Next year we’ll be welcoming a new generation of the Star Trek Universe with the doors to Starfleet Academy set to reopen in 2026. Picking up from the post-Discovery era in the 32nd century, the Burn is over, the planets are beginning to align and it looks like even the Earth Defense Force will be lowering shields as the ancient campus reopens to train a new era of hopeful young cadets ready to explore the stars!
Following the news that principal photography was all done for the new shows debut season, we thought we’d look back at the cadets of the past who made waves to inspire the generations to follow and who’s name may still echo through the halls of the Academy…
Saavik: The First Next Generation
Long after the Enterprise was exploring strange new worlds, it was merely a training vessel with a young crew ready to take to the stars under the tutelage of Academy’s Captain Spock. His clear favourite and protoge was his most senior command trainee’s, Lieutenant Saavik, who was just beginning her long road to the Captains Chair by the time Admiral Kirk had to take command following a distress call from the Genesis project.
In contrast to Spock, who has found a comfortable balance between his Vulcan training and human emotion, Saavik’s Vulcan training had her play by the rule’s while not so quietly curious by the quirks of the more expressive emotional journeys of her human seniors.
As future captian in training, Saavik served as the Enterprise Navigator as part of the cadet crew during the Genesis incident and battles with Khan up to her reassignment to the USS Grissom following Spock’s death; a mission that would see her repay her mentor’s teaching when they find a revived, rapidly ageing child version of Spock on the unstable Genesis planet.
James T Kirk (Kelvin Timeline)
Following a similar path as Saavik, the Kelvin Timeline followed the first mission of a young James Kirk and mirror a theme from Saavik’s introductory film: The No Win Scenario. Showcasing Starfleet as a bit less militarised than it seemed in the Genesis trilogy, we’d see Kirk take on the Kobayashi Maru test that opened the Wrath of Khan and demonstrate how he was the only person who’d beat it; by cheating.
The Academy element of the film is all set up for what happens next, with the officers in training taking charge after the destruction of the fleet and capture of their Captain. But it’s a set up that delivers one of the best scene’s in the film portion of the Star Trek franchise thanks to Bruce Greenwood’s iteration of Pike challenging Kirk – who’s life was significantly different form his Prime Timeline counterpart – to enlist…
Of course, the Prime Timeline’s kirk was more of a quiet bookworm than a rebel still looking for a cause. But it’s safe to say the name Kirk won’t be forgotten any time soon in any timeline.
Uhura: The Revival
Since Star Trek’s first season, Uhura had been an iconic part of the Star Trek franchise. Her inclusion as an African American bridge officer while the Civil Rights movement was ongoing in the US to bring an end to racial segregation was a key ingredient in making Star Trek a cultueral phenomenon. But in spite of her legendary status, there were a lot of gaps to fill in the characters backstory compared to other members of the cast.
Enter Cadet Uhura. Revived with Celia Rose Gooding taking on the role originated by Nichelle Nichols, the prequel to the original series also became a prequel for Uhura herself. As a final year cadet on field assignment, the series gave us some backstory and logic behind Uhura’s time on the Enterprise and how she became part of the crew years before Kirk took command.
The ongoing series, which fleshes out Uhura’s character and her role as communications officer, saw Uhura graduate to become an officer in the second season. Season three is due for release later this year while the fourth begins filming this month.
Wesley Crusher: The Prodigy
Introduced as the Doogie Howser of Starfleet, Wesley Crushers future was all set on day one of the Next Generation. A child prodigy and only son of the Enterprise Chief Medical officer Dr Beverly Crusher, Wesley was a tiny bit obsessed with the Starfleet ways despite his father Jack being killed in action while serving with a young Jean Luc Picard.
Getting special treatment, Picard would reluctantly let Wesley play around on the bridge and even encourage his want to become an officer, hoping to hone his natural talents for science and engineering by making him an unofficial bridge officer before he was of age to join the Academy. Wesley’s future was set, and of course he’d leave his Acting Ensign gig behind to join the Academy and become a real commissioned officer. But he never did make it to gaining that earned first pip.
After rebuilding his academy career following an incident that caused the death of a fellow cadet, Wesley would be whisked away by The Traveller, a mysterious multidimensional being that would guide Wesley to becoming a secret universal guardian of time and space. Which might be a wee bit better than getting that little brass pip….
Nog: The First Ferengi In Starfleet.
Of all the academy cadets seen on screen so far, it’s hard to deny that Nog more than any other was the picture of a model cadet, despite understandable initial doubts. Initially appearing as the nephew of the devious Quark, arrested for looting in his first appearance, Nog slowly developed thanks to the odd couple friendship with Jake Sisko. Where Jake dodged expectations and declined to follow in his fathers footsteps, Nog took his place as Starfleet’s next generation, gaining sponsorship from Benjamin Sisko after a tearful admission that he wanted a better future than his father had, lusting for wealth and getting nowhere.
His time at the Academy was valued, but troubled. During Sisko’s temporary assignment to Starfleet Security on Earth, Nog confided that he was treated as an outsider being a Ferengi and non-Federation member, but would later knuckle down and become the model cadet who’d follow the rules far too strictly when returning to the station for field duty.
Always ready to volunteer himself for action, whether it was heading ot a terrifying abandoned space station for supplies, or using his natural trading talents to get O’Brien some spare parts, Nog’s field duty on Deep Space Nine would also see him knee deep in the emerging Dominion War, serving on Sisko’s staff as he shadowed O’Brien, even going into battle during the Dominion occupation of the station.
Despite a struggle to gain sponsorship, and in finding his place at the Academy, Nog would find himself fast tracked through his studies unexpectedly during the war. After just two years of training, including his field studies, Nog’s service on the Defiant during the Dominion war would gain him an early, if somewhat unceremonious, graduation and an officers position just before the efforts to re-take Deep Space Nine in 2374.
Continuing to serve on Deep Space Nine and the Defiant, Nog’s first year as an officer would see him suffering personal sacrifice and harrowing combat injury, yet would overcome PTSD to fly the Defiant into the final battle of the Dominion War. In 2375, he’d receive a promotion on the recommendation of Captain Sisko and by the 32nd century, become a thing of legend with the USS Nog named in his honour.
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