‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ series is Go: Probable Discovery Spinoff

March 31, 2023

A “Starfleet Academy” series was always rumored in the late ’90s/early 2000s, but now it’s finally happening with co-showrunners Alex Kurtzmann and Noga Landau.

He wants Starfleet you!

You’ll be hearing that, or whatever the alliance’s recruiting slogan is for the next few years, as Paramount+ has given a series order to a new live-action show, “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” the streamer announced. today just two days after we confirmed multi-season orders for ‘Strange New Worlds’ and ‘Lower Decks’.

Paramount+ won’t confirm that’s the case, but the “Starfleet Academy” series is likely a spinoff of “Star Trek: Discovery,” which will conclude with its fifth and final season in early 2024. So the speculation is that the show will take place in the 32nd century timeline. The Season 4 plotline of “Discovery,” in which Mary Wiseman’s ensign Tilly served as a field instructor for a group of Academy cadets before leaving the show entirely to remain their teacher, feels like a backdoor pilot.

However, Paramount+ does not advertise casting for the series. And he’s generally cryptic about the show, as confirmed by franchise supervisor Alex Kurtzman’s in-universe statement — he’ll be co-starring with Nancy Drew EP Noga Landau, and the premiere episode will be written by Gaia Violo.

“Admission to the Starfleet Academy is now open! Explore the galaxy! Control your destiny!” Kurtzman began his statement. “For the first time in more than a century, we are re-opening our campus to welcome individuals of at least 16 years of earthly life (or racial equivalent) who dream of transcending their physical, mental and spiritual limitations, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor . and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The courses will be rigorous, the faculty will be some of the brightest lights in their field, and the people admitted will live and study with the most diverse students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join the new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps towards creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!”

Lots of reading on tea leaves to do here! The fact that the famous Starfleet Academy campus in the “Trek” storyline in San Francisco has been closed for “more than a century” makes it seem like the series will take place in the “Discovery” timeline, even after the show ends. or coincide with season 5 in some way. Again, this is speculation and Paramount+ won’t confirm it, but it’s a likely connection of the dots.

The Academy closed for more than a century following a cataclysm called “The Burn”, which limited chain drive across much of the galaxy and caused the Federation to disintegrate until only a small rump nation remained – Earth itself breaking away and becoming independent. planetary government. So it wasn’t the home of the Starfleet Academy for a long time.

Then, in the season 4 finale, the president of United Earth, played by Stacey Abrams, promised that our planet would rejoin the Federation. And so presumably the Academy will now reopen!

The 32nd-century location was a previously unexplored part of the “Trek” timeline until “Discovery” seasons 3 and 4, and was still largely “fresh snow” waiting to be explored, as Kurtzman told IndieWire in late 2020. so many extraordinary new possibilities and story possibilities that it feels like an endless well,” he said. “Now we’re also separate from the pre-existing canon, which means we get to write the future of ‘Star Trek’ on this show, and it’s completely fresh.” It’s hard to imagine Kurtzman leaving this blank slate to write any time soon.

Episodes of “Discovery” Season 4, which aired in December 2021, focused on a group of Academy cadets (pictured above), still primarily based in the mobile space station of Starfleet headquarters in deep space, mentored by Ensign Tilly, and getting into a bit of danger. They’re a diverse group, including a green-skinned Orion and a Nausicaa, two alien species not usually depicted as living in Starfleet—reflecting how much more accommodating Starfleet can be at this time.

In addition to co-showrunners Kurtzman and Landau, Violo will also executive produce alongside Aaron Baiers, Jenny Lumet, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa and John Weber.

It should be noted that the “Starfleet Academy” series is something that fans have been hoping for – literally for decades. Just such a series was rumored in the late ’90s and early 2000s when Rick Berman oversaw the “Trek” TV franchise. If you were a subscriber to the glossy, perfectly bound “Star Trek: The Magazine” (RIP), you would have been dazzled by such an opportunity. There was an episode on the Academy with Wil Wheaton’s Wesley Crusher in “The Next Generation”. And there was even a PC game called “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” that was set in the time of Kirk and Spock and featured new footage of William Shatner’s character that was shot for the game.

Now the dream of the “Starfleet Academy” series is finally coming true.

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