The return of some previous Star Trek stars was the big news for the upcoming Starfleet Academy series at today’s Star Trek Universe panel, which is still ongoing at San Diego Comic-Con.
Legacy stars for Starfleet Academy
Today, Paramount+ revealed that four legacy stars will be reprising their Star Trek roles for the upcoming Starfleet Academy series, which is set to begin production next month. The new series is set in the 32nd century as established on Star Trek: Discovery, so it’s no surprise that three stars from that now-ended series will be returning: Tig Notaro (Jett Reno), Oded Fehr (Admiral Vance) and Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly).
Notaro will be a series regular with Wiseman and Fehr as guest stars.

Tig Notaro as Jett Reno and Mary Wiseman as Tilly with Blu del Barrio as Adira, (L) on Star Trek: Discovery
The bigger surprise is that Robert Picardo will be reprising his Star Trek: Voyager (and Prodigy) role as The Doctor. He too will be a series regular for Starfleet Academy. He joins the previously announced cast members including Holly Hunter and recurring guest stars Gina Yashere and Paul Giamatti.
Cadet cast reaction
The announcements were made during today’s Starfleet Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con with Starfleet Academy executive producers and co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau. A casting reaction video featuring the previously announced actors playing cadets, Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, George Hawkins, Karim Diané and Zoë Steiner, was also shared. Check it out…
More Star Trek SDCC 2024 to come
More announcements and reveals are expected for the Star Trek Universe panel which also includes cast and creatives from Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Section 31. So stay tuned on Saturday for more announcements. And we will have more coverage of what was said at the panel later this weekend.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Cool, the Doctor makes so much sense. He’s the only one who can still be around after all those centuries…
And yet still shocking! So was Reno for me. Although I love that Oded Fehr is coming back. Tilly was a given though but I hope her character growth continues. She deserves to be more than the nervous comic relief.
I’m glad that he’s joining the series. I like Tig Notaro’s character too including Admiral Vance and Tilly.
WOAH!!!!
OMG!!!!!
I have had this idea in my head we may see the Doctor on this show AND ITS FREAKING HAPPENING!
I was already onboard but I am now fully locked in. And they are bringing back Vance, Jett Reno and we all assumed Tilly is all FANTASTIC news!
I also hope Kovich/Daniels makes a few appearances as well.
But the Doctor is going to be one that will get a lot of fans who is skeptical about this show to get more excited about it. The fact the Doctor is now on two modern Trek shows is insane. Robert Picardo is probably pinching himself everyday lol.
I hope they do the Doctor justice. I love the character but he felt a bit out of character/place at times on Prodigy.
I loved him on Prodigy personally. But I think they will do a good job with him on this show. And if they give Picardo the leeway he was given to open up the character like he did on Voyager.
One of the reasons the character is so great is because of Picardo and he just incorporated so many ideas that wasn’t originally there.
Sorry to say I have not been able to see S2 of Prodigy up here north of the border, but Picardo was great in Voyager and he was amazing in his role as Mr. Woolsey in SG1 and SG Atlantis too. Great casting news overall and looking forward to seeing SFA.
Dude seriously???
Man, it’s insane they couldn’t figure it out by now. Hopefully you guys will get it soon and as you already know it’s the wait if you enjoyed the first season.
Picardo is getting a second wind in the Star Trek world. It’s just more proof none of these characters ever goes away completely. And if we get a season 3 of Prodigy he could be on two different shows at the same time which would be a Star Trek first.
Heck yes. I was already looking forward to this show but this just sealed it for me.
This show is now my most anticipated Trek show and can’t wait til it is released. I do hope Mary Wiseman eventually joins the cast permanently. I also hope we get some guest appearances from the Discovery cast.
It will be great to see the Doctor again in live action Trek.
“Notaro will be a series regular with Wiseman and Fehr as guest stars.”
I would’ve never guessed that! For sure I thought Mary would be the series regular.
But biggest mind fuck: The Doctor???
I’m getting curious and curiouser.
Promising news. Very impressed Notaro is in as a regular. And obviously more Picardo is a great thing. We’ve seen him classily play wistfulness and quiet sadness over losing friends/family in the past, I’m sure they’ll touch on what it’s like to have made and lost so many mortal friends over the centuries.
I wonder if this is the backup doctor from living witness as he left that planet sometime in the early 31st century to try and make it back to earth
RIGHT?! Or what if it’s both? lol.
I made this comment a few minutes ago, and I agree. The future portions of Living Witness take place in 3074, and the episode ends with them saying that after “many years” he set off for the Alpha Quadrant. So in 3188 or whatever, he may have only just gotten back, depending on what method of travel he took and if he got into any trouble along the way.
But WHICH Doctor will it be?
Is it the one from Voyager, having been alive for a thousand years, or is it the one from Living Witness who, finally, returns to the Alpha Quadrant?
It’s one they found on a floppy disc.
I’m going to guess it’s from Living Witness. Fans have been throwing out that idea the day it was announced Discovery would end up in the 32nd century. But I’m happy either way.
I’ve been one such fan, heh.
In theory the original EMH would be less likely to run into any accidents. Barring a lot more missions like the one in Prodigy, he could easily be imagined as being a teacher for centuries safe on Earth. The backup EMH would have had to traverse thousands of light years of Burn-affected space to get back home, there’s no guarantee he made it.
It would be cool if it was the back-up, though, to resolve that story.
I wonder how they will explain his aged appearance. Could he have been given a physical body like they did with Grey or will it just be an alteration he made to his own programme?
He is a hologram… Can look however he wants… Just adjust the Code a bit.
Yep. He made himself look like members of Voyager’s crew in one episode.
A la Data’s skunk hair in All Good Things.
Bring back Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner, you cowards!
Yes. Can you imagine him dealing with a bunch if kids
It’s truly amazing just how much representation Voyager has gotten in the modern era. There are now main Voyager characters on three of six if the shows (four if the Legacy show ever happens). Surpringly there more Voyager characters on these shows as leads than there are TNG characters.
As a huge Voyager fan I couldn’t be happier. But it would be nice to see a DS9 character eventually become a lead somewhere since it oddly hasn’t happened yet.
And, yet, Harry is still an ensign…
Lol.
And yet nothing for DS9
Little bit of love from LD. They deserve more though. How about every single eatery in the galaxy is a Quark’s kind if like Demolition Man/Taco Bell.
I would love that.
Yeah that DS9 crossover is still my favorite LDS episode.
To my disappointment, yes. But given the viewing data I mentioned above, it shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise.
NuTrek Finally redeemed itself after how bad JJ verse and Discovery was when it brought back 7 of 9 on Picard. Finally a trace of OG Trek making the rounds again. And I would’ve been completely satisfied if we only got her back from Voyager since Seven is my favorite character in all of Star Trek.
But then we got Paris on LDS. Janeway and Chakotay back on Prodigy in first season. Tuvok showed up on Picard. And now the Doctor on both Prodigy AND SFA! This is a dream come true.
While NuTrek is still not on the level of old Trek (although Picard season 3 and Prodigy season 2 have come the closes IMO) we’re eating good these days! 😀
And now suddenly people are excited about SFA! 🤣
Yeah for Voyager is been pretty great.
I would like to see more DS9 and definitely Enterprise represented more but all in good time I guess.
Until Picard was announced I didn’t think we would see any of these characters again…ar least in canon.
Now they won’t go away lol.
You gotta hope that all this new found support of Voyager leeds to the holy grail… CBS Digital redoing the series in HD! Now that’s what I want to see and will PAY FOR!
Paramount+/CBS – make it so!
Frankly, I wish they would go away. I want actual new Star Trek: New ships and new crews. Revisiting some old characters is nice once in a while, such as they did in the ’90s with “Sarek,” “Flashback,” “Unification” and “Blood Oath.”
As much as I adore SNW, I do think they’ve leaned way too hard on the original cast of characters — especially considering they fridged the best new character and they’re essentially replacing him in Season 3 with Scotty.
That comes from Netflix and P+, who quickly saw the viewing data: Voyager is one of the most-watched Trek shows. In fact, the infographic that Netflix released for Star Trek Day a while back revealed that of the top 10 most-streamed Trek episodes, six of them were VOY (the other 4 being TNG).
Interestingly, 8 of the 10 were Borg episodes, and four were centered on Seven of Nine. This explains pretty clearly why Picard used the Borg — and Seven — so prominently and so often. It’s clearly what the audience wants to see, no matter how much you or I or other diehard Trekkies may disagree.
You guys still hate the show ? 🤣
I’m still waiting for someone to show up and complain about “nostalgia”.
LOL 😂
The worst parts of Discovery + The Doctor. Mfg what a disaster already. Maybe we can get Stewart to drop by as android “JL”.
Just don’t watch it. There, problem solved.
Agreed! The days of inspired casting and believable characters are gone.
What do you call Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti?
I call those two castings , GREAT IDEAS!
PICARDO!!! 🧡🎉
But… will it be the “real” doctor, or his copy from Living Witness? Or maybe… both? That would be a fun one-off episode… old experienced prime Doctor meeting his copy after he finally makes it to the Alpha quadrant. 😉
Anyway… to have the Doctor around far in the future, warms my heart. Though I always envisioned him as a person that feels lonely sometimes, after all of his Voyager friends have passed. Maybe that has left a mark on his personality. But new friends, new crews, new careers & experiences over the centuries… he wiill surely be a different man.
Bringing back the Doctor is inspired casting. I was already excited for the show before but now I’m beyond thrilled.
The bigger question I have is will he finally have a name? It was surprising he didn’t have one in Prodigy.
That’s the one thing about him that should never change… he should always be the Doctor.
That’s probably what they feel as well so won’t be surprised it stays that way.
I don’t know but I kind of like Joe. 😁
For me, the only name that kinda stuck, is Shmullus, because it was actually part of the plot & the characters. Great VOY episode btw… Danara Pel etc.
Good moves
PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF THE MEDICAL EMERGENCY MUTHABLEEPERS!!!
This has made my day. Having the Doctor back on another show AND a full time character is amazing. I absolutely love the Doctor and one of my favorite characters of all time. Not just Star Trek I mean in general.
He was great in Prodigy but more limited. But having the live action version back is a dream.
And that’s why I have always been such a big fan of Starfleet Academy. I have been praising this show from the start. All those sad 20 loud vocal haters who said the show was a ridiculous idea and any show with Tilly in it was unwatchable can go stuff it!
This is going to be a great show. And we got Vance and Jett Reno back too. Yay!!
THE DOCTOR, ADMIRAL VANCE, JETT RENO (…….and Tilly) LET’S BOLDLY GOOOOOO!!
Lol I knew you would be excited! 😅
Yeah it’s great. Not as big as RDJ returning to the MCU but I’ll still take it lol.
You’re awesome 😎
Lol I was joking bro. 😉
I been saying for a year now I thought SFA was the worst idea Star Trek has made since Michelle Paradise took over Discovery. I really didn’t want it at all…until they announced the Doctor coming back and now I’m confident it won’t totally suck at least.
And I now finally have a reason to care about the 32nd century for a change.
But it felt good to troll a troll at least. 🤣
I knew Tilly was going to be in it, but thank God she is just going to be a guest star, she was the only thing that I didn’t like in discovery. Jet being the regular is much better, and cool that Vance will be popping in too.
But the EMH!!! I need to watch this just for the doctor alone! Such a cool surprise 😮
100% ;👍
I had resigned to the fact Tilly was going to be in this but now knowing she’s not the lead or even a main character is music to my ears!
But then ti find out The Doctor himself will be on the show just gave utter joy!
These guys get it, give the Trekkies what we want and we’ll all happily watch over and over again. In fact I’m watching season 2 of Prodigy again and halfway through it. It’s great to have the Doctor in that show which was a no trainer. But to be on SFA in the 32nd century is definitely a shock. 🤣
Not going to lie, when I read the other day that another comedian was cast in this show, I wondered if they were trying to recreate the vibe of Jett Reno…and now they also have Jett Reno lol
Oh my, the Doctor being on this show is incredible. That’s a much needed surprise. I’m revisiting the Doctor quite a bit right now having just finished watching Prodigy season 2 (it was fabulous) and now watching Voyager again from the start.The Doctor steals every scene on that show.
I don’t care about Discovery or the 32nd century but I was always going to give this show a shot and love Holly Hunter. Knowing my dearest Robert Picardo is also back there is no doubt now.
But please writers don’t ruin this great character. You now have millions of fans invested, please do right by him.
Robert Picardo as a series regular! The only nugget of good news to come out of today.
If the writing (not a strength of its parent show DIS) lives up to all the casting news, this could be a great show. There are pulling in many of the best parts of DIS not named Doug Jones.
That video of them notifying the young cast members is some of the most moving stuff I have seen from Trek in a while. Since probably SNW s2 or LDS s4 – ooh I don’t want to forget some of the great scenes from PRO s2!
Holy moly, I hope Jett Reno and the EMH interact. There is gonna be some fireworks there.
Yeah, all I had to see was “Notaro” to get a big grin.
Tig as a series regular? Now I’m interested in this show!
As a huge Voyager fan for 2 decades now the doctor’s return is beyond awesome…
I love the character of the doctor and in fact he was my favourite of the Voyager ensemble. I just hope that the writers of this new series do his character justice (“a character’s actions must flow inexorably from his or her established traits” as Tuvok once said). However based on the way Trek is written today, I feel number one on the writer’s quota list for his character will be to have him say an expletive, just because.
The doctor coming back could line up with Living Witness. He may have made it back to the federation and we may see this version of him. The timing is about right!
Good grief. I’m sorry but everything I’ve seen from SDCC – from this to the “comedy series” and the awful clips from S31 and SNW – just make my eyes roll.
I’ve been bit into SNW and Disco since it started. I actually really enjoyed the last season and was a bit bummed the show was ending. And Picard was perfection IMO (well at least the first and third seasons haha). But everything coming in the next year just doesn’t do it for me. It all seems way over the top in an unnecessary way. It’s def not making me think of re-upping my P+ subscription to watch and new Star Trek.
well this just got more interesting
Yes… though Deep Space Nine is STILL being ignored. We’ve had Janeway, Chakotay, Paris, Tuvok, Seven, Icheb, and the Doctor all come back, but the DS9 characters have largely been ignored other than cameos from secondary characters Rom and Leeta. Discovery even had a perfect chance to bring back Dax, and they didn’t.
I really liked Fehr’s Admiral Vance so I’m glad he’ll be showing up in a guest role. I didn’t care much for Wisemann’s Tilly and I’m surprised she’s just a guest star. I figured she was going to be a regular on the show given her character’s involvement with the new cadets in DISCO (I haven’t seen season 5 yet, so I don’t know what went down with her character there).
The great news is that a character I really do love from Discovery, Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno, is a regular! Better, Picardo’s Doctor, one of my favorite 4 from Voyager, is in it too. That, along with Holly Hunter’s involvement, bodes well for this show. I’m very lukewarm on the concept, but the involvement of Hunter, Notaro, and Picardo is definitely of interest to me.
If one thing most people like even if they are not warmed to the show itself is its cast. Hunter, Picardo, Giamatti, Fehr and Notaro are all solid. I can’t wait to see these characters mix it up. Don’t love Tilly either but she does have her fans.
I can only imagine how much fun you will get with both The Doctor and Reno though, two of the most sarcastic characters in the franchise.
I’m so excited about this show now.
Welcome back Doctor:
https://youtu.be/KTgAjtGWtko?si=XalTFoUI60AjSEU9&t=5
Picardo is such an amazing actor and has made this character his own.
😂😂😂
That video was hilarious! That is the Doctor in all his hologram glory. Picardo has so much comedic timing and his deadpan scenes are always great.
I can’t believe we got him in two extra shows now. I loved him in Prodigy but can’t wait for the live action version with SFA!
Finally a reason to care about this show! 😀
The Doctor being on this show is easily the best news coming out of CC (and maybe the only good news coming out of CC reading the comments lol).
Picardo brings an energy to the character that always fun to watch and why he’s become so iconic in the fanbase today.
And you can feel a huge turnaround with fans who were less excited about the show like you were until this news happened. It feels similar to a current Presidential election that has completely energized one party whose been down for weeks until a new person entered the race and now everyone seems excited and motivated again. 😀
The Doctor is now racking up those credits now being part of 3 shows and a movie. It’s still surprising he didn’t make it on Picard.
And in the announcement that surprises no one category….
After all of the SDCC announcements for Star Trek, the show I was most skeptical about (SFA) is now the only one I am most interested in seeing. How did that happen?
I wonder if it is the Doctor from Prodigy or the backup version lost in the Delta quadrant centuries earlier.
Isn’t Wiseman the regular and Notaro the guest star? In one of the photo captions it says other wise – no pun intended