With no Paramount+ Star Trek activation this year, Trek presence at NYCC ’26 has felt a bit soft. Until Saturday, when the Star Trek Universe panel gave fans something to buzz about.
The panel opened with the charming cast and showrunners of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Holly Hunter, Sandro Rosta, Bella Shepard, Karim Diané, Robert Picardo, and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, in a conversation moderated by Collider’s Perri Nemiroff. Here’s what we learned about season 2, premiering in March, 2027:
- Captain Nahla Ake’s full-Lanthanite dad is coming to town. According to Hunter, Nyk Ake—played by Bill Nighy—is bringing plenty of emotional baggage.
- Captain Ake has a twin! Season 2 will see double with Hunter in both roles.
- We’ll get a “classic Star Trek Betazoid mom visit,” according to Landau, with Rosemarie DeWitt playing Tarima’s mother, Laytha Sadal.
- Attendees were treated to a sneak peek clip from season 2’s first episode, in which a training away mission is interrupted by the arrival of a new character who plays a significant role in the season.
In the second half of the panel, lifelong Star Trek fan Ben Stiller led a discussion with William Shatner about the show’s 60th anniversary—as much as anyone can lead a discussion when Shatner’s firing on all cylinders.
With a rapport reminiscent of a comedy duo, Shatner bantered about the initial failures of Star Trek and the current failure of his hotel room, whose inadequacies became a running gag. He related his earliest experiences with Star Trek, when he got the call to watch the first pilot, The Cage, in hopes that he’d join a second pilot, a feat almost unheard of in television. Though recognizing the pilot needed changes, “it was magical,” he recalled.
Stiller then showed clips from the original series and captured Shatner’s reactions. After a scene from The Enemy Within, Stiller revealed that he owns the tunic from the episode. “I don’t have a tunic!” protested Shatner.
But the moment that drew the biggest reaction from the audience was when Stiller turned to a box covered with black fabric and revealed what was inside. Ben Stiller owns a Gorn head. And it’s glorious.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from NYCC ’26.
