The future of the Star Trek franchise has been a significant conversation as of late, and that's completely understandable. As of right now, the IP has zero shows in active development following the cancellation of Starfleet Academy. Now, as fans wait to hear what's next, Voyager star Tim Russ is suggesting politics might've played a role in its cancellation.
TrekCulture recently spoke to Russ, who also appeared in Picard Season 3, as well as the podcast audio drama Khan. The actor talked about the discourse surrounding the "woke" messaging and speculated about it playing a role in the series' eventual cancellation:
I don't know why they decided to pull the plug on it. It could be budgetary, it could be that they're planning something else, it could be that the guy who just took over all of that doesn't like the 'woke' message. . . . So, it's possible that they don't like the message anymore.
Russ also brought up the purported political affiliations of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, suggesting his closeness with President Donald Trump and his administration might have factored into the decision. Trump's Homeland Security Advisor publicly bashed Star Trek: Starfleet Academy back in January and called for William Shatner to take control of the franchise. Elon Musk, who has close ties to Trump via spearheading the DOGE program, has also publicly criticized the series.
Article continues belowPrior to Paramount+'s merger with Skydance, Star Trek actors, including Robert Picardo, did not foresee it impacting the franchise all that much. Now, we're heading into the rest of 2026 with no new shows planned, and it feels more likely with each passing day that Paramount Skydance will not renew the contract of its current head of Trek television, Alex Kurtzman. After bringing up that Star Trek has always been "woke," Tim Russ continued, further speculating that Ellison's thoughts on the show factored into its cancellation:
It isn't so much a question of it just going woke, it's just a question of who took over and doesn't like it. That's the difference. And I got a feeling, I honestly do think that might have been a factor.
Russ' comments come after suggestions that the Trump administration played a role in CBS' cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and various changes made to CBS News programs. Of course, the actor isn't claiming to have any inside information as to what happened and is only suggesting that politics played a factor in the cancellation.
What has been evident, though, is the Star Trek brand's attempts to pull in a new, younger audience with some of its recent programming. Section 31 actor Robert Kazinsky shares the executives' belief that the fandom is "dying" and needs younger fans to keep the sci-fi staple chugging along past its 60th anniversary.
Starfleet Academy seemed to be an attempt to do just that, using a mix of veteran actors and 20-something unproven talent to pull back the curtain on a key piece of Starfleet that hadn't previously been explored.
Now, with its ending and a pending merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. on the way, one has to wonder when fans will get an announcement about when a new Star Trek series will be developed. With two seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds yet to air, and one final season of Starfleet Academy coming out, there's some time before there's no Trek left to watch, so it may be a while before any decisions are made.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, as well as other previous franchise shows, are available to stream on Paramount+. The discourse surrounding the franchise continues as more actors share their thoughts about the future, and I'm hopeful we'll hear much more from them when some future decisions are finally announced.
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