Bill Nighy and Rosemarie DeWitt Join Starfleet Academy for Final Season
Bill Nighy and Rosemarie DeWitt will guest star in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 2.
The casting adds two familiar screen faces to the show's final run, meaning the series will finish with Season 2. The new season is due on Paramount+ in March 2027. An exact premiere date has not been set, Variety reported on 10 October 2026.
Nighy will play Nyk Ake, the estranged father of Nahla, played by Holly Hunter. The description points to a fractured family relationship at the centre of his appearance. DeWitt will play Laytha Sadal, the mother of Tarima, played by Zoë Steiner. Laytha is described as the First Lady of Betazed, which signals both a family tie and a position of public standing.
Both parts are billed as guest-star roles, meaning short-run appearances rather than full-time additions to the regular cast. That is a common way for long-running franchises to bring in new energy without changing the core line-up. Here, both newcomers are tied directly to series regulars, so their stories arrive with built-in connections.
The news was announced during the Star Trek panel at New York Comic Con, the annual fan convention in New York where studios present casts and previews to a live hall. These panels often deliver the first word on casting, dates and trailers. In this case, the panel delivered both new faces and a launch window.
Advance listings had said the Starfleet Academy cast would appear at the 2026 panel, according to TrekMovie. William Shatner was also billed to appear at the same hour, as reported by Variety on 23 September 2026. That line-up placed the franchise's newest ensemble on the same stage as one of its earliest stars.
For a general viewer, the timing is straightforward. Season 2 is next, and it will be the last. Paramount+ has confirmed March 2027 as the month, but has not yet named a day. Viewers will need to wait for a full schedule closer to launch.
For fans, this means the closing chapter leans into family. One thread follows a father and daughter who have grown apart. The other follows a mother and daughter where home life meets public life. Both give the final season a personal way in.
