An iconic Star Trek character is CONFIRMED for episode 5. SPOILER ALERT!
Trekkies are going to love this Star Trek: Starfleet Academy spoiler, which was posted online by the Valent publication MovieWeb, which is the sister site of the company’s most well-respected entertainment brands: ScreenRant and Collider. During an interview with Starfleet Academy showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, it seemed, at first, like episode 5 possibly involved the Enterprise’s beloved Jonathan Archer! But that's not the scoop.
In the context of the conversation, it was another major Trek captain who “appeared” in the episode — and that was confirmed in the video (below). Yes, fans will get to "hear" from Deep Space Nine’s beloved Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks)! Here’s what the person conducting the interview said in the interview via MovieWeb:
“Now, this might be a little spoilery, so I’m going to hold this until after episode 5 comes out, but that episode might be my favorite Star Trek episode that I’ve seen in years: absolutely incredible. So, the question I have was we’ve seen almost every captain come back in some form or iteration, except Jonathan Archer. We are at the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. Any plans to tell Archer’s story a little further?”
Alex Kurtzman “First of all I love Scott [Bakula]. He’s such a… he’s so fantastic, and we’ve met a couple of times. And I mean, of course, it would be a wonderful thing to be able to do.”
Interviewer: “Speaking on that episode 5, uh… this is going to be held after episode 5. Did we get… is that new dialogue from Avery Brooks at the end of that episode? Or is that taken from Deep Space Nine?”
Kurtzman: “It is.”
Landau added: “It’s actually neither. It’s, with Avery’s very generous permission, we were able to use a piece of spoken-word poetry that he recorded himself.”
It’s confirmed, even though Trekkies suspected all along, that Benjamin Sisko would figure into the Starfleet Academy series after that wonderful footage of SAM (Kerrice Brooks) looking at a viewscreen paying tribute to Captain Sisko. SAM stares at a faint image of the Emissary of the Prophets, which poses two questions: “Did he die in the fire caves of Bajor,” or “Did he live on in the Celestial Temple?”
Hopefully, we get more than just Avery Brooks reciting some poetry as Benjamin Sisko in episode 5, but I'll gladly take what I can get.
Nothing more was offered up in the way of spoilers, but I wonder if Sisko is the only captain we’re getting in episode 5 of Starfleet Academy? After all, the person conducting the interview for MovieWeb did say, “We’ve seen almost every captain come back in some form or iteration, except Jonathan Archer.” For those who were worried whether they’d like the show or not, it sounds like episode 5 is a can’t-miss installment.
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!