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Paramount+ has officially announced that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will premiere its first two episodes on January 15, 2026, inviting the audience to a new chapter in the iconic sci-fi franchise.
The plot of the series, set in the 32nd century, will be based on the first new group of Starfleet cadets in over a hundred years. These young people will grow up and undergo training to be Starfleet officers. The following episodes will be released weekly until the season finale on March 12, 2026.
This information was disclosed at the Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con, where Paramount+ not only presented a new trailer but also revealed significant casting details.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy 2026 premiere: Details and insights
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be available on Paramount+ with a two-episode premiere on January 15, 2026, followed by weekly releases till March 12, 2026, as reported by Variety.
The choice of the early 2026 premiere aligns with Paramount+'s overall plan of positioning its streaming service with star franchises and considerable original content. The announcement was made at the New York Comic Con Star Trek Universe panel, which also featured interviews with film and production crew members, as well as the trailer's release.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will have Stephen Colbert as the voice of the Academy's Digital Dean of Students, making daily announcements and serving as a mentor for the novices. Making a virtual appearance at the event, he was quoted by Deadline as saying:
“Folks, I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you in person today. But I’m a perfectionist, and I just didn’t have enough bunting for my Mugato cosplay. However, nothing could stop me from sharing this exciting news: I’m honored to announce that my beautiful voice will be joining Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as the Digital Dean of Students.”
Holly Hunter will portray Captain Nahla Ake, who is the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy and the commanding officer of USS Athena. Paul Giamatti will appear as the enigmatic Nus Braka, who will have a powerful hold over the young students.
The entire cast bristles with the new faces and talents like Sandro Rosta (Caleb Mir), Karim Diané (Jay-Den Kraag, the Klingon cadet), Kerrice Brooks (Sam), George Hawkins (Darem Reymi), and Bella Shepard (Genesis Lythe). One of them, Zoë Steiner’s Betazoid character, Tarima Sadal, is likely to carry on the Star Trek tradition of revealing the telepathic races and the diversity of Starfleet.
Among the series's features, one stands out: its dual emphasis on the campus and the starship settings, a move aimed to attract many viewers. The cadets are on board the USS Athena for training and study. It is a starship that, in addition to being stationed at Starfleet Academy's San Francisco campus, also goes on missions with the fleet. This is the first time such a concept has appeared in the franchise.
The Athena, equipped with the programmable matter technology, showcases fantastic elements of the future presented in Star Trek: Discovery’s 32nd-century time frame arc.
The very first trailer, released at New York Comic Con, introduces the main group of cadets along with sneak peeks of the conflicts, such as Nus Braka’s kidnapping of Caleb Mir’s mother and Captain Ake’s long search for the boy, covering a period of over ten years.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will delve into themes of obligation, commitment, moral values, and the enduring philosophy of Starfleet. It will also bring forth the visual and narrative cues from the past Star Trek lore, including passing through the legendary San Francisco tree and mentioning Captain Benjamin Sisko, along with other mythical warriors.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has already been greenlit for a second season. It is now viewed as a multi-season story arc that would eventually make the franchise’s presence on Paramount+ more secure. To support the concept, fans can now visit the recently opened StarfleetAcademy.com, an interactive platform that not only provides additional content on campus life, curriculum, and faculty but also characterizes them through the director’s ways of storytelling.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: What we know so far?
The story of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will take place many years after the Star Trek: Discovery timeline, set in times when the United Federation of Planets was still recovering from one of the biggest disasters in its history. The phenomenon dubbed "The Burn" that almost wiped out interstellar travel and left worlds in the galaxy pretty much isolated.
The Academy is reestablishing its long-standing tradition that has been dormant for more than a century and is therefore ready to receive a new batch of students who will not only learn to adopt Starfleet’s principles but also be prepared for the challenges brought about by a completely different universe.
At the heart of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are the five core cadets: Caleb Mir, Jay-Den Kraag, Darem Reymi, Sam, and Genesis Lythe, each from a different race or culture, thus highlighting Star Trek’s tradition of representation and the message of hope and optimism.
The freshest member of the group, Caleb Mir, is a boy whose main focus is to track down his mother, who has been abducted, which is a subplot that connects to the mysterious Nus Braka. There are plenty of themes, such as friendship, rivalry, love, and self-discovery, as the cadets deal with difficult courses, simulated and real-life missions, physical tests, and moral dilemmas.
The Academy’s curriculum includes subjects such as science, engineering, command training, and history, where references are made to key characters as Captain Benjamin Sisko, real-world field exercises on the USS Athena, and so on.
Captain Nahla Ake, who is now known to be of half-Lanthanite (an advanced species that is also a part of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) origin, gives a very different view on the matter of leadership and space collaboration. The plot will display personal dramas (characters are bonding, triggering, and confronting traumas, defying authority, etc.) alongside the ensuing major political and scientific changes in the post-Burn galaxy of the 32nd century.
Among the recurring motifs are the Starfleet values of honor, service, and integrity, as well as the rituals and traditions that include letterman jackets, social gatherings, and interspecies friendships. Cutting-edge Star Trek technology, new alien species, references to Trek history, and the show’s signature mix of optimism and moral complexity are all things that the fans can look forward to.
Speaking to Collider earlier, Alex Kurtzman explained:
“...in the 32nd century, you’re dealing with a post-Burn world where trust in government has broken down. Where the Federation is rebuilding. Where people are divided. Where there’s all these major issues. And in Discovery, the ship came and started bringing the Federation back together again. And now our kids are the first class back in over 120 years.”
Kurtzman added:
“And so you have a generation of kids who are facing the mistakes of their elders or the issues that have been handed down to them by their elders, and are now having to deal with it. And it felt like a very relevant topic. As a father, I see what my son is going through as he’s about to go off into the world, and it felt very much like what our cadets are going through.”
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