The Star Trek franchise is looking to add another show to its roster, as reports land that a ‘Starfleet Academy’ is under development at Paramount+.
According to Deadline, who broke the news, the series, as you would expect, “is set among the college of cadets mentored for leadership roles in the United Federation of Planets space force.” Gaia Violo, co-creator of Stana Katic-led drama ‘Absentia’, is currently attached to work on the project.
This isn’t the first time a ‘Starfleet Academy’ series has been rumoured to be in development. Back in 2018, it was reported Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the duo behind ‘Marvel’s Runaways’, ‘The OC’, and ‘Gossip Girl’, were taking a stab at developing a series, but it sounds like that version has been dropped. The series also shares a name with the 1990s video game, which saw William Shatner reprise his role as Captain Kirk, along with George Takei as Captain Sulu and Walter Koenig as Commander Chekov, guiding the new recruits.
Where this new take on ‘Starfleet Academy’ would sit in the timeline is anyone’s guess, but there are a number of possibilities. It could be connected to the “future” ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, which would make some sense, given (*minor spoilers for the current season*) Tilly took a role as an instructor as they rebuild the Federation. You could also set it back in the pre-TOS timeline where the upcoming series ‘Strange New Worlds’ sits, which would give you the possibility of having a young Kirk in the lead. Or there is also the ‘Picard’ time period, which could allow you to bring in a number of the ‘Next Generation’ cast as instructors. Any of these options have potential.
Wherever this series is set, it’s likely to be a while before it drops. “We have to think several years out,” commented Star Trek boss Alex Kurtzman at a recent TCA panel. “We’re thinking about knowing we’ll want new shows on the air two or three years from now so we have to start planning those now. There’s a bunch of things in development now that are starting to take shape and we’re super excited about it.”
The one other series we know about which is currently MIA is ‘Section 31’, the spin-off from ‘Discovery’ led by Michelle Yeoh. Whilst there is no sign of that landing immediately, the long-gestating show is believed to be the next up on the docket, and they are hopeful they can announce an official pick-up soon.
In the meantime, we have ‘Star Trek: Picard‘ Season 2 landing Friday, 4th March 2022 on Prime Video UK, followed by ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ returning for Season 4, part 2, on Friday, 11 February 2022 via Pluto.tv in the UK. Following that, ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ lands Thursday, 5th May 2022 on Paramount+ (which should have launched in the UK by then), and ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ arriving in Summer 2022.
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