Starfleet Academy’ EPs Tease Season 2 “Big Concepts,” New Characters, And “Fun” Guest Stars – TrekMovie.com

The first season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy wrapped up last Thursday, and although we have no idea when the second season will premiere, it has already been filmed. We’ve gotten some hints about what to expect in our recent exclusive interviews with a few of the executive producers, but showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau have also spoke to a few other outlets, so we took a look and rounded up some of the most intriguing reveals and fun tidbits for season 2.

Going off campus more in season 2

Much of the first season was grounded on Earth as the show established itself, introducing the reestablished San Francisco campus of Starfleet Academy. Noga Landau confirmed to Collider that season 2 will stretch its space legs more:

Landau: “Yes, for sure. There’s much more strange new world activities and away missions, visits to very cool places. Yep.”

Landau also told TV Insider that next season’s episodes will build on what they did in season 1:

Landau: “There’s some really big concept episodes in season 2 that really invoke Trek at its best that I’m so excited for the audience to watch, because I think something we learned about our audience reception in season 1 is that people really do love these episodes that are sort of close-ended stories that really feel like a complete meal. And that’s really cool because that’s what Trek always did so well in the past. And we continue to really do that in season 2. And I’m excited for people to partake of these really great standalone episodes that we have coming, as well as an amazing serialized story over the course of the season.”

Kerrice Brooks as SAM in season 1, episode 9 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Michael Gibson/Paramount+

Deep dive into Ake and Lanthanites

The showrunners also teased some storylines for the show’s main characters. Alex Kurtzman says fans will learn “a lot more about Nahla, actually” when asked about Holly Hunter’s Captain Nahle Ake and if we’ll get some backstory by TV Insider. He and Landau both followed up on that:

Landau: “We go deep on Nahla in season 2. Also, Holly Hunter in season 2, it’s like an acting [dream].”
Kurtzman: “You might meet some of Nahla’s family members. Yeah, I’m going to leave at that.”
Landau: “Lanthanites are fun. Lanthanites are a fun ride.”

Lanthanites were introduced on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with Carol Kane’s quirky Commander Pelia, but we still know little about the epically long-lived race, so it sounds like season 2 will open up that door.

Holly Hunter as Nahla in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, episode 1, season 1, streaming on Paramount+, 2025. Photo Credit: Brooke Palmer/Paramount+.

Cadets finding a new path

Alex Kurtzman made it clear to Inverse that more can change for all the cadets in their sophomore year:

Kurtzman: “Something we promised in season 1, which is that in our experience and so many people’s experience of going to college, is that you go in thinking you want to do one thing and then you realize you want to do something entirely different, and you’re going to start to see traces of that in Season 2.”

We also got some specifics on a couple of the cadets. The first season of the show closely followed the journey of Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) from prisoner to reluctant cadet to his hero moment in the series finale, but Kurtzman says that is just the start, telling GoldDerby:

Kurtzman: “By the finale, [Caleb’s] got his feet firmly planted at the Academy, but that doesn’t mean he necessarily knows what he wants to do or how he wants to do it. That’s what Season 2 is very much about. What do you do with a future you could never have imagined but is suddenly possible? What parts of yourself do you need to discover in order to fulfill your true potential?”

In the same interview, Noga talked about how Sam’s transformation in season 1 will manifest in season 2:

Landau: “We really get to live in the fun and the complexity of Sam 2.0 in season 2,” Landau revealed. “Season 2 is Sam 2.0’s season and she gets to do things that Sam 1.0 didn’t get to do. For example, Sam 1.0 didn’t have feelings of attraction, because how can you at a couple months old? But in season 2, Sam 2.0 does start to experience feelings of attraction for the first time in her existence.”

L-R, Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag, George Hawkins as Darem Reymi, Kerrice Brooks as Sam, Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe and Sandro Rosta as Caleb Mir in season 1, episode 5 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: John Medland/Paramount+

New characters and guest stars

But it’s not just about our familiar characters. Alex talked to TV Guide about how they plan to “shake things up” in season 2 specifically:

Kurtzman: “You’re going to see the introduction of a character, and some characters, that are really going to shake up our group and send ripples through it that are going to force different kinds of relationships. You’re going to see romances between characters that you didn’t necessarily think were coming.”

And speaking to Collider, Kurtzman hinted at more additions for the next season:

Kurtzman: “We have some really, really fun guest stars in season 2 that haven’t been announced yet. That’s all I’m going to say.”

He didn’t specify if these guests would be new characters or returning legacy stars, like Cirroc Lofton reprising Deep Space Nine‘s  Jake Sisko in season 1.

Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko in season 1, episode 5 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: John Medland/Paramount+

As for who isn’t coming back…

We’ve already reported that Paul Giamatti’s Nus Braka will not be returning in season 2, but Alex Kurtzman confirmed with Collider that Tatiana Maslany’s Anisha Mir won’t be back either; however, he added:

Kurtzman: “Their storylines are not complete. I will say you will not be seeing them in season 2. But we would love nothing more than to bring them back and certainly have plans for that.”

Of course that will depend on if the show gets picked up for a third season, something very much of an open question right now.

L-R: Paul Giamatti as Nus Braka, Tatiana Maslany as Anisha, and Holly Hunter as Captain Nahla Ake in season 1, episode 10, of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: John Medland/Paramount+

Paramount has not yet revealed when we can expect the next season to premiere. Production wrapped up last month in Toronto. It’s a good bet season 2 will drop in early 2027.

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