What should Star Trek fans expect from the upcoming new series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy? In the words of one star from the show, it will be a “hormonal” experience. Kerrice Brooks was cast in Starfleet Academy as one of the main cadets featured in the series (exact character names and bios are still being kept under wraps), and she was recently interviewed by Trek Movie alongside her fellow co-star and cadet, Bella Shepard. The first question posed was, ‘What is Starfleet Academy about, exactly?’ While Shepard called the show a “New, exciting” take on Star Trek, Brooks had a decidedly more distinct take on it:
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“Hormonal [laughs]… I say hormonal because we’re young and we’re figuring it out, as we are in real life. Definitely on the show, we’re figuring it out.”
While that answer may seem rather cheeky on the surface, it also indicates an actual new angle for a Star Trek TV series. The onscreen franchise is overwhelmingly focused on established officers in Starfleet exploring the galaxy or securing some of the Federation’s key assets or regions (Deep Space Nine). Star Trek content got more diversified on streaming with satirical adventures by C and D-rank officers (Lower Decks), or young kids caught up in cosmic adventure (Prodigy). However, examining the process of schooling and training in Starfleet, and all the young adult angst that must come with it, is fertile new ground. It’s also very timely as a generation of fans are in a similar age gap, facing similarly daunting life choices in a challenging world.
[RELATED: Starfleet Academy Will Be For “Hardcore Fans”]
Starfleet Academy will be picking up the reigns of Star Trek: Discovery, which saw a Starfleet crew of Captain Kirk and Spock’s era end up in the far-future of the 32nd Century, where they helped a galaxy crippled by warp technology failure back from the brink of collapse. The series ended with Starfleet getting itself back into full swing, including the re-opening of Starfleet Academy, after a century. In that context, going into Starfleet when it is such a big unknown, and having different species coming together in a galaxy that was knocked back to a pre-warp era, presents obvious and instantly intriguing new circumstances for a Star Trek story.
Will Starfleet Academy Be YA Star Trek?
Of course, it could make some fans worry that Starfleet Academy is going to be more of a CW product than a Star Trek Universe, but Brooks and Shepard challenge that notion.
“To be honest, it doesn’t feel super YA. I don’t think things are like simplified or spoon-fed,” Brooks said. She went on to add that, “Just like life brings you to a level, that’s what the show feels like it’s doing to the cadets. It feels like it is bringing us to a level instead of coming down to a YA, not that it’s a negative thing. But instead of coming to us, we’re like joining a Federation, so we’ve got to come up.”
“We’re just young adults going through some real sh**… oh sorry [laughs] Real stuff,” Bella Shepard added. “We have no idea where we’re going. We kind of figure things out as our characters figure things out. We have no idea where our characters are going.”
Brooks brings some early hopes for fans, teasing not only intriguing arcs for Starfleet Academy Season 1 but exciting character growth in Season 2. “I’m excited to see where our characters go, because of how we ended this past season, and how we come back. What does that look like for each person because we all end in very distinct places, for sure.”
The cast list for Starfleet Academy includes Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Zoë Steiner, Kerrice Brooks (My Old Ass), Bella Shepard (Wolf Pack), and George Hawkins (Tell Me Everything), all play cadets at Starfleet Academy. They join previously announced cast members Holly Hunter, playing a Starfleet captain and current chancellor of Starfleet Academy, Robert Picardo returning as a digital version of his Voyager character, the Doctor, and Paul Giamatti, playing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1’s villain.
Starfleet Academy has wrapped production. It is expected to premiere on Paramount+ in 2026.
