part of a renewed expansion of Star Trek that never happened. There were plans afoot in the Enterprise era to expand the franchise yet further, but the show’s declining ratings and the poor critical reception to Nemesis in 2002 ultimately led to the Star Trek franchise taking a short break.
A Starfleet Academy series has three big things going for it, in my view. Firstly, the series could be created to tie in with any current or past Star Trek series. Connecting it to an ongoing show such as Discovery or Picard would make the most sense, and the show could be set in the same time period as either, and connect with characters, factions, and themes. There could even be crossover episodes.
A Starfleet Academy series could potentially run alongside – and cross over with – any of the current crop of Star Trek shows.
This kind of closer connection between ongoing series is something that the Star Trek franchise needs. The closest we’ve got so far has been the appearance of the Qowat Milat in Season 3 of Discovery, connecting the show in a loose way with Picard. But the franchise as a whole needs to do a lot more to tie together the shows currently in production, so having a Starfleet Academy series share a time period and setting with another show would be a boost to the Star Trek franchise overall.
Secondly, if the show were set at Starfleet Academy itself, that would make it the first Star Trek series to take place on Earth. That concept is itself interesting, and there’s potential to learn more about Earth and what life is like for its inhabitants in the future. That’s in addition to taking a deep dive into life at the Academy itself. Such a series could – perhaps – be a little cheaper to produce; filming could take place in and around San Fransisco, and there would be arguably less of a need for expensive new sets to be built from scratch to represent spacecraft and alien worlds.
A tree in the grounds of Starfleet Academy as seen in Discovery Season 3.
Every Star Trek series so far has visited Earth in some capacity, but there’s still an awful lot we don’t know about the Federation’s capital planet. I like the idea of some of the cadets or teachers taking time away from the Academy to get out and explore – showing us as the audience more than a glimpse of life on Earth in Star Trek’s future.
Finally, a Starfleet Academy series has the potential to appeal to a younger audience – just like Prodigy is intended to. In fact, a Starfleet Academy show could easily become the next port of call for Prodigy fans as they immerse themselves further in Star Trek; there’s huge potential to appeal to a tween or teen audience, particularly if younger cadets were the show’s primary focus.
Fans of Prodigy could easily make the jump to a Starfleet Academy show if it had a similar youthful focus.
At the very least, setting a series at the Academy would naturally include a number of younger characters – and its characters like these that have the potential to appeal to a younger audience. Star Trek can’t just be the preserve of an ageing fanbase who remember shows from the ’60s and ’90s with rose-tinted nostalgia! It has to expand and appeal to new fans too – and bringing younger people into the Star Trek fan community is the best way of ensuring the franchise will survive and remain in production in the longer term.
In my view, that’s one of the most important things that a Starfleet Academy series could do – and should be its primary objective as a series. As Lower Decks and Prodigy are demonstrating, branching out and trying to appeal to different audiences doesn’t mean that Star Trek has to ignore its existing fanbase. There’s plenty in Prodigy and Lower Decks to appeal to existing fans, and I would expect no less from a Starfleet Academy show as well.
Lower Decks was intended to bring in new fans as well as appeal to Trekkies – and a Starfleet Academy show could walk that same line.
When a Starfleet Academy concept has been debated in the past, some fans have raised the objection that it would be “too static” – that being stuck on Earth would make the show feel stale in comparison to other Star Trek shows set aboard starships. I understand where such a concern is coming from, but as Deep Space Nine definitively proved, a stationary setting doesn’t have to be boring. And as Deep Space Nine also showed right from its very first episode, it’s possible to have shuttles, runabouts, or even a whole starship seconded to a base.
Starfleet Academy has its own ships – this is something we’ve seen in several past episodes. Deep Space Nine’s sixth season episode Valiant even showed a crew of cadets aboard a very advanced ship, and Prodigy is also showing a younger crew aboard their own vessel. In short, a Starfleet Academy series could easily have episodes set aboard a ship or visiting other worlds – as well as stories that make use of technologies like the holodeck to give the cadets experience.
Kirk as a cadet in 2009’s Star Trek.
I’d say that a Starfleet Academy series is absolutely worth pursuing. It might not be my first choice – I have a few ideas of my own, which you can find by clicking or tapping here! – but it absolutely has merit, and sounds far better than any of the other pitches or proposals I’ve heard in recent years. Its biggest selling point to me is its potential to bring in new audiences, as well as to give young fans of Prodigy a series to graduate to that would keep them in the fandom.
So watch this space! I don’t believe an announcement is imminent, despite the recent talk of the show at Star Trek Day. Picard still has at least two seasons left to run, Lower Decks and Prodigy have at least one more apiece, and while there have been no official announcements I’m expecting to hear that Discovery will get a fifth season and Strange New Worlds will get a second at some point in the near future. Between those shows and the various feature film projects, Star Trek is quite busy going into 2022, 2023, and even 2024! So we might not hear anything official just yet… but keep your eyes and ears open!
The Star Trek franchise – including all series and films mentioned above – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Spoiler Warning: Though there are no major spoilers, minor spoilers may still be present for a few of the titles on this list.
Anthem is gone, Cyberpunk 2077 is still a stinking mess, and there are delays aplenty across the games industry as the pandemic rolls on. What’s a gamer to do? Well, I might have the answer for you! Tomorrow will be the first day of March, and to me March has always meant the beginning of Spring. There are small snowdrops beginning to bloom in my garden, and the nights are getting shorter. A few times this past week I’ve even managed without the heating on in my house – much to the dismay of the cats!
There are still plenty of great games that – all being well – will be released this year. If you missed it, I put together a list just after New Year of ten of the most interesting titles! But considering the delays and that this time of year is typically fairly quiet in terms of releases, I thought it would be a great moment to consider a few games that deserve a second look. I’ve limited the list to titles that are readily available to buy on current-gen platforms and PC, so no out-of-print games this time.
Without any further ado, let’s jump into the list, which is in no particular order.
Number 1:Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo Switch, 2017)
Nintendo’s most recent karting game is a ton of fun. It’s the kind of arcade racer that has a very low bar for entry – anyone can pick up and play this fun title. But mastering Mario Kart 8 – especially if you choose to head online – is no small task, and there’s a surprising amount of skill involved to be truly competitive with the best players! I’ve adored the Mario Kart series since its inception on the SNES, and this version is the definitive Mario Kart experience… at least until they make Mario Kart 9!
Number 2: Fall Guys (PC and PlayStation 4, 2020, coming to Xbox and Nintendo Switch this summer)
Among Us gained a lot of attention not long after Fall Guys was released last summer and stole at least some of the cute game’s attention! The fact that Fall Guys isn’t on mobile probably counts against it as far as finding a broader audience goes, but despite what some have claimed, the game is by no means dead. Season 4 – which promises to bring a new set of futuristic rounds – is being released soon, and for less than £15 (at least on PC) I honestly can’t fault Fall Guys. It’s an adorable, wholly unique experience in which your cute little jelly bean character runs a series of obstacle courses in a video game homage to the likes of Total Wipeout. Each round lasts only a couple of minutes, and it really is way more fun than words can do justice to! I’ve recently got back into playing after taking a break, and there’s plenty of fun still to be had.
Number 3: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC and Xbox, 2002)
You can find Morrowind on PC, and despite being an older title it’s compatible with Windows 10. There has been an active modding scene for almost twenty years at this point, so even if you’ve already played the base game it may still be worth going back for more. In my subjective opinion, Morrowind is the high-water mark of the Elder Scrolls series. It certainly offers players more to do than its predecessors or sequels – more NPCs to interact with, more factions to join, more types of weapons to wield and spells to cast, and so on. Especially if you hit Morrowind with some of the visual/graphics mods that are available, it can feel almost like a new game!
Number 4: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, 2002)
Another older title that you can find on PC, as well as on iOS and Android, Vice City was one of three Grand Theft Auto titles released between 2001 and 2005. Remember when Rockstar was able to put out more than one game per decade?! If you’ve had your fill of Grand Theft Auto V by now – and it’s been out for eight years, so I wouldn’t blame you if you were ready to play something else – maybe going back to one of the older games will be a nostalgic blast. Many fans of the series consider Vice City to be the best entry, and while I don’t think I’d go quite that far, I had a ton of fun with it back on the original Xbox.
Number 5: Banished (PC, 2014)
There are some great city-builders out there, but one of my favourites from the last few years is Banished. The game was built entirely by one person, which never fails to amaze me! It would still be a fantastic title if it had been made by a full studio, but the fact that the game and all its complex systems were programmed by a single developer is an astonishing achievement. Banished isn’t easy, even on lower difficulty settings, and it will take a little time to get into the swing of how to plan your town and manage your resources. But if you’re up for a challenge it’s a wonderful way to lose track of time!
Number 6: Skully (PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One, 2020)
Skully is a game that I’ve been meaning to write a proper review of since I picked it up last year, but it keeps slipping down my writing pile. From the moment I saw the trailer and heard the game’s premise – a 3D platformer in which you play as a disembodied skull – I was in love, and the game did not disappoint! The environments are beautiful and the game is plenty of fun. It manages to feel at points like an old-school 3D platformer of the Nintendo 64 era, and at others like a wholly modern experience. It’s also an indie title, and it’s great to be able to support indie developers wherever we can!
Number 7: Jade Empire (PC and Xbox, 2005)
If the demise of Anthem has got you missing the “golden age” of BioWare’s role-playing games, make sure you didn’t skip Jade Empire. The Xbox exclusive was overlooked by players in the mid-2000s, and while other BioWare games from that decade, like Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age Origins are all held in high esteem, the Chinese-inspired Jade Empire is all but forgotten. When Steam has it on sale you can pick up Jade Empire for less than the price of a coffee, and for that you’ll get what is honestly one of the best and most interesting role-playing games of all time.
Number 8: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (PC, 1997)
Starfleet Academy is unique among Star Trek games because it features the cast of The Original Series in video clips recorded especially for the game. These aren’t scenes from films or episodes of the show; you literally will not see them anywhere else. Starfleet Academy is a starship simulator, and while its visuals obviously don’t look as good in 2021 when compared to other titles, the overall experience is fantastic. You won’t find another game quite like it – especially because ViacomCBS has all but given up on making Star Trek games since the release of Star Trek Online!
Number 9: Forza Horizon 4 (PC and Xbox One, 2018)
I signed up for Game Pass in order to be able to play racing game Forza Horizon 4 – and it was totally worth it! The Forza Horizon series attempts to find a middle ground between true racing sims and arcade-style titles, and generally manages to do so quite well. Forza Horizon 4 has a map which represents parts of Great Britain, and that’s something unusual! I didn’t see my house, but it’s always nice when a game uses a familiar setting. There are plenty of fun cars to race in, and different kinds of races too, including going off-road.
Number 10: Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Multiplatform, 2013)
Is it just me, or has every subsequent game in the Assassin’s Creed series struggled to hit the highs of Black Flag? Origins and Odyssey were decent, but even in 2021, I think that Black Flag is the definitive title in the franchise! There’s something about its pirate setting and the wonderful crop of NPCs that make Black Flag a truly enjoyable experience from start to finish. For a game that’s approaching its eighth birthday it still looks fantastic, too!
Number 11: The Last Of Us (PlayStation 3, 2013)
Despite its severely disappointing sequel, The Last Of Us is fantastic. If you’re looking for a game with amazing characters and a deep, engaging story, it simply can’t be bettered. I put The Last Of Us on my list of games of the decade as the 2010s drew to a close, and for good reason. Joel and Ellie’s trek across a hauntingly beautiful post-apocalyptic United States was absolutely one of the gaming highlights of the last few years. The characters are so well-crafted that they feel real, and every twist and turn in the intense storyline carries emotional weight. The game is being adapted for television, and I’m interested – cautiously so in the wake of The Last Of Us Part II – to see what will happen when it makes the leap to the small screen.
Number 12: Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (PC, 2018)
Though I know Age of Empires II is the title most folks prefer, I’ve always appreciated what the original Age of Empires did for the real-time strategy genre. If you’ve been enjoying the recent remake of the second game, it could be a great time to give the original a try as well. Age of Empires didn’t invent real-time strategy, but it was one of the first such titles I played after its 1998 release – and I sunk hours and hours into it in the late ’90s! There’s something about building up an army of Bronze Age warriors to smash an opponent’s town that’s just… satisfying!
Number 13: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, 2019)
I played through Jedi: Fallen Order last summer and documented my time with the game here on the website. Suffice to say I had a blast; the linear, story-focused title is exactly what the Star Wars franchise needed after the Battlefront II debacle! Having just seen the dire Rise of Skywalker I was also longing for a Star Wars story that I could actually enjoy for a change, and Jedi: Fallen Order did not let me down! I had a great time swinging my lightsaber across a galaxy far, far away… and I think you will too.
Number 14: No Man’s Sky (PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, 2016)
No Man’s Sky was incredibly controversial at launch. The pre-release hype bubble got wildly out of control, egged on by a marketing push that oversold the game. Remind you of any recent titles? But despite the backlash in 2016, Hello Games has since put in a lot of hard graft, and five years on No Man’s Sky genuinely lives up to its potential. Had it been released in this state I think it would have been hailed as one of the best games of the decade – if not of all time. I understand not wanting to reward a game that was dishonestly sold, and that the “release now, fix later” business model is not one we should support. But there’s no denying that No Man’s Sky is a great game in 2021, and if you haven’t picked it up since its 2016 launch, it could be worth a second look.
Number 15: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, 2020)
A full remake of the definitive skateboarding game is hard to pass up! In the Dreamcast era, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater launched an entire genre of skating games, and its amazing soundtrack is a nostalgic hit of late ’90s/early ’00s punk rock. The remade version, which you can pick up on Switch and the two new consoles later this year, is great fun, and has managed to do something rare for a remake: genuinely recapture the look and feel of the original title. Obviously the visuals are brought up-to-date, but the feel of the game and the way tricks are performed are fantastic. I was able to slip right back into playing as if I’d never put the Dreamcast controller down!
So that’s it. Fifteen games that I think are worth your time this Spring.
There are plenty of fun titles on the horizon, but some of the ones I was most looking forward to – like Kena: Bridge of Spirits – have recently been delayed, prompting me to look at my library and put together this list.
I hope this has inspired you to find something to play over the next few weeks! If not, stay tuned because there will be plenty more gaming-related articles here on the website. Happy gaming!
All titles listed above are the copyright of their respective studio, developer, and/or publisher. Some screenshots and promo artwork courtesy of IGDB. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 