Paramount+For the next two years, Star Trek will be on a farewell tour. At least, that is, in regard to the modern Paramount+ incarnations of the franchise that began in 2017 with Star Trek: Discovery. After Starfleet Academy airs its final season in 2027, the show will not return for a third season. This isn’t just the end of one Star Trek show; it’s actually the conclusion and confirmation that a very specific phase of the Trek franchise has been put into drydock — perhaps forever.“So much for Paramount+‘s Gen Z Star Trek show,” James Hibbard of The Hollywood Reporter wrote on March 23. “The streamer has decided to end Star Trek: Starfleet Academy after season two.” This cancellation has been confirmed by a lengthy statement from CBS/Paramount, as well as an official statement from producer Alex Kurtzman and showrunner Noga Landau. Yes, Starfleet Academy Season 2 has already been filmed, and presumably will air sometime in 2027. And, there are still two more seasons of Strange New Worlds left to air; Season 4 this year, and its final season, again, presumably in 2027. The news comes at an auspicious time: 2026 is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek overall, and there’s good reason to believe that Strange New Worlds Season 4 will lean heavily on that nostalgic celebration of the venerable science fiction franchise. But after that, the future of the franchise in the strange, new status quo of the Skydance/Paramount merger is somewhat murky. Dungeons & Dragons scribes John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein are set to write and direct a brand-new Star Trek movie — reportedly unconnected to existing shows or films — which could hit theaters sometime in 2027, assuming it goes into production this year. But, officially, after the releases of Strange New Worlds Season 5 and Starfleet Academy Season 2, the so-called “NuTrek” era, which launched with Discovery, is apparently over.Alex Kurtzman, Robert Picardo, Bella Shepard, Holly Hunter, Sandro Rosta, Kerrice Brooks, and Noga Landau attend the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premiere. | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty ImagesThe statement from Kurtzman seems like a farewell to SFA, but also to his work on the franchise as a whole, noting that: “...part of the marvel that is Star Trek fandom — its very heart, soul, and conscience — the joy comes from adventuring across boundaries of time, space, and the humanly possible in service to Roddenberry’s transformative vision of the future. That incomparable vision was fueled by an inexhaustible optimism. Star Trek places its bet on the best in human nature.”Previously, Kurtzman and Landau were hopeful about the future of SFA beyond Season 2, with Landau telling Inverse, “We have so much more of this story to tell.”Since 2017, Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout production company has helped put out six distinct Star Trek series — Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, and Starfleet Acadmey — not to mention two microseries (Short Treks and Very Short Treks) and one direct-to-streaming movie, Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31.For insiders, the idea that the Kurtzman Trek era might come to an end following the Skydance merger isn’t a huge surprise. That said, it’s still possible that Kurtzman could be involved in new streaming projects going forward. That said, Star Trek has been in this place before. In 2005, when Enterprise was canceled, that ended 18 years of new Trek on TV, which spanned five different shows that started in 1987 with The Next Generation. From that point, Trek was reborn as a blockbuster film franchise, starting with the J.J. Abrams reboot movie in 2009.Is history repeating itself? Will the sprawling Trek TV franchise go into hibernation, and the film franchise come back at warp speed? For the first time in a decade, the future of Star Trek is, for now, unknown. Though, as Admiral Kirk said, quoting Spock after his passing in The Wrath of Khan: “There are always possibilities.”When will Starfleet Academy Season 2 stream?Bella Shepard as Genesis Lythe in Starfleet Academy. | Paramount+To clarify, there’s not an official announcement about the exact release date of Starfleet Academy Season 2. We’re assuming the series will air in early 2027, essentially one year from now. This also assumes that Strange New Worlds Season 5 — the six-episode finale of that series — airs in late 2027. But again, that has not been 100 percent confirmed.Because SFA Season 2 and SNW Season 5 have both completed filming, could those seasons air sooner than 2027? There are precedents for modern Trek airing new seasons back-to-back of different shows. Discovery Season 3 and Lower Decks Season 1 aired back-to-back in 2020, and in 2022, Strange New Worlds Season 1 aired as Picard Season 2 ended, with the series premiere and season finale, respectively, airing on the same day. Why does this matter? Well, if NuTrek is wrapping up generally, one could imagine a world in which the rest of SNW and SFA aired in a marathon this year. It’s unlikely, but considering this is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, maybe this phase of the franchise will go out with a massive bang.Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the WorldAmazon -