Summary
Starfleet Academywon’t be a meandering feel-good follow-up to the cataclysmic storyline that birthed it, as the show’s villain has already been cast, and it doesn’t sound like he’ll be taking it easy on any of the show’s protagonists.
TheStar Trekfranchise has seen a lot of important events and lore develop over its current Paramount+ era between mainline films, and some very important events fromStar Trek: Discoverywere so impactful that the show spawned another series,Starfleet Academy,to explore the aftermath. Despite having a fairly young cast byTrek’sin-universe standards, longtime franchise star and creativeJonathan Frakes revealed thatStarfleet Academywill be for hardcoreTrekfans, meaning that the show would explore the ramifications of its premise to a satisfactory degree. Despite the ten-episode first season still far off from its premiere, the show garnered enough confidence behind the scenes to warrant an out of season renewal from Paramount.
It’s still early days for Starfleet Academy, but Frakes’ comments do mean that longtime viewers can set some expectations ahead of more details. One thing that hardcore Trek fans expect isa solid antagonist for eachStar Trekseries, and Starfleet Academy doesn’t plan to be an exception. The series has already cast its first villain in star Paul Giamatti, who was recently probed for information byCollidereditor-in-chief Steven Weintraub and let fans in on a fascinating detail about his character. “He takes great pleasure in being the villain,”Giamatti revealed.“He likes it. And it’s very much a part of his thing that he’s all ‘Oh yeah, I’m the bad guy.'” This is a pretty clear indicator of what sort of villain Giamatti will be bringing to the new series and could be the best choice for a story eager to attract longtime fans.
It certainly seems like fans are in for a real mustache-twirling antagonist inStarfleet Academy,in the style of older villains of the franchise. While modern media tends to favor antagonists with complex (and often badly written) motivations and goals, there’s always been a lot to be said for simpler villains. Having an antagonist who is well aware of the moral deluge of his actions has unironically often led to much better-written foes with a unique appeal to fans. Giamatti certainly seems to approve of the concept, and he’s more than qualified to play the part. The actor most recently appeared in the 2023 Christmas comedy flickThe Holdovers,which he credits for giving him the opportunity to finally net aStar Trekrole, a longtime wish that, according to the actor, he ‘put it out in the universe and it came back’. In addition toThe Holdoversand myriad other roles across film, television and theater,Rick and Mortyfans might also recognize his voice as that of the villainous Story Lord, who first appeared in thestandout sixth episode of season fourbefore returning in the show’s sixth season for another swipe at the titular protagonists.
There’ll certainly be a lot more out about the characters as things progress atStarfleet Academy,but the first few titbits released so far should be encouraging for fans eager to explore the fallout of theStar Trek: Discoveryevents that spun off into the upcoming series.Frakes has confirmed that the action won’t be earthboundthroughout the show, and that means a lot more potential for Giamatti’s antagonist to work some good old-fashioned villainy across space.
TheStar TrekFranchise is available to stream on Paramount+, withStar Trek: Starfleet Academyset for a late 2025/early 2026 release window.
