Star Trek: Starfleet Academy - 4-Year Plan & New Cadets Teased By EP Alex Kurtzman
Star Trek executive producer hints at grander plans and hopes for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Along with being co-showrunner, Kurtzman directed Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's first two episodes, which premiered on Paramount+ as the series is Certifed Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introduces a new cast of young cadets overseen by Chancellor and Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter). Starfleet Academy is, in essence, Star Trek's version of college, with a four-year curriculum before cadets graduate into Starfleet Officers previously hinted at by Alex Kurtzman. At Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's press junket, ScreenRant's Liam Crowley asked Alex Kurtzman, who was joined by executive producer and co-showrunner Noga Landau, to elaborate on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's four-year ambitions. Kurtzman teased "a new class" and "new characters" every year, and the potential for Starfleet Academy to run "forever." Read Alex's quote below: Liam Crowley: Alex, you did say before that there is an ambition to do the classic college experience, a four-season arc for the show. What is the status of that in terms of at least the immediate future with season two? And do you have that four-season structure planned, at least in a general sense?
Alex Kurtzman: I think we have it planned in a general sense, but you always want to leave yourself a room to be surprised. And one of the great delights of the writer's room is that the first month or two, you're kind of blue-skying things. You want to leave things as open as possible. I think it's always good to know where you want to end a season and then work backwards from there because everything organizes itself around what is hopefully a satisfying conclusion or a good cliffhanger.
As far as the longevity of the show, I think what's so great is that you're going to have a new class every year. So you're going to have new characters entering into the show every year, which means the show could go on forever, not just with the characters you meet now and following them in the first four years, but also seeing what happens to them out in the field once they actually deploy. And then you have a whole bunch of new cadets coming in all the time.
Paramount+ ordered Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 while season 1 was in production, and Alex Kurtzman said that filming of season 2 will be completed in February. Kurtzman's comments indicate that Starfleet Academy season 2 may see an influx of new characters to join the existing class of cadets. Alex Kurtzman has publicly stated his hopes beyond Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 2 for the series to complete a four-year arc and allow the cadets to graduate. Alex says there's "a general sense" of a four-year plan for Starfleet Academy, but ordering more seasons is dependent on the show's performance on Paramount+ and Paramount Skydance's unknown plans for Star Trek.
Alex Kurtzman and Secret Hideout have overseen Star Trek on Paramount+'s content since Star Trek: Discovery launched in 2017. Kurtzman's contract as Star Trek head honcho reportedly runs until the end of 2026. Paramount+ ordered and banked two seasons of Starfleet Academy and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to ensure new Star Trek content in 2026 and 2027. Star Trek is in a strange state of flux, and Paramount Skydance could choose to move in a new direction and bring Alex Kurtzman's era of Star Trek to a close in 2026. Kurtzman could also re-up his contract and continue running Star Trek on Paramount+.
Meanwhile, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy arrives with positive reviews, and it's possible that more seasons could be ordered to give the show a full four-year college experience, with Alex Kurtzman staying on to executive produce the show even if he no longer runs all of Star Trek on Paramount+. Watch ScreenRant's interview with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's showrunners below:
Release Date
January 15, 2026
Network
Paramount+
Showrunner
Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau
Directors
Alex Kurtzman
Writers
Gaia Violo, Gene Roddenberry
