Paul Wesley will portray James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Deadline’s Peter White has revealed famed Starfleet captain James Tiberius Kirk will join the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The series – which hasn’t yet premiered its freshman offering – was renewed in January, four months before the series debuts.
The arrival of Kirk, played by Vampire Diaries star, Paul Wesley, has been met with confusion and mixed reactions. While some have criticised Wesley’s age, others are questioning why Jim is even in the show in the first place. That’s where we come in.
Does It Matter How Old Paul Wesley Is?
As we mentioned above, some people are criticising Paul Wesley for being “too old” to play Kirk. While it is true that Jim should be in at least his mid-20s during Strange New Worlds, it doesn’t matter in the long run. Many television shows and films have actors who play younger characters. One famous example is Glee. Lead actress Lea Michele was in her mid-20s when she started playing Rachel Berry, who in the show was about fourteen or fifteen, if not younger.
Just a side note, as of the writing of this post, Paul Wesley is a few months shy of turning forty.
When Ethan Peck was cast as Spock for Star Trek: Discovery, he was in his early 30s, playing a character in his mid-20s. This happens all the time and shouldn’t be a factor in whether an actor can pull off an iconic character or not.
In all honesty, we don’t care if Paul is older than the character he will play. As long as he can embody a young Kirk, we’ll love it regardless.
Why Is Kirk Showing Up? – Kelvin Timeline Examples
There have been questions asking why Kirk will show up when he is not supposed to captain the USS Enterprise until almost a decade later. Again, we’re here to explain it.
Okay, we’ll admit our Star Trek knowledge isn’t grand. Instead, we found a detailed video by Trek Culture that goes into detail. There is a fascinating tidbit. So, in the late-60s, one of the first tie-in books for the original Star Trek series says that Kirk had a captaincy before the Enterprise. However, it didn’t reveal the ship’s name.
Apparently, given Kirk’s age at the time series takes place, he should be a lieutenant, not a captain. In the Kelvin Timeline films with Chris Pine, he rose quickly through the ranks. While those films aren’t necessarily tied to the shows unless you include the late Leonard Nimoy, there are similarities and differences. One such difference is Spock and Uhura’s relationship.
In those films, Spock might be older than Kirk. He’s a commander when Jim is a cadet. However, a simple explanation for this could be that Spock enrolled in Starfleet before Kirk, graduated early (given his intellect), and rose through the ranks. It’s the most logical concept we have.
Why Is Kirk Showing Up? – Similar To Pike In Discovery
Another idea is that Kirk’s involvement in Strange New Worlds might be similar to Pike in Discovery.
For those who don’t watch Discovery or have forgotten, here’s a recap:
When Enterprise is out of commission due to structural failure, Pike is temporarily reassigned to the Discovery as they don’t have a captain. During this time, Pike relays information to Michael, Spock’s foster sister, regarding his sudden need to take shore leave.
As time presses on, the duo, and Amanda, Spock and Michael’s mother, discover that Spock is being framed for murders he didn’t commit. Diving deeper, it’s discovered that Spock’s mental break was because of a being he calls “the Red Angel.”
The Red Angel turns out to be Gabrielle Burnham, Michael’s thought-to-be deceased mother. Control, an AI used by Section 31, has been hunting her, and it needs stopping.
Pike returns to the Enterprise with the Discovery crew, which has abandoned ship so they can blow it up. However, the detonation fails. Realising there’s no other option, Michael volunteers to take Discovery into the future where Control can’t go. Spock almost goes with her, but a last-second issue prevents him from doing so.
Jim’s involvement might be a similar case. However, we don’t believe that he’ll be “Captain” of the Enterprise. He could pop in and out of the story while commanding the other ship we mentioned earlier.
