How many people knew that James T. Kirk had a brother? It’s a little-known fact that Jim Kirk had a brother. Sam Kirk only appeared in one episode of the Original Series as a body played by William Shatner in his only other role in TOS outside of playing James T. Kirk. Sam Kirk has appeared a handful of times in Strange New Worlds, played by Dan Jeannotte. We also never thought that a Discovery spin-off would happen so fast.
We found this search inquiry in our Google Search Console data and thought we’d cover it as it is vital to what is playing out on Strange New Worlds. Moreover, we reported before the show’s premiere that Jim would appear in Season 2. This information was released early because actor Paul Wesley was seen on set, and people were questioning who he was playing.
Also, in the premiere, there, Number One mentions a Lieutenant Kirk was supposed to be joining the crew. Ultimately, it was assumed that she was talking about Jim. However, this didn’t end up being the case, as the first official photo of Jim released with the casting announcement showed him with the rank markings of Captain on his yellow command tunic’s sleeves.
We’re not great at deciphering the Star Trek timeline, and we assumed that Jim was older than Sam. However, the Memory Alpha wiki states that Sam Kirk is the older brother. The link for the page is above in the first paragraph.
Who was Sam Kirk?
As we mentioned above, Sam Kirk is the older brother of Jim Kirk, the famed Captain of the USS Enterprise. In addition, he was the oldest son of George Snr and his wife, Winona. However, unlike James, Sam Kirk would take a liking to science and eventually serve onboard the USS Enterprise alongside Spock, who would become his brother’s eventual Number One. Oh, and best friend.
Sam Kirk would eventually marry a woman named Aurelan, and they had at least three sons. Unfortunately, Sam and Aurelan would subsequently die after being attacked by flying parasites. Of Sam and Aurelan’s sons, Peter was the only one named and was the sole survivor.
When the Enterprise leaves for its five-year mission, the Kirks are present to see Jim’s departure. It has also been said that only Jim was allowed to call his brother ‘Sam.’ We got an alternate glimpse of Sam and Jim’s relationship in the season one finale.
