Alex Kurtzman Explains Why Starfleet Academy Isn’t Set Post-‘Picard,’ Hints More Star Trek TV Is In Development
One of the key choices for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the time period in which it takes place. The upcoming series could have been set after the events of Star Trek: Picard, which had already seen connections to elements (and characters) from the popular 24th century shows Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Instead, Academy is set in the far future, after the events of Star Trek: Discovery. Now executive producer Alex Kurtzman is explaining how the 32nd century makes the show more relevant for today’s audiences—and hinting he has more Star Trek TV in development.
Why SFA isn’t during Federation’s “halcyon days”
A key story point on Star Trek: Discovery happened when the series jumped into the 32nd century in its 3rd season to find the Federation and Starfleet decimated following the galactic catastrophe known as “The Burn.” Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery helped bring an end to “The Burn,” setting up a new era for Starfleet Academy to take place in. In a new cover story for SFX Magazine, Alex Kurtzman sets the stage: “The new show synchronizes with the first two years of Starfleet returning to its full form.”
Co-showrunner Noga Landau explains how the setting is so important for the show’s cadet characters:
“Because of the Burn, they didn’t grow up during a time of abundance, of peace, of stability. Instead it was a time of desperation for a lot of people, so we have characters who grew up in refugee camps, or who grew up on Starfleet ships but have never set foot on a planet. We also have a character who basically grew up as a prince on a planet that had a rare supply of dilithium. They reflect the array of global experiences of young folks, in a way that I think is really important for the audience.”
Kurtzman follows this up, explaining why this era was a key to making the new show work with a modern audience:
“Star Trek has always been a mirror that reflects the moment in which each series is made. The Federation is actually trying to return to its roots and embrace its core tenets, but the moment we’re meeting right now is a world of kids who are inheriting a lot of damage and a lot of chaos, and it’s up to them to figure out how they’re going to make a brighter future out of it. So it felt to us that if you were to put Starfleet Academy in the halcyon days of the Federation, it would be a lovely fantasy, but it wouldn’t really reflect what kids are going through now. It felt very topical and very relevant to put it in the 32nd century.”
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+ / photo credit: John Medland/Paramount+
Landau noted how the far-in-the-future setting will not ignore Star Trek’s past:
“What’s exciting is that we get to forge ahead in the canon. We’ve never gone this far into the future before in Star Trek as a franchise, so it really allows us to imagine and create. Also, it gives us the opportunity to look back on almost 1,000 years of Star Trek history and celebrate it and peel it back.”
Noga also noted the “characters on our show who existed in the early centuries of Starfleet,” referring to Discovery’s Commander Reno (Tig Notaro) and Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), who both jumped forward in time from the 23rd century, and Voyager’s Robert Picardo holographic Doctor, whose program has been running since his time on the USS Voyager in the 24th century.
If you want to know more about the setting of the new series, check out our breakdown from last week: ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ Orientation: The State Of The Galaxy And The Rebuilding Of The Federation.
L-R: Gina Yashere as Lura Throk and Tig Notaro as Jett Reno in season 1 , episode 3 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: John Medland/Paramount+
January’s debut of Starfleet Academy will be the seventh Trek series Alex Kurtzman has launched. Since the debut of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, he has overseeing the franchise on television, delivering Star Trek: Short Treks, Lower Decks, Picard, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds. He teased to SFX that he has more in mind:
“There’s quite a few exciting things in the works right now, but I’m not going to say more than that!”
The SFX article noted Kurtzman was “tight-lipped about future projects,” adding that the interview was done before the announcement that Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley are developing a new Star Trek film.
L-R: Tig Notaro as Jett Reno, Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir and Romeo Carere as Ocam in season 1 , episode 8 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+
Kurtzman also reiterated his vision for different Trek shows:
“My philosophy has always been that each show needs to be its own unique color in the same rainbow. They all need to tell their own unique story. I don’t believe that it’s really possible to create a one-size-fits-all Star Trek show. We’ve discovered, for example, that there’s a whole audience of younger kids who’ve found Star Trek through Lower Decks, and that’s led them to the other shows and movies. The goal, over time, is you have to plan different shows for different people, with the assumption they’re all a gateway drug in some way! That’s a really nice thing, because it makes Trek a limitless story engine.”
The second season of Starfleet Academy should wrap up production soon; the fifth and final season of Strange New Worlds has already finished production. This year’s Skydance takeover of Paramount plus their hoped-for takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which would merge HBO Max with Paramount+, means the future of Trek TV is an open question.
New issue of SFX Magazine
15 days away
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is right around the corner. The two-episode series premiere arrives on Paramount+ on Thursday, January 15, 2026. Its first season will run for ten episodes.
Here is the show’s official synopsis:
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces viewers 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 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.
Here is the NYCC trailer.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
