Director Jonathan Frakes reveals new details about the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Set in the 32nd century, the Paramount+ series follows a new generation of Starfleet cadets as they train at the legendary Academy for the first time in over a century. Unlike previous Trek series, this show will primarily take place on Earth. The cast is a mix of veteran Trek actors and newcomers, with Holly Hunter playing the Academy’s chancellor and Paul Giamatti cast as a recurring villain. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cast also features franchise stars Oded Fehr, Tig Notaro, Robert Picardo, and Mary Wiseman.
During a Star Trek panel hosted by Collider at the Indiana Comic Convention, Frakes confirmed that Starfleet Academy had completed filming and assured that it will resonate with longtime fans. Frakes, who is set to direct several episodes of the series, also revealed that Starfleet Academy has an impressive set design, including a gigantic spaceship. Read what he had to say below:
[Robert] Picardo's in it, Tig Notaro’s in it. [Audience cheers] Right? I love Tig. But it has the most massive set of any Star Trek ever. There's also a spaceship on the show, which I think, I hope that's not a fucking secret. I have been known—I’ve had a bad experience with oversharing, and I hope that wasn't an overshare, but it's fabulous. The sets are great. The scripts are—they're funny, which is always helpful on Star Trek... It’s [aimed at] much more hardcore Star Trek fans.
What This Means For Starfleet Academy
New Faces, Familiar Legends, And Starfleet’s Next Era
Moving away from deep-space exploration for the first time ever, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy centers on a new group of young cadets, including fresh faces George Hawkins (Gassed Up) and Bella Shepard (Wolf Pack), as they train to become the future leaders of Starfleet on Earth. However, some galactic-traveling is bound to happen with a gigantic "spaceship on the show." While details about the story remain scarce, the cadets will likely have to face complex moral dilemmas as they attempt to reunify Starfleet’s utopian ideals amid the political instability of Star Trek's 32nd century.
The Academy is set to become a battleground for major ideological conflicts within the Star Trek universe, and several beloved characters will be returning to uphold Starfleet's continuity in the franchise. Fehr is set to reprise his role as Admiral Charles Vance from Discovery, alongside Discovery alums Notaro as Jett Reno and Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly. In a surprising franchise return, Picardo will once again portray The Doctor, a holographic physician from the 1995 series Star Trek: Voyager.
Although filming wrapped in February 2025, no official release date has been announced. Frakes is directing the upcoming series alongside longtime Star Trek creators Alex Kurtzman and Olatunde Osunsanmi. Frakes, famous for playing William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation, has an extensive directing history within the franchise, including episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and Picard, as well as the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.
Our Take On Starfleet Academy's Fan Fare
A New Frontier For The Franchise
Like every new Trek series since the award-winning 1987 show The Next Generation, Starfleet Academy will likely be met with skepticism from some fans, especially as a spinoff of Discovery, which itself had a divisive reception. No matter its quality, it will take time to win over doubters. However, with the return of franchise veterans in front of and behind the camera, Starfleet Academy may help define the next phase of Star Trek storytelling.
