Starfleet Academy To Address Captain Sisko's Disappearance From DS9

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will take on the 26-year-old mystery of what happened to Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, hints executive producer and showrunner Noga Landau. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy premieres January 15, 2026, on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended with Captain Sisko fulfilling his destiny as the Emissary of the Prophets of Bajor. Sisko became one with the Prophets and vanished, leaving behind his son, Jake (Cirroc Lofton), his wife, Kasidy Yates (Penny Johnson-Jerald), and their unborn child. Sisko promised he’d return, but did he?

Speaking to ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley at New York Comic Con, along with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s cast and her fellow executive producer, Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau discussed how Starfleet Academy honors Star Trek’s “60 years of legacy,” including what happened to Captain Sisko. Read Noga’s quote below:

Noga Landau: I think we’ve honored everything that’s come before us, the 60 years of legacy that came before us in so many different ways. One is with the people we’ve brought to join these amazing folks. We have Robert Picardo, who’s playing The Doctor, the same Doctor from Voyager. We have multiple cast members joining us from Discovery. And you know, when you look at the wall of heroes in our atrium, our giant set, you’ll see us honoring so many of the people who came before us, who showed us what heroism is, and who showed us what the values of Starfleet are.

And there’s also mysteries. Watch out for Benjamin Sisko! We get to do some really cool stuff that hasn’t been done in a long time, that I think really honors the fans who’ve been waiting to see what happens. So we definitely know who we are and the shoulders that we are standing on today.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Will Address Captain Sisko’s Disappearance In DS9’s Finale

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s teaser trailer released at San Diego Comic-Con included a shot of Sam (Kerrice Brooks) gazing at a screen with Captain Sisko and the title “The Fate of Benjamin Sisko, Emissary of the Prophets.”

What happened to Captain Sisko looks to be a lesson Starfleet Academy’s cadets will be taught, but the fact that Sisko’s fate when he vanished in the late 24th century is still “a mystery” in the 32nd century indicates Benjamin may not have returned like he promised.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended in 1999, and what really happened next to Captain Sisko has been an open question for over 26 years. Noga Landau saying that Starfleet Academy “gets to do really cool stuff that hasn’t been done in a long time, that I think really honors the fans who’ve been waiting to see what happens” bodes well for finally getting answers about Sisko.

Our Take On Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Addressing Captain Sisko’s DS9 Mystery

Captain Ake lectures Starfleet Academy-1

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy directly tackling the 26-year mystery of what happened to Captain Sisko after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will be deeply appreciated by long-time Niners, like myself, who feel DS9 is the best Star Trek of all and crave more follow-up about our favorite series.

The writers and producers of Star Trek‘s current shows are also Deep Space Nine fans, including Tawny Newsome, who is one of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1’s writers. It wouldn’t surprise me if Tawny flew DS9‘s flag for Captain Sisko’s fate to become a lesson in Starfleet Academy.

After all, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has the benefit of being able to pull from the previous thousand years of Star Trek’s timeline, and I’m thrilled Captain Sisko and DS9 will be some of the “really cool stuff” Noga Landau says “hasn’t been done in a long time that really honors the fans who’ve been waiting to see what happens.”

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy introducing new characters and adding to Star Trek‘s forward progress in the late 32nd century is promising, but calling back to Captain Sisko and offering answers about the Emissary’s destiny after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is icing on the cake.