STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Showrunner Explains Paul Wesley's Very Different Version of James T. Kirk
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 1 finale introduced an all-new version of Captain James T. Kirk, who was played by Paul Wesley. This is a very different version of the character, and it was a little weird seeing a version of Kirk that didn’t have the classic personality of Kirk that fans are all familiar with.
In the episode, which is titled "A Quality of Mercy," Kirk crosses paths with Anson Mount’s Captain Christopher Pike in an alternate timeline. In this timeline, Pike is still in command of the U.S.S. Enterprise during the events of the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror."
There’s a reason behind this different version of Kirk and Strange New Worlds showrunner Henry Alonso Myers explains in an interview with IGN, that this Kirk is based specifically on the Kirk seen in the original "Balance of Terror" episode:
"[That version] is a little more of a shrewd, serious Kirk. What I really love about his performance is there's a kind of public persona that people imagine Kirk being that really isn't totally present except in big, big, broad moments from the Original Series. And he really tried to build it around who the character was in that moment."
In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, Myers also talked about his Kirk, explaining that this version of Kirk doesn’t really exist:
"In the season 1 finale, it's actually a Kirk that we've never seen because he doesn't really exist. It's an alternate projected timeline of something. If Pike hadn't died and he was still commanding the Enterprise, what would this world look like? Of course, it doesn't exist. It's just in his mind. So he meets Kirk, and Kirk is not captain of the Enterprise. Kirk is captain of the Farragut. Kirk has never met Spock, he's never met Uhura, he hasn't gone through all the things that the original Kirk had gone through. So, in a way, it allowed me to... I'm not gonna say whatever I wanted, but it's a looser interpretation, right? We're not sticking to a regiment. So it was a little liberating because I didn't have as much pressure. I can't talk about season 2 too much, but it's a little bit more in line with a Kirk that we know, but it's pre-Enterprise. The most important thing is, to answer your question, is to maintain that sense of Kirk having this incredible gut instinct that he relies on, that is preternaturally accurate in a way, a morality, courage, charm, humor. We don't get to see as much of that humor in the season 1 finale because there's something very intense happening. Season 2, we get to explore a little bit more of Kirk."
I’ve been enjoying the hell out of Strange New Worlds! This has been a great Star Trek series, one of the best in years. What do you all think of the show and what did you think of Wesley’s version of Kirk?