A long-rumored Star Trek spinoff is finally happening: Paramount Plus announced on Thursday that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy would hit the platform in 2024. It’s finally time to watch the teens of the future to juggle homework, hormonal romance, and the Kobayashi Maru.
The new series, created by current franchise mastermind Alex Kurtzman and writer Noga Landau (The CW’s Nancy Drew) will, according to the official news release, “introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”
The announcement comes in the wake of news that Star Trek: Discovery, the flagship show of the CBS All Access/Paramount Plus Trek reboot, will conclude after season 5 in 2024. But based on the announcement from Kurtzman and Landau, Starfleet Academy might keep the 32nd-century Discovery timeline alive, rather than veer the entire franchise back to the more familiar eras of Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Those who kept up with Discovery will recall that in Discovery season 4, fan favorite Lieutenant Tilly (played by Mary Wiseman) accepted a job at a reopened Starfleet Academy — putting her in a perfect position to pop up in the spinoff.
“Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy!” Kurtzman and Landau write in their announcement statement. “For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!”
Kurtzman and Landau will serve as co-showrunners of Starfleet Academy, with Absentia writer Gaia Violo, Discovery producers Aaron Baiers, Trevor Roth, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Strange New Worlds’ Jenny Lumet onboard as executive producers.
There’s no premiere date set for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but Paramount Plus notes that the series will begin production in 2024. Meanwhile, we will continue to root for a Star Trek: Legacy spinoff of Picard.