In recent years, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The idea of Starfleet Academy has been around since Star Trek: The Original Series. After Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, producer Harve Bennett planned a movie about a young James T. Kirk and Spock at Starfleet Academy referred to as Star Trek: The Academy Years or Star Trek: The First Adventure before it was scrapped in favor of making Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) attended Starfleet Academy and the USS Enterprise-D visited him after a flight accident resulted in a student's death. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager both regularly mentioned the Academy, as Starfleet officers referenced their time there. Considering how important Starfleet Academy has become within Trek lore, it is odd that Star Trek has not already made a television series or film dedicated to it. However, Star Trek on Paramount+ series have been gradually laying the foundation for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek’s iral Picard & Janeway Set Up Starfleet Academy Years Before Paramount Plus’ New Show

Recent Star Trek Shows Have Highlighted The Importance Of Starfleet Academy

After the events of Star Trek: Picard season 1, iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) returned to Starfleet and was appointed as Chancellor of Starfleet Academy. At the beginning of Star Trek: Picard season 2, Jean-Luc delivered a welcoming address to the newest class of cadets in 2401. In his speech, which foreshadows Jean-Luc's Picard season 2 journey, Picard points out that Elnor (Evan Evagora) is the first full-blooded Romulan to attend the Academy. Holly Hunter portrays the Chancellor of Starfleet Academy in the Starfleet Academy series, but this role could have changed significantly between the 25th century and the 32nd.

In Star Trek: Prodigy, iral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) took the teenage crew of the USS Protostar under her wing, helping them gain ittance into Starfleet Academy. Despite their unconventional introduction, Janeway saw the potential in the Protostar kids and convinced a Starfleet tribunal to drop any pending criminal charges against them after Prodigy season 1. Dal R'El (Brett Gray) and his friends then served as Janeway's warrant officers-in-training aboard the USS Voyager-A. Janeway and Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) later granted the Protostar kids field commissions and assigned them to the USS Prodigy.

Star Trek: Discovery Directly Set Up Starfleet Academy As A Spinoff

The Crew Of Discovery Helped The 32nd-Century Starfleet Academy Reopen

The USS Discovery arrived in the 32nd century at the start of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, sending the series further into the future than any Star Trek had gone before where Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her crew found a decimated Federation and an almost non-existent Starfleet. Throughout Discovery's third season, Burnham and Discovery's crew helped the Federation rebuild and reconnect with Starfleet. Thanks largely to the actions of Discovery's crew, Starfleet Academy reopened in 3190, after being closed for 125 years following the Burn.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) led a group of Starfleet cadets in a team-building exercise, after which she became an instructor at Starfleet Academy. Although Discovery did not follow Tilly's Academy teaching journey, Mary Wiseman has already been tapped to reprise her role in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. With Starfleet still recovering from the Burn, Starfleet Academy will follow a new class of cadets as they navigate becoming adults and face a new enemy that threatens the Federation. The Discovery series finale provided a direct set-up for Starfleet Academy, jumping ever further into the future to show that the Academy continues to thrive.

Why Starfleet Academy Is So Important To Star Trek’s Future

Starfleet Academy Is The Only Current Show Set In Star Trek's Future

Star Trek: Discovery originally began as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series and made some complicated connections to established Trek canon. Discovery's jump to the 32nd century gave the series a chance to tell new stories in an entirely new setting, introduce new characters, and make its own canon. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will follow in Discovery's footsteps, building on Star Trek's entire history while forging into uncharted territory. As most of Star Trek's other current projects are set during the franchise's past, Starfleet Academy's ​​​​​​far-future setting makes it unique and exciting.

With its Starfleet Academy setting, Star Trek's newest show feels long overdue, and its 32nd-century setting will allow it to look back on the entire Trek franchise. Most of Star Trek's most famous characters went to Starfleet Academy, but few Trek projects have explored life at the Academy, setting up the Discovery spin-off to be something truly special. Although this iteration of the Academy just reopened, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will hopefully find ways to honor the long history of Star Trek's most well-known educational institution.