Holly Hunter “Loved” William Shatner’s Defense Of Divisive Star Trek Series

Academy Award winner Holly Hunter praises William Shatner's defense of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and hints at what's in store for season 2 of her divisive Star Trek series.

Paramount+ canceled Star Trek: Starfleet Academy just days after season 1's finale premiered. With its diverse cast that included a queer couple and Star Trek's first gay Klingon, Starfleet Academy was a lightning rod for online hate and "woke" accusations even before season 1 premiered in January. However, Starfleet Academy season 2 wrapped filming in February and is expected to stream on Paramount+ in 2027.

Speaking to Ian Spelling at TV Insider, Holly Hunter addressed Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's cancellation and the "tremendous amount of negativity regarding the show being too 'woke' for the taste of so many people." The Oscar winner is grateful to William Shatner for speaking out in favor of Starfleet Academy, and for pointing out that Star Trek has always been "woke." Read Hunter's quote below:

Holly Hunter: It’s meant a tremendous amount to me that people have been so vocal with loving the show, and I also think the critics were vocal in loving the show. The reception from so many was really positive. I think there was a tremendous amount of negativity regarding the show being too “woke” for the taste of so many people, and William Shatner addressed that with such grace and articulateness when he did an interview and said, “Hey, the definition of Star Trek is woke.” He talked about Southern states banning the Original Series when [it] had a Black woman and a white man kissing, and then the first season [of our series] got canceled. He said, “Have we traveled no distance in our 60 years?” He expressed real sadness and distress at the cancellation, and I loved that because he’s the man. He’s the maestro.

Soon after Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was canceled in March, William Shatner took to X and shared his "sorrow" that Paramount+ prematurely ended the young adult-centered series. Shatner equated the reaction to Starfleet Academy to the cycle of negativity that greets nearly every new iteration of Star Trek, starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation.

As Holly Hunter referenced, Mr. Shatner also said that today, the episode of Star Trek: The Original Series where Captain Kirk, a white man, kissed Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), a black woman, would be called "woke DEI crap" if they had today's vernacular 58 years ago. Bill also reminded how "many southern stations pulled the episode and condemned the show" in 1968. In the 21st century, things haven't significantly changed.

Another factor that contributed to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's demise is the new leadership at Paramount Skydance, which reportedly plans to relaunch Star Trek, starting with new theatrical movies before moving Paramount+'s TV franchise in a different direction. Tragically, Starfleet Academy was planned as a four-year show to reflect the college experience, and will end halfway.

Holly Hunter also hinted at what's to come for her character, Captain Nahla Ake, and the rest of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy in season 2. See her quote below:

Holly Hunter: Season 2 asks large questions, which I think Star Trek is particularly good at. Trek is always seeking solutions of peace and solutions of fairness, and I think Season 2 really does that incredibly well and deals with the complexity of that. It’s also tremendously fun because we get to do a lot of things that you can only do in science fiction. It’s like, “What if….” It happens in the second season a lot, particularly for me.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy co-showrunner Noga Landau revealed that members of Nahla's long-lived Lanthanite family will appear in season 2, and that the story ends in a cliffhanger, which is frustrating without a resolution in season 3. At San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that a troubled new cadet named Keats, played by British actor Ruaridh Aldington, will join Starfleet Academy season 2.

Oscar winner Holly Hunter was a casting coup as the series lead of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, as was Emmy winner Paul Giamatti, although his villain, Nus Braka, won't be back in season 2. Regardless of the online negativity, Hunter is rightfully proud of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and the message of hope, diversity, co-existence, cooperation, and acceptance the series espouses.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 is streaming on Paramount+.