5 things we learned about the future of Star Trek (NYCC)

Rarely has there been a period that has had more “Star Trek” movies than we have now, and the timing couldn’t be better. Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the iconic sci-fi series, which represents a rare benchmark that most other properties can’t even begin to compete with. Those responsible for Trek’s future are well aware of the responsibility they bear. That would be Alex Kurtzman, the man who has his fingers in almost every pie currently produced, along with notables Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers. All three made the trip (see what I did there?) along with several cast members at this year’s ongoing New York Comic Con for a panel that, quite frankly, probably rivaled Marvel’s TV and Animation event in terms of hype and attendance.

Of all the topics discussed, the cast and crew focused on two upcoming shows scheduled for release in 2026: Season 4 of “Strange New Worlds” and the upcoming series “Strange New Worlds.”Starfleet Academy“Both series feel like opposite ends of the ‘Trek’ spectrum. One takes place almost simultaneously with the timeline of ‘The Original Series,’ the series that started it all. The other, meanwhile, is set in the deepest recesses of the distant future — an era and a frontier we’ve never seen explored before. As we await further developments in Movies (eg The prequel was officially announced last year) and other broadcast expansions (such as “First year“Fans of the series have been begging for them. We have these two to keep us busy in the meantime.”

The future of “Trek” looks as bright as ever, so here are some of the most exciting discoveries in New York City.

in many ways, Season 3 of Strange New Worlds It felt like the most ambitious yet; So, naturally, the entire creative team wanted to up the ante even more. This doesn’t mean they were handing out details about what they have up their sleeves, mind you. In fact, lead actors Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding, Martin Quinn, and Melissa Navia had just gotten off the plane after flying straight off the set of Season 5, which contributed to a bit of tension between the cast due to them attending a promotional event for the already completed Season 4. (In a funny clip, producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers looked like their wires had been crossed a bit with Seasons 3, 4, and 5, respectively. A refresher back and forth ensued, with the pair finally getting to the bottom of this Season 3 ended with the conclusion of the Vezda story significantly.)

But it’s the details He could Remember (and they were actually willing to participate), one in particular was focusing on their overall approach to Season 4. According to Goldsman, “We wanted to go bankrupt. We really wanted to not leave anything behind, but say, ‘Go every day like this is the last time you’re going to do this. If so, what do you want to do? Let’s do it.'” Peck chimed in with some vague teasing about continuing to build the bond between Spock and Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk, leading to these “pilot years” incarnation of the pointy-eared Vulcan.

There’s plenty of exploration to come with the next batch of episodes, though a release date has yet to be announced. You can watch the first officially released trailer for Season 4 here:

For a franchise that has always seemed to exist in the past, present and future, it was only appropriate that part of the panel focused on looking at the third season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” before shifting focus to season four. While achieving a well-deserved victory in the episodes that completed airing last September, star Celia Rose Gooding was asked about exploring a whole new side of Uhura’s previously established character. One important subplot focused on her romance with Lieutenant Erica Ortigas’ (Melissa Navia) younger brother, Minor Lukin’s Beto Ortigas. As it turns out, this was a story Gooding specifically requested from the writers. As she explained:

“Uhura is affectionately known as the heart of the Enterprise or the voice of the Enterprise, and I think that was very important to me after the first two seasons where she was dealing with a lot of grief and insecurity and a real lack of foundation that she felt for herself (…) I really wanted to show a more special side of herself, which was her heart, her curiosity, her playfulness, her flirtatiousness. Nichelle Nichols was such a strange fox, and this Something very important for fans to see – bits and pieces of the version of her that will then grow in ‘Strange New Worlds’ ‘Uhura, in my Uhura.’

Of course, this romance comes with the knowledge that Uhura will still be aboard the USS Enterprise once Captain Kirk takes command in the coming years, and “The Original Series” clearly didn’t feature Beto as a love interest. However, Gooding embraced this. “The advantages of playing a heritage character is that we know who she is going to become,” she said. “But the funny thing is that we have to do, as the person playing it and the people who built it, we have to decide how it gets there.” Expect Season 4 to delve into this dynamic further.

As for the future of “Star Trek,” well, it doesn’t look any more futuristic than the 32nd century, almost Thousands of years After the events of “Strange New Worlds”. How’s that for a new frontier? But while much remains unexpected and unfamiliar, from the cast to the setting to the story’s main villain (Paul Giamatti), there will at least be some friendly faces to keep us from floating away in zero gravity. The upcoming series, led by co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, focuses on a group of cadets — First Order, in fact, to see if they have what it takes to join Starfleet following the events of the final season of “Discovery.” According to Landau, “It picks up where Discovery left off, and they reopen Starfleet Academy. You’ll see some familiar faces because of that.” Kurtzman went on to describe how the new cast brings a different flavor to “Trek” than we’ve seen on any show before:

“I think what we love about this show is that, in no other Star Trek show, you meet the bridge crew and they are fully human beings who have chosen what they want to do with their lives. These are characters who are still figuring out who they are and what they want to do. It’s a very interesting way to tell a new kind of Star Trek story that feels really new and fresh, but also very familiar.”

Based on the new trailer shown to attendees and then released online, the creative team has accomplished all this and more.

“Starfleet Academy” features a real ensemble, telling an expanded story with a full cast of characters to help flesh out the world of the show. Big names participating are limited to Holly Hunter as Captain/Counselor Nahla Ackiea character who appears to be over 400 years old, and Paul Giamatti as the half-Klingon, half-Tellarit antagonist Nos Braca. Of course, “Discovery” fans can look forward to the return of characters like Sylvia Tilly (Mary Weisman) and Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), while “Voyager” fans will be able to enjoy the long-awaited return of Robert Picardo as the stubborn anthropomorphic doctor. But what about the main stars of the show?

The different students that we will eventually follow will give this series a more youthful and vibrant feel, mainly through the lens of main character Caleb Mair. This recruit is played by Sandro Rosta, and he doesn’t actually want to have anything to do with Starfleet at all. As a child, he apparently had fights with both Nahla Aki and Nos Braka which left him scarred. Left alone for 15 years before Nahla is able to track him down and bring him to Starfleet, this begins a journey of revenge and (hopefully) a learning curve to living out Starfleet’s ideals. He will be surrounded by many students from all kinds of walks of life: George Hawkins as Darim Remi, the wild card of the group who views his classmates as tools for him to use on his journey to the top; Karim Diane as a Klingon college student named Jay Dean Krag; and Kerrice Brooks’ SAM (Series Acclimation Mil), which is described as “a newborn hologram and the first of its kind to be recorded in Starfleet.”

Oh, and we’d be remiss to point out a special casting announced at the end of the panel: none other than Stephen Colbert as the voice of the digital Dean of Students.

Those who have been paying close attention to the footage we’ve seen from “Starfleet Academy” may have noticed some strange details. Although the events are ostensibly set in a single academy, they often seem to take the characters all over the galaxy. The new show’s premise about Starfleet cadets learning the ropes can’t help but bring to mind something like “Deep Space 9,” the first show in the franchise that decided (controversially) to set the main story on a space station rather than a starship. But, at the same time, this series seems to have the same sequences that we expect from any other series, taking our heroes to the stars again and again. So what gives?

As it turns out, “Starfleet Academy” gets the best of both worlds. Alex Kurtzman explained the unprecedented decision to convert the school into a ship:

“When you think of a Star Trek show, you think of a crew going into space. And I think part of the question that a lot of people have wrestled with long before our time on Star Trek is, how do you do a show in the classroom all the time?” And so, we thought, well, if you make the ship a teaching hospital where you have to go out into the field and learn in the field and dock in San Francisco, you’ll get the best of both worlds. “So, the ship is actually part of Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, which is then deployed into space for solo missions.”

“Starfleet Academy” airs on Paramount+ on January 15, 2026.