Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Honors Franchise Legacy In New Series

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy understands that the greatest strength of Paramount+'s new series is Star Trek's storied legacy. Executive produced by Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres with two episodes on January 15 on Paramount+.

Star Trek fans reacted with trepidation when Paramount+ released a key art poster of Starfleet Academy's young cast lying on grass together. This promo image stoked Trekkers' fears that Starfleet Academy would be Star Trek's version of a teen soap opera like Beverly Hills, 90210.

Paramount+'s next Star Trek: Starfleet Academy poster, a more traditional image of the cadets striding in uniform alongside Captain Nahla Ake (Academy Award winner Holly Hunter), Starfleet Academy's Chancellor, was more well-received. This key art more strongly conveyed that Starfleet Academy is, indeed, Star Trek.

Ahead of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's world premiere in New York City, Paramount+ dropped a new trailer titled 'Carry the Legacy and Create the Future' what powerfully evokes Star Trek's incredible history, with inspirational quotes from Star Trek's greatest Captains. Watch the new trailer below:

Starfleet Academy Shows How It Leans Into Star Trek’s Legacy

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy benefits from being set in the late 32nd century after the end of Star Trek: Discovery. As a direct spinoff of Discovery, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cadets are the first class to study on Earth in 120 years, after the United Federation of Planets broke apart because of The Burn.

Paramount+'s newest Star Trek: Starfleet Academy trailer leans into Star Trek's history, with Captain Nahla Ake joining Starfleet's legacy of Captains to inspire the next generation of cadets. The Captains quoted in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's trailer are a who's who of the finest legends who commanded starships and space stations.

• “A few courageous people realized they could make a difference.” - Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), Star Trek: Enterprise
• “Not to conquer you with weapons, but to coexist and learn.” - Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” - Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• “Risk is our business! That’s what the starship is all about.” - Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Star Trek: The Original Series
• “The true test of a warrior is not without. It is within!” - Worf (Michael Dorn), Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• “In life, we can only look forward. We have to be torchbearers.” - Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Star Trek: Discovery
• “We have no idea of the dangers we’re going to face.” - Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Star Trek: Voyager
• “But I’m here to remind you of the power of possibility.” - Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• “The past is written. But the future is left for us to write.” - Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Star Trek: The Next Generation
• “Whatever challenges came before today led you to this moment. And now you decide if they define you” - Captain Nahla Ake

In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's late 32nd century, the now-resurgent Federation brings Starfleet Academy back to its original home in San Francisco, with the USS Athena starship doubling as Starfleet Academy's campus, allowing the cadets to learn on the job in outer space adventures.

From the James T. Kirk Pavilion in the USS Athena to The Doctor (Robert Picardo) from Star Trek: Voyager serving as an instructor, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is steeped in genuflection of Star Trek's past. Indeed, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is even rumored to answer longtime questions about what happened to Captain Sisko after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Starfleet Academy Creates New Heroes For Star Trek’s Future

With a thousand years between the pioneering voyages of Captain Jonathan Archer's NX-01 Enterprise and the launch of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's USS Athena, the new series' cadets have numerous shining examples of duty and valor to inspire them to become their best selves and Starfleet's next heroes.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's young cast already want to be the best of the best, from Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard), the daughter of a Starfleet Admiral, wanting to become a Captain, to SAM (Kerrice Brooks), a photonic lifeform, poised to learn about humanity from her fellow hologram, The Doctor.

Another new Star Trek: Starfleet Academy character is Tarima Sadal, the psychic daughter of the President of Betazed, who has a romance with human cadet Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) that evokes Star Trek's greatest love story between Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).

In addition, cadet Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diané) is the first full-blooded Klingon to be a main character in a Star Trek series since Worf, while Commander Lura Thok (Gina Yashere) and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1's villain, Nus Braka (Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti), are Klingon hybrids.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy hinges on the cadets, as the best young hopefuls the 32nd century has to offer. While Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is young adult-oriented, which brings a new perspective to Star Trek, the legacy of Starfleet's iconic heroes, from Kirk, to Picard, to Burnham, to Pike, is the greatest advantage Star Trek: Starfleet Academy knowingly benefits from and honors.