how old is kirk in star trek 2009

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Star trek: how old kirk was when he became captain (in both timelines).

James T. Kirk became Captain at a young age in both Star Trek timelines, but Chris Pine's version blows William Shatner away in terms of speed.

• James T. Kirk was the youngest Captain in Starfleet, rising fast in both timelines.
• Kirk went from Cadet to Lieutenant to full Captain in Star Trek 2009's Kelvin Timeline.
• Chris Pine's Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at just 25 years old.

Star Trek 's James T. Kirk was a young man when he became Captain of the USS Enterprise, but in the Kelvin Timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, Kirk gets his promotion a lot faster than he does in Star Trek's Prime Timeline. Introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, William Shatner portrayed the original Captain James T. Kirk, who was the hero of Star Trek: TOS for 3 seasons before he starred in 7 Star Trek movies from 1979-1994. Chris Pine took over the role of Captain Kirk in Abrams' reboot films, which resulted in a successful Star Trek trilogy from 2009-2016.

In the annals of Starfleet, the five-year mission of Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise is legendary. Along with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Kirk's Enterprise boldly explored the final frontier, initiated numerous First Contacts with new species, and saved the galaxy on several occasions. At the end of his five-year mission, Kirk was promoted to Admiral and became Chief of Starfleet Operations. However, Admiral Kirk yearned to be on the bridge of his beloved Enterprise. Star Trek: The Original Series ' movies chronicle Kirk's journey to stay in the center seat. This resulted in his demotion back to Captain, the rank James Kirk preferred and would retain until his death in Star Trek Generations . But how old was James T. Kirk when he became Captain of the Enterprise in both Star Trek timelines ?

William Shatner Kirk’s Best Line In 7 Star Trek Movies

How old william shatner's kirk was when he became enterprise captain, kirk was the youngest starship captain in starfleet.

In Star Trek 's Prime Universe's canon, James T. Kirk was born on March 22, 2233, in Iowa, and he joined Starfleet Academy in 2252. Cadet Kirk entered the Command Training Program (where he infamously cheated to beat the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario ), and he served aboard the USS Republic, where Ensign Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant. Kirk became an instructor at Starfleet Academy before he joined the crew of the USS Farragut, where Kirk became the youngest First Officer in Starfleet in 2259. In 2265, Kirk was promoted to Captain and assumed command of the USS Enterprise at the remarkable age of 32.

Lt. James T. Kirk becoming Starfleet's youngest First Officer at 26 years old beat the record set by his own father, Lt. George Kirk.

How Old Chris Pine's Kirk Was When He Became Enterprise Captain

Kirk went from cadet to captain in one mission.

William Shatner's Kirk had nothing on the improbably meteoric rise of his Kelvin timeline doppelgänger because Chris Pine's Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at 25 ! As seen in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009), Kirk was born in outer space when his father, Lieutenant George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), was killed during the USS Kelvin's encounter with the time-traveling Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana). Kirk grew up in Iowa, but it was a chance encounter with Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) in a bar in 2255 that led Jim to enlist in Starfleet. 3 years later, Cadet Kirk stowed away aboard the USS Enterprise and earned his Captaincy by saving Earth from Nero.

Chris Pine's James T. Kirk was born on January 4, 2233, in the Kelvin Timeline - 3 months before William Shatner's Kirk's birth.

It may seem like Kirk jumped directly from Cadet to Captain in Star Trek 2009, but James actually rose through the ranks throughout the film. Before Pike beamed over to Nero's ship, he shocked the crew by promoting Kirk to Acting First Officer to serve alongside Acting Captain Spock. This meant Kirk received an instant field promotion to the temporary rank of Lieutenant. Kirk later tricked Spock into stepping down from command due to being emotionally compromised from the destruction of Vulcan.

Kirk then promoted himself to Acting Captain and teamed with Spock to lead the Enterprise. After the successful defeat of Nero, Starfleet formally promoted Kirk to full Captain, and James assumed command of the Enterprise relieving the injured Captain Pike. But considering the events of Star Trek (2009) 's main story only lasted the span of a few days, Kirk was still just 25 when he went from Cadet to Lieutenant to Captain at warp speed.

When William Shatner & Chris Pine's Kirks Became Captain Of The USS Enterprise-A

There's an even greater age gap.

In Star Trek Beyond , which took place in 2363 in the Kelvin Timeline, the Starship Enterprise was destroyed and Chris Pine's Captain Kirk assumed command of the USS Enterprise-A at the age of 30. In comparison, William Shatner's Captain Kirk was 53 in 2286 when he got the Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . So, it seems nearly everything about J.J. Abrams' version of James T. Kirk was designed to consistently beat Shatner's version to the punch.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Can Show How Kirk Becomes Enterprise Captain

Kirk's promotion in the prime timeline hasn't been depicted.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds introduced Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) , the younger version of William Shatner's Kirk in the Prime Timeline. Lt. Kirk is about 26 years old in Strange New Worlds ' era (2259 onward), and James was promoted to First Officer of the USS Farragut in Strange New Worlds season 2. It's possible that Strange New Worlds could eventually end by depicting James T. Kirk's promotion to Captain and his inheriting the USS Enterprise from Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already shown Kirk's first meeting with Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and the Prime Timeline's Lt. Kirk becoming Captain Kirk could be a pivotal Star Trek event audiences will finally see.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Original Series movies are streaming on Max.

• Starfleet command personnel
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel (alternate reality)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) personnel (alternate reality)

James T. Kirk (alternate reality)

• View history

James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk was a 23rd century Human Starfleet officer . As a Starfleet cadet , he was instrumental in the defeat and death of Nero , a Romulan bent on the obliteration of the entire United Federation of Planets . As a result, he was commissioned directly to the rank of captain and appointed as commanding officer of the service's flagship , the USS Enterprise . ( Star Trek )

A year later in 2259 , Kirk faced Khan , an enhanced Human from the late 20th century with superior strength and intellect. However, the crew of the Enterprise managed to stop him, following the sacrifice of Kirk. Spock managed to capture Khan with the help of Uhura and Dr. McCoy managed to revive Kirk. Afterwards in 2260 , the Enterprise set out on the first five-year mission . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

In 2263 , during its five-year mission, the Enterprise was destroyed by Swarm ships , led by Krall , stranding the crew on Altamid . The crew and Jaylah , who was also stranded by Krall, later managed to leave the planet after repairing the USS Franklin , a ship commanded by Balthazar M. Edison that went missing in 2164 . Kirk and his crew traveled to Starbase Yorktown and stopped revenge plans put into motion by Krall, who was revealed to be Edison. Afterwards, Kirk was given command of the USS Enterprise -A and continued his five-year mission. ( Star Trek Beyond )

• 1 Early history
• 2.1.1 Stowaway
• 2.1.2 First officer
• 2.1.3 Marooned on Delta Vega
• 2.1.4 Acting captain
• 2.2.1 Year One
• 2.2.2.1 Demotion
• 2.2.2.2 Pursuing "John Harrison"
• 2.2.2.3 Qo'noS
• 2.2.2.4 Uncovering a conspiracy
• 2.2.2.5 Death and resurrection
• 2.2.3.1 In the vastness of space
• 2.2.3.2 Loss of the Enterprise
• 2.2.3.3 Altamid
• 2.2.3.4 Saving Yorktown
• 2.3.1 Continuing the five-year mission
• 3.1.1 Spock
• 3.1.2 Leonard McCoy
• 3.1.3 Nyota Uhura
• 3.1.4 Christopher Pike
• 3.1.5 Montgomery Scott
• 3.1.6 Hikaru Sulu
• 3.1.7 Pavel Chekov
• 3.2.2 Khan Noonien Singh
• 3.2.3 Alexander Marcus
• 3.2.4 Krall
• 3.3.1 Gaila
• 3.3.2 Christine Chapel
• 3.3.3 Caitian twins
• 3.3.4 Carol Marcus
• 4 Awards and honors
• 5 Key dates
• 6.1 Catch phrases
• 7.1 Appearances
• 7.2 Background information
• 7.3 Apocrypha
• 7.4 External links

Early history [ ]

Kirk moments after his birth

James Tiberius ("Jim") Kirk was the descendant of pioneers of the American frontier during the late 19th century . ( TOS : " Spectre of the Gun ") He was also the youngest brother of George Samuel Kirk . ( SNW : " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ")

The second son of Starfleet officer George Kirk – first officer of the USS Kelvin – and his wife Winona Kirk , he was born on January 4th , 2233 aboard the Kelvin 's medical shuttle no. 37 , in the midst of an unprovoked attack on the Kelvin by the Narada , a 24th century Romulan mining vessel commanded by Nero .

Winona had been evacuated from the severely crippled Kelvin , along with the rest of the crew, and gave birth to James while George Kirk died piloting the Kelvin into the Narada in a kamikaze attack . The young Kirk was named James Tiberius after Winona's father and George's father , respectively.

James T. Kirk as a child

Jim was raised in Iowa , in Midwestern North America , on Earth . His mother remarried. As a young boy, Jim had a somewhat rebellious streak in him as he once, for example, stole his stepfather 's 1965 Chevy Corvette convertible, drove it recklessly, got into a high speed chase with local police, then nearly died when he barely managed to jump out, as he drove the car into a quarry . As he grew up, he had little sense of purpose and by 2255 , he was an aimless rebel who had found himself on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion. ( Star Trek )

When Kirk was a boy, Winona told James that George had owned a PX70 motorcycle . According to Winona, George often put Winona on the back of the vehicle and it drove her nuts. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Kirk after the bar fight

While visiting a bar near the Riverside Shipyard in 2255 , an inebriated Jim met and began flirting with a Starfleet cadet named Nyota Uhura . Although annoyed by Jim's advances, Uhura was surprised that Jim knew what was involved in the study of xenolinguistics . Moments later, the twenty-two year-old Jim Kirk engaged in a bar fight with three male cadets, including Hendorff , who were irritated at his cocky attitude and the attention he was giving Uhura.

He was ultimately overwhelmed by the cadets until Captain Christopher Pike broke up the fight. Pike, who had written his dissertation on the USS Kelvin and was familiar with Jim's story, pushed the young man to challenge himself and reach the greater potential he was capable of achieving, calling him "the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest".

Pike tried to persuade him to join Starfleet , firmly believing he could do more with himself than get into bar fights and break all the laws in the state of Iowa. Kirk laughed at the idea of joining Starfleet, but Pike reassured him that, with his "off-the-chart" aptitude, he could make captain and have his own ship in only eight years. He reminded him that his father had saved eight-hundred lives, including Jim's and his mother's, and dared young Kirk to do better.

Kirk on his bike – just before enlisting in Starfleet

Soon after their conversation, and to the surprise of Pike, Jim decided to enlist with the intent of completing the Academy training in three years. He rode onto the shipyard, gave his bike to a construction worker , and boarded a shuttle for new recruits heading to Starfleet Academy . It was on his trip to the Academy where he first met and befriended Doctor Leonard McCoy .

Starfleet career [ ]

Starfleet academy [ ].

During his time at the academy, Kirk would learn of Captain Balthazar Edison and the USS Franklin , the first ship capable of Warp 4. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Kirk in Cadet's dress uniform in 2258

Kirk and McCoy became close friends at the Academy, though Kirk frequently exasperated McCoy with his maverick nature. Kirk had an eye for attractive female cadets and he once ended up in the dormitory of an Orion female cadet named Gaila . He was caught and hid under the bed when her roommate, Cadet Uhura, arrived unexpectedly. On discovering him, she angrily threw him out.

It was at the Academy that Kirk also met Commander Spock . Kirk had failed the Kobayashi Maru examination twice but decided to take it a third time, being sure that he would succeed. He eventually managed to cheat the test and won. Spock, who programmed the "no-win scenario", later investigated the matter.

While discussing his cheating ways with head of the Starfleet Academy Board Admiral Richard Barnett , Kirk argued that the test itself was a cheat, and stated that he didn't believe in the no-win scenario. Kirk asked to face his accuser, and Spock stepped up. This was the first time the two met, and they clashed over their differences.

James T. Kirk at the Academy board inquiry regarding his recent conduct

Kirk and Spock continued to engage in a heated argument (the accused becoming particularly agitated when Spock suggested that, "of all people", George Kirk's son should recognize the no-win scenario), until the hearing was suddenly interrupted after Starfleet received a distress call from Vulcan .

Stowaway [ ]

Kirk warns Pike and Spock of what awaits the Enterprise

Many of the cadets were called into action after the news but Kirk – who had been suspended because of his recent academic dishonesty charges – was not allowed to join. McCoy, however, was able to get him aboard the Enterprise by injecting him with a vaccine that temporarily rendered him sick so he could be transferred to the ship on medical grounds.

Kirk tried telling Captain Pike and Spock about Nero's attack and his trap, and with the help of McCoy and Uhura, he was able to convince Pike about the trap. Pike raised the Enterprise 's shields as they entered the Vulcan system, only to find a massive debris field of destroyed Federation starships having been attacked by Nero.

As Pike was en route to a shuttlecraft to negotiate with Nero, he appointed Kirk as acting first officer under acting captain Spock and volunteered Kirk to disable the Narada 's drill platform .

First officer [ ]

Kirk space-jumps onto the Narada 's drill platform

Along with Chief Engineer Olson and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu , Kirk skydived onto the platform. Olson was vaporized by the drill, leaving only Kirk and Sulu to disable it. Facing off against two of Nero's crew, Kirk and Sulu eventually killed both of their adversaries before destroying the platform, but not in time to prevent Nero from successfully completing his plan to destroy the planet Vulcan.

Before returning to the Enterprise , Sulu fell off the drill platform and began plummeting toward the surface of Vulcan. Kirk jumped off the platform to save him. After intercepting Sulu, Kirk had the helmsman pull his parachute, but it was knocked off, leaving them both in freefall. However, Ensign Pavel Chekov managed to compensate for Vulcan's gravitational pull and beamed both of them on board.

Kirk attempted to dissuade Commander Spock from a rendezvous with the rest of Starfleet at the Laurentian system . He urged him to go after the Narada as the ship left for Earth, rather than waste time trying to gather additional forces in the opposite direction, but Spock was relentless. When Kirk became more and more heated in his objections, Spock finally ordered Kirk's removal from the bridge , knocked him out and threw him off the ship in an escape pod .

Kirk's rank

Marooned on Delta Vega [ ]

Kirk marooned on Delta Vega

Kirk landed on Delta Vega , some fourteen kilometers away from a Starfleet outpost. Despite an inhospitable environment, he left his escape pod and soon was chased by an indigenous animal which was dispatched by an even larger predatory creature . When Kirk fled into a nearby cave, the creature was scared away by an elderly Vulcan man, who revealed himself to be Spock from a future timeline .

Though Kirk initially dismissed this as "bullshit", he changed his mind when the old man demonstrated his knowledge of Nero. The elderly Spock revealed to Kirk through a mind meld Nero's intentions, also telling him that in his timeline, Kirk was the captain of the USS Enterprise . Understanding that their only hope was to have the Enterprise pursue the Narada instead of returning to the fleet, they realized that they had to get the other Spock to step down from command.

Spock mind-melds with Kirk

Fortunately, while the Enterprise had long since left the system, Spock was aware that one of the officers at the nearby outpost was Montgomery Scott , who, in his universe , had devised a way to beam onto a ship at warp speeds . After Spock gave Scott his own equations a century ahead of schedule, Kirk was advised by Spock, before Kirk and Scott were beamed onto the Enterprise , that he needed to elicit an emotional reaction from the young Spock so that everyone could see that he was emotionally compromised and unfit for command; according to the elderly Spock, the only way to defeat Nero was for Jim to take command of the ship himself.

Acting captain [ ]

Kirk takes command of the Enterprise

Following the advice of Ambassador Spock, Kirk goaded Spock with assertions that Spock cared nothing for what had happened to Vulcan or the death of his mother , whom he accused Spock of never having loved. The last remark did the job and Spock violently attacked Kirk, nearly to the point of killing him, before Sarek stepped in and stopped him. Following Spock immediately relinquishing command. Kirk, as acting first officer, took command and ordered pursuit course of the Narada to Earth.

Kirk later beamed onto the Narada with Spock, who deferred to Kirk as captain. After an intense firefight in which they killed several Romulans, they made it to the elder Spock's ship . Upon being identified as its pilot, Spock quickly realized exactly who Kirk's unknown benefactor had been. Leaving Spock to secure the ship, Kirk went to retrieve Captain Pike.

Kirk leaps away from Romulans aboard the Narada

In searching for the captain, he encountered Nero and his first officer, Ayel . Kirk was quickly overpowered by the pair of Romulans, but when Nero, after boasting that he would kill Kirk just like he had with his father, discovered that Spock had destroyed the drill, he furiously returned to the bridge.

Initially, Kirk was no match for Ayel either, but the Romulan was overconfident and was too busy mocking his "weak" victim to notice the theft of his disruptor . Offered the chance to speak, Kirk's "last words" were " I got your gun! " and Kirk shot the Romulan Ayel point-blank in the chest. Kirk then retrieved Pike, who repaid his savior by grabbing the stolen disruptor and gunning down two Romulans walking in on the escape.

Against Spock's advice once again, Kirk decided to give Nero and his remaining crew a chance to beam to the Enterprise and surrender. After Nero strongly declined, Kirk decided to fire all weapons, and the Narada was finally destroyed in a massive black hole created by red matter it was carrying. The Enterprise was nearly destroyed as well, but Kirk had Scott eject the ship's multiple warp cores and detonate them, creating a blast wave strong enough to push the Enterprise out of danger.

Commanding the USS Enterprise [ ]

Year one [ ].

Kirk takes the Enterprise out as her new captain

Upon his return to Earth, Kirk was commissioned as an officer in the United Federation of Planets Starfleet with the serial number SC937-0176CEC . ( Star Trek Beyond ) He was commended and officially appointed as captain of the Enterprise by Admiral Barnett for his actions, which demonstrated his ability as an extremely able commanding officer fully capable of leading a Federation starship crew in the most dire of situations.

Dressed in his new captain's uniform, Kirk took command of the Enterprise . Commander Spock arrived and requested the permanent post as Kirk's first officer, which Kirk was honored to accept. He sat down in his chair and, officially as captain of the Enterprise , led his crew and ship to another adventure. ( Star Trek )

Year Two [ ]

Demotion [ ].

" Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass you are? "

A year later , Kirk violated the Prime Directive on Nibiru , saving Spock's life from a cold fusion device detonation inside a volcano . During the rescue, the Enterprise was exposed to the primitive Nibirans , who began worshiping the ship as a god. Returning to Earth, Pike informed Kirk the Admiralty headed by Alexander Marcus would be sending him back to the Academy, and that perhaps he had been promoted too soon. That night, Kirk drowned his sorrows in a bar, when Pike appeared to reveal he had convinced Marcus to let him appoint Kirk his first officer, because he still had faith in the young man. As a result, however, Kirk was demoted to the rank of commander rather than captain.

Pursuing "John Harrison" [ ]

The two then attended a summit, in the Daystrom Conference Room at Starfleet Headquarters , regarding the bombing of the Kelvin Memorial Archive in London . Marcus ordered a manhunt for the perpetrator, a rogue commander named John Harrison . Kirk analyzed surveillance of Harrison at the debris site, and questioned why Harrison bombed an archive for the information he needed. Kirk then realized Harrison would be aware protocol dictated such an attack would precipitate meetings like these: Harrison then showed up in a jumpship and opened fire.

Kirk firing a phaser rifle

Kirk wrapped a fire hose around a rifle and threw it into the jumpship 's engine, causing it to crash. Before it did, Kirk saw Harrison glaring at him and then beaming himself away. Kirk returned to the conference room to find Spock with Pike, who had died of a chest wound, and mourned his friend's death.

The next morning, Kirk was notified by Scott that Harrison had used a portable transwarp beaming device to escape to Qo'noS , the homeworld of the Klingon Empire . Kirk informed Marcus, who explained the Archive had actually been a Section 31 facility, which Harrison had needed to steal the beaming device from. Marcus reinstated Kirk's command and rank as captain, giving him permission to hunt down and execute Harrison, and allowed him to reinstate Spock as his first officer.

To execute Harrison, Marcus gave the Enterprise seventy-two advanced long-range torpedoes to bombard Harrison's location from orbit, and assigned weapons expert Carol Wallace to the Enterprise . At a hangar, McCoy expressed his belief that Harrison was out of Kirk's league, while Spock protested executing Harrison without trial was immoral. Aboard the Enterprise , Scott protested about not being allowed to examine the torpedoes, and not having time to examine the ship's warp core, which was new but faulty. Kirk accepted Scott and Keenser's resignation, and appointed Chekov to replace Scott. Dejected, Kirk decided to listen to Spock and Scott's advice, and announced they would find Harrison and bring him back for a tribunal.

Kirk pilots the confiscated K'normian ship at Kronos

Before reaching Qo'noS, the Enterprise 's warp core broke down, so Kirk took an away team with Spock, Uhura, and Hendorff, disguised as K'normian arms dealers, to find Harrison in a K'normian trading ship .

Shortly after acting captain Sulu sent a targeted comm burst from the Enterprise to Harrison's location, Kirk's ship was attacked by a Klingon patrol, and despite maneuvering it through a narrowing gate, the away team found themselves surrounded. Kirk allowed Uhura to exit the ship and negotiate with the Klingons in their native language , but they refused to listen and tried to kill her. Before Kirk and Spock could come out firing phasers, Harrison appeared and single-handedly killed all the Klingons. Kirk accepted Harrison's surrender, but spitefully punched him, only to find his continuous blows had no effect on him.

Uncovering a conspiracy [ ]

Kirk and Spock confront a captured John Harrison in 2259

In the ship's brig , Kirk and Spock interrogated Harrison while Bones took a blood sample, which he studied by injecting into a dead tribble . Harrison only responded by giving Kirk a set of coordinates, and advised the captain to open one of the torpedoes. Spock informed Kirk that Wallace could examine the torpedoes, and also told the captain that he had learned she was actually Admiral Marcus' daughter, a fact Spock had chosen to reveal at that precise point because he felt the information had just become relevant. Kirk also called Scott via a communicator and asked him to investigate the coordinates.

McCoy and Carol Marcus took a shuttle to a meteor to examine a torpedo, but McCoy accidentally activated the countdown and trapped his hand in the device. Kirk ordered to beam them up, but was warned by Spock that beaming up McCoy would also beam up an exploding torpedo. Fortunately, Kirk avoided losing his friend when Carol deactivated the device with less than three seconds to spare. The torpedo finally opened up, and the two officers found it contained a man in cryogenic stasis .

Admiral Marcus dresses down Kirk over the viewscreen

Kirk interrogated Harrison again, who explained he had placed people in torpedoes to smuggle them before he was caught. He revealed he was actually the infamous Khan Noonien Singh, recruited by Admiral Marcus under a new identity to design weaponry and ships for war against the Klingons, and that the frozen people were his fellow Augments , whom the admiral had held hostage. Marcus suddenly showed up in a Dreadnought -class ship, the USS Vengeance , demanding Kirk hand over Harrison. Kirk revealed he knew the truth, and defied the admiral by having Sulu warp the Enterprise back to Earth, where Khan would stand trial and expose the conspiracy. However, the Vengeance was capable of catching up with the Enterprise in subspace and fired on the ship, halting it as it arrived near Earth and the planet's moon .

After Carol tried to bargain with her father but was simply beamed by him over to his ship, Kirk tried to hand himself over to protect his own crew, but Marcus explained he had no intention of letting anyone in on the plot survive. Before the Vengeance could finish off the Enterprise , its weaponry suddenly deactivated. Scott called Kirk, explaining he had stowed away aboard the Vengeance at the coordinates given by Khan, buying them some time. Kirk, realizing Khan had designed the ship, allied himself with him, and the two donned thruster suits to fly over and commandeer the vessel. Khan's formidable strength was an asset in dispatching any guards they encountered, but Kirk was suspicious of Khan's motives and ordered Scott to shoot him unconscious later.

Kirk, Scotty, and Khan run through the corridors of the Vengeance

When they reached the bridge, Kirk confronted Marcus over his betrayal of Starfleet's ideals. However, Scott's attempt to stun Khan did not affect him, and the Augment tackled Scott and Kirk before proceeding to kill Marcus and take the command chair . Khan ordered Spock to hand over the torpedoes, which he complied with, and in return he beamed Kirk, Scott, and Carol into the Enterprise brig .

Khan then turned on Spock, bombarding the Enterprise once more. Spock, who had the cryopods removed from the torpedoes, ordered them to be detonated, severely crippling the Vengeance ; the shockwave caused both ships to be pulled by Earth's gravity. Kirk and Scott ran to the warp core, trying to avoid falling to their deaths due to the Enterprise 's failing artificial gravity .

Death and resurrection [ ]

The death of James Kirk

Once they reached the Enterprise 's warp core, Scott warned entering it would flood the chamber with radiation, but as there was no time to put on a containment suit, Kirk knocked out Scott and secured him with a seat belt before entering the warp core. Kirk knocked the central component back in place, restoring power to the engines and preventing the Enterprise from crashing.

Meanwhile, Khan crashed the Vengeance into Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco . Scott woke up and called Spock to come to the area outside the warp core chamber, where Spock saw Jim dying from radiation poisoning . Jim bid goodbye to his friend, displaying the Vulcan salute with his hand on a glass door, then died. He heard the voices of his father, mother and Pike as he neared death.

Following decontamination, Kirk was taken to the Enterprise 's medbay, where McCoy and others silently mourned the loss of their captain. McCoy noticed the tribble he had injected with Khan's blood had come back to life, and realizing how to save Kirk's life, ordered his body be placed in a cryotube to preserve his brain functions. Spock and Uhura beamed down and apprehended Khan, enabling McCoy to create a serum from Khan's blood, which resurrected Kirk. However, the effects of the serum left Kirk unconscious for two weeks, after which he awoke in Starfleet Medical and was greeted by McCoy and Spock.

The five-year mission [ ]

Kirk giving his speech

Nearly a year after his death and resurrection, Kirk presided over the rechristening ceremony of the Enterprise and a memorial service to those who lost their lives in terrorist acts committed by Khan, before setting off on Starfleet's first five-year mission . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

In the vastness of space [ ]

Three years later , Kirk was helping to negotiate peace between the Teenaxi Delegation and the Fibonan Republic , working as a neutral representative by presenting the Teenaxi with a dismantled weapon as a token of peace. Suspicious of the Fibonans, the Teenaxi attacked Kirk – though due to their diminutive stature, Kirk was mostly unharmed and was quickly beamed back to the Enterprise by Scotty.

Kirk and McCoy remember George Kirk in 2263

In his captain's log following the mission, Kirk expressed his frustrations with life aboard the Enterprise this far into its mission, stating he felt as though life had become "episodic." Near his thirtieth birthday , Kirk confided in McCoy over a drink, divulging that he now questioned his own motives for having joined Starfleet, as he had done so on Pike's dare, rather than because of a strong belief in the organization on his own behalf. Kirk was further upset by the fact that he would be turning one year older than George had been at the time of his death.

Due to these frustrations, Kirk applied for a promotion , seeking the position of vice admiral at Starbase Yorktown , when the Enterprise docked there for resupply.

Loss of the Enterprise [ ]

Kirk commands the Enterprise in battle at Altamid

After Kalara arrived at Yorktown and claimed her ship had crashed on planet Altamid in the Necro Cloud , Kirk volunteered the Enterprise for a mission to rescue the survivors. Once the craft traversed the unstable nebula, a massive cluster of unidentified ships was detected, approaching the Enterprise . Kirk quickly realized something was amiss and raised the shields before the oncoming Swarm ships began to dismantle the Enterprise , causing multiple hull breaches and severing the nacelles.

Kirk discovered the enemy was seeking the weapon he had tried to present to the Teenaxi, so he gave the artifact to Ensign Syl before the leader of the Swarm , Krall , could steal it. Realizing the ship's destruction was imminent, Kirk ordered the Enterprise crew to abandon ship. Kirk then attempted to execute a saucer separation , so the saucer section could safely land on the surface of Altamid. Kirk, however, ran into Krall and the two fought, but Uhura finally managed to sever the saucer section, sending Kirk to the surface of the nearby planet.

Altamid [ ]

Witnessing the crash of the Enterprise on Altamid

On the planet's surface, Kirk landed near where Chekov and Kalara also landed. Furious, Kirk confronted Kalara, realizing she had known the Enterprise would be attacked. She revealed Krall had kidnapped her crew and threatened to kill those personnel, unless she helped. Realizing they needed to locate the rest of the survivors from the Enterprise , the three went to the site where the vessel's saucer section had crashed, and they scanned for crewmembers there.

Kirk went to where he claimed to have left the weapon but was attacked by Kalara, who revealed she had been working for Krall all along and proceeded to contact him to let him know she had the weapon. Kirk, however, deceived her, having Chekov trace her communication to Krall. They were both attacked by his troops but escaped by activating the Enterprise thrusters, causing an explosion which in turn killed Kalara and thrust Kirk and Chekov through the air as they made their getaway.

The next morning, Kirk and Chekov walked into one of multiple traps prepared by Jaylah , a scavenger who was living on the planet, but they were freed after Scotty told her they were friends of his. Jaylah revealed she had made the wreckage of a 22nd century Federation starship – the USS Franklin – her home and, using the scanners, Kirk was able to locate Spock and McCoy, and beam them to the ship before Krall's drones were able to kill them.

Kirk helped treat an injured Spock, while he revealed that the weapon had come from Altamid. Using the trace from Kalara's communication and pinpointing it with a Vulcan amulet Spock had given Uhura, Kirk's team was able to learn the exact location of their former shipmates and formulate a plan to not only rescue them but also stop Krall before he attacked Yorktown.

Kirk saves the Enterprise crew on one of the Franklin 's motorcycles

Using a motorcycle from the Franklin and holographic technology from Jaylah, Kirk managed to distract Krall so that Spock and Jaylah were able to escape with the rest of the surviving Starfleet officers. Once they were all aboard the Franklin , Kirk, at the last second, managed to rescue Jaylah and get her back to the ship. While Krall left for Yorktown, Kirk and the crew followed on the Franklin .

Saving Yorktown [ ]

Kirk and the rest of the senior staff from the Enterprise , onboard the Franklin

When they arrived at Yorktown, Krall had nearly penetrated the base's defenses. Spock and Scotty realized they had to disrupt the communications between the drones in order to prevent the attack. As a result, Kirk ordered McCoy and Spock to transport onto one of the ships, in order to hack into the Swarm's frequency using a music player from the Franklin . They sent out a classical song over the frequency, rendering the drones unable to cooperate with each other and causing the destruction of all but three of the ships, one of which was being flown by Krall.

The Franklin pursued his ship into the base and was able to block Krall's attack, causing him to crash into the Franklin , presumably killing him. Kirk searched the ship with Uhura, for confirmation, but during the search, Uhura discovered a recording of the original Franklin crew and deduced from the footage that the captain of the ship, Balthazar Edison, was Krall. By looking at his file, they discovered he had been a soldier who fought during the Xindi and the Romulan Wars , after which he had been given command of the Franklin . He had slowly started to despise the Federation's views and had slowly gone insane in the century after the ship went missing.

" I think you're underestimating Humanity. "

Scotty and Jaylah realized that Edison was going to release the weapon in the base's ventilation system, killing the base's inhabitants. Confronting the now-disfigured Edison in the ventilation hub, Kirk revealed to him that he knew who he was. Kirk also tried to persuade Edison that he was underestimating humanity and that the Federation was a cause of good.

While the hub lost gravity, Kirk fought Edison, seized the bioweapon from him, and attempted to eject it into space by opening an airlock . Kirk was attempting to open it when Edison regained his strength; he continued to fight Kirk but was ultimately ejected into space with the weapon, which then killed him. Kirk was nearly sucked out as well but was spared by the timely rescue of Spock and McCoy. Kirk and Commodore Paris then closed files on the Franklin 's late crew.

Commanding the USS Enterprise -A [ ]

Continuing the five-year mission [ ].

Kirk, McCoy and Spock watch the Enterprise -A under construction

Having gained a new insight into himself and his motives in the confrontation with Krall, Kirk declined the promotion to vice admiral and decided to remain the commanding officer of the Enterprise . Some time later, while the crew was on shore leave at Yorktown, the crew surprised Kirk with a birthday celebration at which he and his crew looked out onto the construction of the brand new USS Enterprise -A . After its completion, Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise -A resumed their five-year mission. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Relationships [ ]

Friendships [ ].

Kirk and Spock on the bridge of the Enterprise

Kirk initially had a largely antagonistic relationship with Spock , mainly due to their vastly different philosophies and approaches to command. The frictions began first at Starfleet Academy, when Kirk cheated on the Kobayashi Maru test Spock had designed.

The discord between Kirk and Spock continued when the disparate pair worked side by side on the USS Enterprise and Kirk was put in charge as second in command by Captain Pike. Tensions between the two culminated in Spock throwing Kirk off the ship altogether.

However, their attitudes towards each other softened after Kirk had an encounter with an older version of Spock from an alternate future, who revealed that in fact the two had shared a great friendship in his timeline. Upon returning to the Enterprise , Kirk goaded Spock into revealing his emotional instability. Kirk, as a result, was nearly killed by a raging Spock before the latter did exactly as Kirk wanted and stepped down, putting Kirk in charge of the ship. Once Spock had regained emotional equilibrium, Kirk insisted on teaming up with Spock on an away mission to the Narada and Spock deferred to Kirk's command.

Kirk and Spock in the cockpit of the Jellyfish

From then on, the two worked as a team to stop Nero and rescue Pike, with Spock trusting Kirk to watch his back and even calling him "Jim" at one point. After Spock learned how important their friendship was from Spock Prime, Kirk happily accepted an offer from Spock to serve as the Enterprise 's first officer. ( Star Trek )

Kirk and Spock share a moment of friendship before Kirk's apparent death

A year later , Kirk fell out with Spock because Spock filed the mission report that caused Kirk's demotion, although Kirk's actions leading to this decision had been done to save Spock's life; Spock was more concerned with fulfilling Starfleet regulations than with sentimental notions, though he was relieved that Kirk was just demoted and not more severely punished. When split up, Kirk told Spock he'd miss him but this left Spock speechless, which somewhat annoyed Kirk.

However, Kirk wanted Spock reinstated as his first officer after Pike's death. Kirk later explained to Spock that the reason he had saved Spock's life was that he had come to see Spock as a friend (The real reason Kirk covered up his violation was most likely to protect Spock from the consequences). By this point, Spock had come to return the sentiment and was so upset by Kirk's impending death that he lost his temper and nearly killed Khan in revenge, until he learned that Khan's blood would save Kirk. Kirk and Spock also realized they each had handled the situation in the way the other would: Kirk sacrificed himself for the greater good, whereas Spock used unorthodox tactics to defeat the enemy. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Nine hundred and sixty-six days into their five-year mission, both Kirk and Spock wished to leave the Enterprise – Kirk because he believed he needed stability to figure out who he truly was, and Spock because he wanted to leave Starfleet altogether and move to New Vulcan to help his species. After Spock saved Kirk's life, though, Kirk questioned what he himself would do without Spock as an ally, Kirk coming to the realization that he needed Spock.

Whereas Spock chose to remain in Starfleet, Kirk took back his application to vice admiral on Starbase Yorktown in order to remain on the Enterprise . The two were also shown to retain an amicable relationship and understanding of each other. Notably, while Kirk didn't want Spock on the away team to rescue the Enterprise crewmembers as he was injured, Spock requested to go as Uhura was amongst those trapped. While telling Kirk this, Spock once more called him "Jim" and Kirk agreed to let him go. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Leonard McCoy [ ]

Bones and Kirk as Starfleet cadets

Kirk and McCoy met on the transport shuttle Bardeen , which was headed to Starfleet Academy. The pair found themselves in adjacent seats where a slightly neurotic McCoy instantly opened up to the rebellious and somewhat incredulous Kirk. The two remained good friends throughout their time together at the Academy. Kirk began calling McCoy the nickname of " Bones " as the doctor had informed him when they first met that his ex-wife took everything in their divorce ; all he had left was his bones.

When the time came, McCoy always had Kirk's back, such as helping him get aboard the Enterprise after his suspension and berating Spock for throwing Kirk off the ship and marooning him on Delta Vega . Despite this, McCoy berated him for forcing Spock to resign command and responded with "you gotta be kidding me!" when he learned Kirk was first officer and thus the one to take command. ( Star Trek )

A year later, McCoy accompanied Kirk to Nibiru and they both ran away from the planet's angry natives when Kirk stole their sacred scroll. They both jumped off of a cliff into the ocean during the pursuit and swam to the Enterprise , much to McCoy's chagrin. Later, after Kirk was caught in John's Harrison's attack on Starfleet Headquarters, McCoy tried many times to scan Kirk for injuries, but Kirk ignored him, even when McCoy told him his vital signs were way off.

When the Enterprise arrived at Qo'noS to apprehend Harrison, McCoy inundated Kirk with metaphors – when the Enterprise 's warp core malfunctioned, " you don't rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat tire ", or when Sulu took command, " you just sat that man down at a high-stakes poker game with no cards and told him to bluff. " Kirk asked McCoy to dispense with the metaphors, calling it an order. Following this, Kirk was killed while sacrificing himself repairing the warp core to save his crew. McCoy was saddened at the death of his friend but noticed that the dead tribble he injected with Khan's blood was alive again. McCoy had Kirk put in stasis and later performed a blood transfusion, which saved Kirk's life. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Three years into the five-year mission, McCoy and Kirk shared a drink to commemorate Kirk's birthday. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Nyota Uhura [ ]

Kirk vents his frustrations for Spock to Uhura

Kirk first met Nyota Uhura at a bar in Iowa in 2255 , audaciously flirting with her while intoxicated, angering some other Starfleet cadet patrons of the bar, resulting in a fight. He met her again when the two studied at Starfleet Academy, although she preferred to keep a distance from him – not even ever telling him her first name – as she saw him as brash and uncouth. Trying to learn Uhura's first name became almost a mission for him.

The pair ended up serving together aboard the Enterprise , but she continued to maintain her distance from him. It was Kirk and his need for a xenolinguist that got her stationed on the bridge. Over the course of the mission, she gained some respect for him though was not pleased with his tactic of forcing Spock to relinquish command. Uhura was the first to call Kirk Captain, though it was sarcastically done. When Kirk was granted permanent command of the Enterprise , he chose Uhura as one of his senior officers. He also appeared stunned that her first name was Nyota. ( Star Trek )

Over time, her discomfort vanished and she began to show unwavering loyalty to her new captain. The two developed a friendship to the point that Uhura confided in him her relationship troubles with Spock. When Pike was killed, Uhura sincerely offered her condolences and concern for the captain. When Kirk died, Uhura cried and helped Spock bring Khan down while preventing him from killing him so they could save Kirk. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Over the next few years, the two maintained a close friendship and Uhura was shown to have a great loyalty to Kirk. During the Battle of Altamid , Uhura rushed to Kirk's aid when she realized he was in danger, risking her life to aid him in performing a saucer separation . In the face of Krall , Uhura showed absolute confidence Kirk would come for them and wouldn't leave his crew behind. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Christopher Pike [ ]

Kirk and Pike share a drink at a San Francisco dive

Christopher Pike and James T. Kirk developed a father-son relationship. Pike was the one who convinced Kirk to enlist in Starfleet and to make something of himself. He had once written a dissertation on the loss of the USS Kelvin , which Kirk had read at some point. ( Star Trek )

Even after Pike had to demote Kirk for contravening regulations, Pike wanted Kirk as his own first officer and did his best to encourage Kirk despite this setback. Kirk was later informed that Pike had done a lot to speak in Kirk's favor during the aforementioned disciplinary hearing.

When Khan Noonien Singh attacked the meeting of Starfleet brass in San Francisco , Pike was killed, and Kirk was distraught, weeping at the loss of his mentor and becoming consumed with vengeance. However, Kirk later recalled Pike having made him swear to the Captain's Oath , and how it called him to be an explorer, not an executioner. He later let go of his vengeance and arrested Khan instead in honor of Pike. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Nearly four years after Pike's death, Kirk reflected on his decision to join Starfleet on Pike's "dare" and considered giving up his command for a position at Starbase Yorktown , though he ultimately chose to remain and command the USS Enterprise -A . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Montgomery Scott [ ]

Kirk's relationship with Montgomery Scott began after he met the future Enterprise chief engineer on the planet Delta Vega . While marooned on Delta Vega, Kirk unwittingly sought, with the help of the future Spock , the Scotsman's help to return to the USS Enterprise while it was still warping to rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian system . He quickly learned that Scott was wiser than he lead on, after first impressions belied the fact that he had begun to postulate the theory of transwarp beaming while still on active duty (misplacing Admiral Archer 's beagle Porthos in the process, earning his isolation to Delta Vega).

Kirk and Scotty in the engine room of the Enterprise in 2259

With the aid of his transwarp beaming theory (and the future Spock) Kirk, along with Scott, managed to beam aboard the Enterprise , which was mid warp flight. Once on board the Enterprise , Scott had been inadvertently beamed straight into the ship's internal water recycling system. Following quick work by Kirk, Scott was freed, and they both tried to make their way out of engineering, only to be captured by security officers, sent by Spock, who was on the bridge.

Once on the bridge of the Enterprise , Scott was witness to Kirk's field promotion to captain, and was then instrumental in the efforts to sneak up on the war criminal Nero's ship, by helping to increase warp speed to factor 4 and to beam both Kirk and the newly-reinstated Spock onto the Narada while in the moon Titan's upper atmosphere. ( Star Trek )

A year later , Scott and Kirk had somewhat of a falling out over what to do with the torpedoes that were given to the Enterprise by Admiral Marcus . But following the defeat of Khan and the death of Admiral Marcus, Scott returned to his post as chief engineer on the Enterprise . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Hikaru Sulu [ ]

Kirk and Sulu safe after free falling on Vulcan

Kirk seemed to have been surprised at Hikaru Sulu 's special training in close-hand combat, specializing in fencing . Kirk committed a selfless act when he dove off the drill platform to save Hikaru Sulu from death on Vulcan. When Kirk appointed himself as acting captain, Sulu reminded everyone that he was already first officer and therefore was able to take over the Captain's position on the Enterprise . Following the defeat of Nero, Sulu was assigned to the Enterprise as Helmsman under Kirk's command. ( Star Trek )

A year later , Kirk showed confidence in Sulu's leadership skills and left him in command of the Enterprise while Kirk led an away team to apprehend John Harrison. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Three years into the five-year mission, Kirk once again put Sulu briefly in command when the Enterprise engaged in battle with Krall's forces. Kirk and Sulu were among the last officers to leave the bridge when the destruction of the Enterprise was imminent. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Pavel Chekov [ ]

Kirk first met Pavel Chekov in 2258 when he smuggled on board the USS Enterprise . When Kirk took command of the ship after Spock stepped down due to his being emotionally compromised, he took young Chekov's suggestion that the Enterprise beam crewmembers aboard the Narada from the ship, using the magnetic distortion from Saturn 's rings to hide it from the enemy's sensors. ( Star Trek )

A year later , after Scott to resigned his duties over objections to the John Harrison manhunt, Kirk had enough confidence in Chekov to make him acting chief engineer . When the Enterprise was severely damaged, Chekov saved Kirk and Scott from falling to their deaths. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Kirk and Chekov on Altamid

Several years later, following the destruction of the Enterprise at Atlamid, Kirk and Chekov banded together on the planet's surface. Suspicious of the alien called Kalara, Kirk had Chekov track her transmission, ultimately leading to the discovery of Krall's base of operations. Barely escaping the wreck of the Enterprise , Kirk and Chekov made their way through the forests of Altamid together before becoming caught in Jaylah's booby traps set outside the wreck of the USS Franklin . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Enemies [ ]

Nero killed Kirk's father George in 2233 . Despite this, Kirk was willing to offer assistance to his father's killer when his ship was caught in between a black hole created by the remaining red matter. However, the Romulan refused his assistance and stated that he'd "rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times" and "die in agony". Kirk obliged him by completing the destruction of the Narada as it was consumed by the black hole. ( Star Trek )

Khan Noonien Singh [ ]

"The enemy of my enemy" - Kirk strikes a deal with Khan

Under the identity of John Harrison, Khan killed Christopher Pike and other members of Starfleet in 2259 , causing Kirk to seek revenge. Eventually capturing Khan, Kirk soon learned of his true identity and the fact that he had aided Admiral Marcus in the building of Starfleet weapons.

Kirk decided to team up with Khan to stop Marcus, though Khan eventually betrayed Kirk to overtake the USS Vengeance . After Khan killed Marcus and attacked the Enterprise , Kirk sacrificed himself to save the crew. Khan was eventually captured, due to efforts by Spock and Uhura, and put back into suspended animation. Kirk was soon revived using Khan's blood, which was administered to Kirk by McCoy. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Alexander Marcus [ ]

Despite Marcus's demotion of Kirk, in their early meetings the two had what could have been described as grandfather-grandson relationship. However, after Khan confessed his role in the Admiral's plot to wage war with the Klingons, Kirk began to doubt the Admiral and viewed him as a war criminal. Marcus himself did not have an antagonistic relationship with Kirk until the Captain lied and tried to warp Khan and the Enterprise to Earth, though he later outright admitted that he was going to kill him and the Enterprise's crew from the start of the mission he assigned them to.

To cover up the conspiracy, Marcus branded Kirk as "having gone rogue" when he attempted to warn Starfleet. Their last meeting occurred when Kirk tried to arrest him for high treason, with the Admiral openly mocking Kirk's naivete. The relationship ended when Khan crushed Marcus' skull in revenge for treating him like a slave. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Kirk fights Krall at Yorktown

In 2263 , Balthazar M. Edison , once the commanding officer of the USS Franklin and later known as Krall, attacked the Enterprise , destroying it with the help of his Swarm ships and stranding the crew on Altamid . Krall had been stranded on the planet after his ship went missing in the 2160s and had planned revenge by attacking Starbase Yorktown . Kirk and his crew, with the help of Jaylah , managed to find and repair the Franklin , traveling to Starbase Yorktown and putting a stop to Krall's plans to destroy it. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Romances [ ]

Kirk seduces fellow cadet Gaila

Kirk had a relationship with Gaila , Uhura's Orion roommate at the Academy. However, when she professed her love for him in bed, he responded it was "weird". ( Star Trek )

Christine Chapel [ ]

Kirk also had a relationship with Christine Chapel , a Human nurse. After it ended, she moved from the Enterprise to nurse on the outer frontier. When Carol Marcus brought her up in a conversation, he did not seem to remember her. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Caitian twins [ ]

On his return to Earth in 2259 , Kirk slept with Caitian twin sisters in his apartment . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Carol Marcus [ ]

Kirk talking to Carol Marcus

Kirk had an obvious and mutual attraction to Carol Marcus upon their first meeting and personally, and somewhat awkwardly, welcomed her aboard when she was permanently assigned to the Enterprise for the first five-year mission a year later . ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) However, she was no longer serving onboard the ship three years later . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Awards and honors [ ]

For his role in saving Earth from Nero's attack, Kirk was awarded a medal and assigned to the USS Enterprise as Pike's relief. ( Star Trek )

Key dates [ ]

• 2233 : Born on Medical shuttle 37 that was attached to the late USS Kelvin
• 2233 – 2255 : Raised in Iowa
• 2255– 2258 : Cadet / lieutenant at Starfleet Academy
• Appointed acting first officer of the USS Enterprise
• Elevated to acting captain of the USS Enterprise
• Appointed captain of the USS Enterprise
• Demoted to first officer of the Enterprise
• Demoted to commander
• Reinstated to captain to hunt John Harrison, revealed to be Khan Noonien Singh
• Poisoned saving the Enterprise and crew, but revived with Khan's blood
• Attends the re- christening ceremony of the Enterprise
• Sets off on first five-year mission
• Applies for promotion as vice admiral
• Attacked by Krall and the Swarm, leaving the Enterprise destroyed
• Takes command of the USS Franklin and defeats the Swarm
• Fights Krall on Starbase Yorktown and manages to defeat him
• Declines promotion to vice admiral and decides to continue five-year mission aboard the USS Enterprise -A

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Citizen, what is your name? " " My name is James Tiberius Kirk! "

" If you don't give me a name, I'm gonna have to make one up. " " It's Uhura. " " Uhura? No way! That's the name I was gonna make up for you! "

" I'm impressed. For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals. " " Well, not only... "

" Do you like being the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest? " " Maybe I love it. "

" Four years ? I'll do it in three . "

" Two Klingon vessels have entered the neutral zone and are locking weapons on us. " " That's ok. " " That's ok?! " " Yeah, don't worry about it."

" I don't believe in no-win scenarios . "

" Who was that pointy-eared bastard anyway? " " I don't know. But I like him. "

" I am Spock. " (Pause) " Bullshit. "

" You gotta be kidding! " " Thanks for the support. "

" Attention crew of the Enterprise , this is James Kirk. Mr. Spock has resigned commission and advanced me to acting captain . I know you are all expecting to regroup with the fleet, but I'm ordering a pursuit course of the enemy ship to Earth. I want all departments at battle stations and ready in ten minutes. Either we're going down... or they are. Kirk out. "

" Your species is even weaker than I expected... You can't even speak ... What? " " I got your gun! "

" What're you doin' here? " " Just following orders. "

" I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony, than accept assistance from you. " " You got it. Arm phasers, fire everything we've got. "

" Bones... buckle up! "

" If Spock were here, and I were there, what would he do? " " He'd let you die. "

" I gave you my ship because I saw a greatness in you. And now, I see you haven't got an ounce of humility. "

" That's your problem, you think you're infallible! You think you can't make a mistake. It's a pattern with you! The rules are for other people! " " Some should be. " " And what's worse is you using blind luck to justify your playing god! "

" I said if anyone deserves a second chance, it's Jim Kirk. " " I don't know what to say. " " That is a first.... It's gonna be okay, son. "

" Where I come from, if someone saves your life, you don't stab them in the back."

" CLEAR THE ROOM! "

" On behalf of Christopher Pike – my friend – I accept your surrender. "

" Let me explain what's happening here. You are a criminal . I watched you murder innocent men and women. I was authorized to end you...and the only reason why you are still alive, is because I am allowing it. So SHUT... YOUR... MOUTH! "

" Sir, My crew was just... was just following my orders. I take... I take full responsibility for my actions. But they were mine and they were mine alone. If I transmit Khan's location to you now, all that I ask is that you spare them. Please, sir. I'll do anything you want. Just let them live. "

" I'm sorry. "

" You're right! What I'm about to do, it doesn't make sense, it's not logical, it is a gut feeling! I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I only know what I can do. The Enterprise and her crew needs someone in that chair who knows what he's doing. And it's not me. It's you, Spock. "

" I'm scared, Spock. Help me not be. "

" There will always be those who mean to do us harm. To stop them, we risk awakening the same evil within ourselves. Our first instinct is to seek revenge when those we love are taken from us. But that's not who we are. We are here today to rechristen to USS Enterprise, and to honor those who lost their lives... nearly one year ago. When Christopher Pike first gave me his ship, he had me recite the Captain's Oath. Words I didn't appreciate at the time. But now I see them as a call for us to remember who we once were and who we must be again. And those words... "

" Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise . Her five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. "

" Where shall we go? " " As a mission of this duration has never been attempted – I defer to your good judgment, captain. "

" Just another day in the 'Fleet. "

" Do you believe every sad story you hear? " " Not every. "

" What did Krall want with this thing? " " To save you...from yourselves. "

" Mr. Sulu. You can... you know... fly this thing, right? " " You kidding me, sir? "

" Let's make some noise "

" That's a good choice "

" I think you underestimate humanity. " " I fought for Humanity! Lost millions to the Xindi and Romulan wars. And for what? For the Federation?! To sit me in a Captain's chair and break bread with the enemy! " " We change. We have to. Or we spend the rest of our lives fighting the same battles. ".

" You lost. There's no way for you to make it back there! Give up! " " What, like you did? I read your ship's log Captain James T. Kirk. At least I know what I am! I'm a soldier! " " You won the war, Edison. You gave us peace! " " Peace...is not what I was born into. "

" You...can't stop it. You will die. " " Better to die saving lives, than to live with taking them. That's what I was born into. "

" Vice Admirals don't fly, do they? " " No. They don't. " " Well, no offense, ma'am, but where's the fun in that? "

" To the Enterprise ... and to absent friends. "

Catch phrases [ ]

" Take us out."

" Attention, crew of the Enterprise . "

" You have the conn. "

" My name is James Tiberius Kirk. "

" Lieutenant Uhura, open a ship-wide channel. "

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• Star Trek (First appearance)
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Background information [ ]

Joshua Greene as Kirk

James T. Kirk was portrayed by Chris Pine . Young Kirk was portrayed by Jimmy Bennett . Newborn Kirk was portrayed by a silicone puppet. [13] For the scene in which Kirk runs into a cave on Delta Vega, child actor Joshua Greene served as body double for Pine, with the producers arranging for Greene to momentarily play Kirk so the entrance of the cave would look bigger.

Chris Pine repeatedly auditioned for the role of the alternate reality Kirk, not caring much if he got the assignment to play him. " I auditioned for it in spring 2007 , just bombed the audition, and didn't think twice about it, " Pine remembered. " I knew it was for Star Trek , but I didn't have much interest in it [....] Just like many auditions, you go in, you bomb it, you move on and that's life. Then about five months later, I come back from doing a couple of small movies back to back, and my agent asked me if I wanted to come in. Again I didn't have much interest in doing it, [...] [but] I went in and auditioned. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) Pine, after describing himself as "just not a sci-fi guy," continued, " I didn't want to talk about phasers and thrusters and all that kind of stuff! " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 54)

Before making his on-screen debut as Kirk, Pine consulted the originator of the part, William Shatner . " I wrote him a letter when I originally got the role, in which I just basically said that I wasn't trying to take over his role , " Pine explained. " I understood the big shoes I was stepping into, and that I would never want to offend him by doing the character an injustice [....] I just wanted to do as good a job as he'd done. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) Shatner replied, hopeful Pine would be successful in the forthcoming movie. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ; Star Trek Magazine  issue 140 )

Pine has said in the past that he was influenced in part by Harrison Ford's acting in " Star Wars " and " Indiana Jones ", as well as Tom Cruise's acting in "Top Gun" . [14] [15]

While Chris Pine was beginning to play Kirk, J.J. Abrams helped him with the part, allowing Pine a great deal of free reign in portraying the character. " It made me feel a little bit safer, " admitted the actor, " that I wasn't originating the role; I was merely taking it over for a little bit to see what I could do with it. Ironically, there is some safety in that. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) On the other hand, Pine also related that he actually never felt as though he was borrowing the role, but that he always felt he owned it. ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55) " Whatever issues I might have had about stepping into such an iconic role, into a piece that has already been done, and done well, by many others, " he went on, " was laid to rest by this man [Abrams], who at the get go told me that he wanted to create something new [....] I was not to worry about trying to mimic Mr. Shatner, but to create something new and different and unique. That was really exciting and really fun to be around. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) Indeed, being permitted such a degree of freedom with the character prevented Pine from ever feeling an overbearing sense of responsibility. " I hope I brought everything that I could to the role [....] I certainly felt a responsibility to do justice to what Mr. Shatner did, but I never felt like I had to in some way impersonate the Kirk that he embodied. Really, at the end of the day, I think I would have been doing an injustice to the story, and to my fellow actors, if I was trying to figure out some genius way of impersonating William Shatner, because then it would become an impersonation, not an original incarnation, " Pine reckoned. " My version of the character people would have been taking apart to see how I was trying to achieve that perfect mimicry, whereas it shouldn't be like that. It should be about the story, so I had to throw caution to the wind and say, 'Screw it, here it is, here's my version of it.' I understand that it's a lose-lose situation in many ways, because I know some people are going to want to see a younger version of Mr. Shatner. I am not that, because I am simply not William Shatner. I'm my own person. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 11) Despite decidedly not impersonating Shatner's take on Kirk, Pine noted, " I thought it was necessary to pay tribute to that. " As such, he actually infused his own version of the character with some of Shatner's performance attributes, especially his humor from Star Trek: The Original Series . ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 20) " It was fun in the first one to throw in little peppers of Shatner, " Pine reminisced, " because he's so fun. That makes people smile. But J.J. never wanted that. He told me specifically not to do that. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55)

What Pine has based his portrayal of Kirk on more are the scripted depictions of him. Thus, the actor explained, " I think of Kirk as less of an iconic character and more as a character given to me on the written page. I used my script as my 'bible', and tried to make sense from that. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 20) He later recalled about how he was able to adopt such a well-established role, " I just had to look at the script and say, 'If this script was attached to no other iconography or mythology, how would I do it?' I'd just have to create the character that I was given. The guy that I was given was a real maverick, kind of a pain in the ass, a lot of fun… He's the classic rogue. He had no attachment in my mind to any other character named Jim Kirk. He was just the guy in that particular script – which gave me a lot of freedom to do whatever I wanted. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55)

When adopting the part, it was important to Pine that Kirk be depicted as a relatable Human. " Kirk's interesting because he is the Everyman presented with an unbelievably epic, daunting task, an opportunity, a challenge, and he has a very difficult choice to make. It just happens it's one of the big ones, like 'try to save planet Earth' kind of thing. I think what's great about it is he's insecure, he's damaged, he's cocky, he is brash. He is all these things at once, and he's a hero, but a very human hero, " the actor commented. " Anyone looking at it can see themselves in James T. Kirk. That's what was great about it. It wasn't far from myself, and I don't think the character is far from anybody. When presented with a great challenge, it's your choice to either step up to it, and try to take it on head first, or not. You try to do the best you can. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 )

Regarding how Kirk is presented in the film Star Trek , Chris Pine believed that, rather than be suddenly given a direction for his life, Kirk changes gradually. " I think there are stages in the progression of his becoming that mature leader. We're not reinventing the wheel here. It's Joseph Campbell 's reluctant hero's journey. It's a version of a story that's been told since the beginning of time in every single culture on the planet. " One motivation Kirk has, at least in Pine's opinion, is the challenge to improve himself that Pike gives him. " Kirk takes it head on. That doesn't mean that right at the get-go, right when he accepts that challenge, he becomes a reasoned, mature leader. There's an arc to that journey. " Pine also "certainly" found that, by the end of the film, Kirk is "getting there." The actor continued, " What it shows is all that passion, that drive, that impulsiveness and arrogance can be molded and shaped into something a little bit more functional in a team setting. But it's exactly those qualities that make James Kirk a great man. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 10)

Chris Pine approved of the many different emotions he was able to play while portraying Kirk in the initial movie. " I think what was great about Kirk is that I get to really run the gamut of emotions, and I get to run the gamut of every single genre within this character. I get to be a comedian, an action hero, a take-charge leader. I get to be my own version of Jason Bourne – I have all these different qualities that I get to bring to life. I don't think I'd be doing anyone any favors by saying which was the most satisfying [....] It's like any boy's dream. Playing pretend on that multimillion dollar Bridge was like playing cops and robbers with real horses and real robbers! " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , p. 11)

There were, however, particular moments in the initial depiction of the alternate reality Kirk which appealed to Chris Pine. " There was a lot of humour and a lot of action [to] it, but what really got me about the role were two pivotal scenes at the beginning of the movie that lays out James T. Kirk to a T. Those were the most exciting scenes, and the ones I was most looking forward to taking on. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 141 ) The two scenes Pine was drawn to were the scene in which Kirk tries to flirt with Uhura upon first meeting her but gets into a bar fight with a group of Starfleet cadets, and the next scene, in which he talks with Christopher Pike while still in the bar. A year after making the previous statement, Pine elaborated about that pair of scenes, " Not that it's 'Kirk to a T,' but it certainly explains much of who he is and I guess why he has so much anger and such a passionate dislike of Starfleet before he changes his mind. I also think in those two scenes you get a chance to see [...] Kirk's sense of humor. J.J. really wanted to make sure [...] that Kirk is that wisecracking, smart but kind of directionless young man. " Pine additionally remarked that he " loved the bar scene because I get to be that kind of bad ass hero that I grew up watching. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , pp. 10 & 11)

In the stage directions for his bar fight, the script characterized Kirk as a "spirited" fighter. [16] His fighting style was purposely designed to suit the character's personality. Regarding how this is shown in the film Star Trek , Pine observed, " The kind of baser, more brutal instincts of Kirk [compared to Spock] are seen in that bar fight at the beginning... And the fight with Ayel, and the fight with Nero! " Sulu actor John Cho agreed, " Chris Pine had more of a barroom brawler type of training. " For the same film, Pine trained for three or four hours a day, over a stretch of two months. He found the training was "intense" but "a lot of fun." ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , pp. 12, 41 & 13)

Screenwriter Roberto Orci joked, in a message board post, that the radiation from Kirk's premature birth in space caused his eyes to go blue, considering that the prime Kirk has hazel eyes. [17]

Chris Pine approved of the maverick, wildcard side of Kirk's personality being shown. " I think it was very important, especially for the first film, to have that version of the character, " the actor remarked. " There were fans that were dismayed that he had so much bravado – but there's no place for the character to go if you don't start somewhere. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 54) As such, inspired by the portrayal of an evil Kirk in TOS : " The Enemy Within ", Pine proposed to J.J. Abrams that, in Star Trek Into Darkness , the alternate reality Kirk might undergo a similar transformation. " I wanted [him] to go dark and rogue, " noted Pine, though his request wasn't granted. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20; SFX , issue 276, p. 54)

Kirk's demotion at the start of Star Trek Into Darkness was prompted by fan criticism that the character had been promoted too quickly at the end of Star Trek . [18] Orci and Kurtzman described the second film as being about Kirk earning the captain's chair, and proving that by sacrificing himself. [19]

After J.J. Abrams gave the script for Star Trek Into Darkness to the cast members, Kirk's character arc made sense to Chris Pine, as did Abrams' advice. " Really, what he kept stressing in the second one was the fact that Kirk might have gotten the Captain's chair in the first one, but in the second one he has to earn the Captain's chair, " Pine recollected. " What does it mean to be a leader? In the first one, he became one very quickly and accidentally. In the second one, he finds himself growing up very fast, becoming an adult very fast. The bravado he does so well in the first film, in the second maybe isn't the best quality or color with which to lead these men and women into battle. It's really about humility, and maturity, and growing up in a couple of hours [....] The fact that Kirk is the Captain of this ship, and is going through a major existential crisis, does not bode well for where the crew and the Enterprise find themselves in the middle of this picture [....] This Kirk is still trying to figure the best way to lead, and who his consigliores are, and who it's wisest to trust [....] I think it makes for an interesting story. " Pine found returning to play Kirk, however, was more nerve-wracking than when he introduced the character in the previous film. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , pp. 21 & 23)

The script of Star Trek , upon describing Kirk's reaction to the death of Amanda Grayson , stated, " There's no cheating death, " though that is precisely what Kirk himself does in Star Trek Into Darkness . [20]

Chris Pine appreciated the reasons behind Kirk's actions in the movies Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness . " [Those films] were, for Kirk, a lot about dealing with the loss of his father, looking up to his second father [ Bruce Greenwood 's Captain Pike], and taking guidance from him while living in the shadow of the legacy of this father that he never got to meet; the anger he feels at having not met him and known him, " Pine mused. " Those are all wonderful motivators for Kirk – to try to get noticed, to do a good job, to be the best. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 18)

Chris Pine working with Star Trek Beyond Director Justin Lin

During the development of Star Trek Beyond , the film's writing team were somewhat uncertain how to forward the character of Kirk, but did decide to set the film a couple of years after the previous movie. The director of Star Trek Beyond , Justin Lin , stated, " Especially coming after Into Darkness , where Kirk actually sacrificed himself for everybody already, how do you go on? The time jump was important, because what happens after that? When Kirk thinks about life, what does that mean? How does that reflect on him, and those more subtle, existential issues? With the time we were allowed to have, it helps Kirk in this instance. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 8) Simon Pegg , as he was co-writing the film, consulted Chris Pine about any character requests he had, to which Pine asked for the humor from earlier in the series to be preserved and protected in the forthcoming movie, a desire which influenced the writing of Kirk's scenes with Chekov in the film. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

Chris Pine's portrayal of Kirk inspired the costumes which were designed for Pine to wear in the film. " Because he's such a gorgeous guy, I saw him as almost like a space cowboy, " admitted Costume Designer Sanja Hays . " So, for me personally, I just wanted to do justice to him, and make him look as good as possible, because he's such a charismatic man. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 42)

The notion of presenting a maturer Kirk in Star Trek Beyond was welcomed by Chris Pine, who said, " What I really enjoy about this part of Kirk's arc is that he's relieved of all the onus of trying to live up to his father and the anger of never having met his father, all the stuff that drove the first couple of films. " Pine was aware too that, in Beyond , Kirk is nonetheless still partly as he was in the film Star Trek , retaining a sense of being an "iconoclast that is beholden to his own sense of morality and not anybody else's rules and regulations." Pine also pointed out that his hairstyle in Star Trek Beyond is one of several stylistic "nods" to TOS in the movie, commenting, " My haircut in the film is a bit '60s Kirkian! " Conversely, Pine thought it was still important that he not impersonate Shatner's Kirk in the film, adding, " My role is to disappear, [...] so I've got to blend into the background enough to let [Krall actor] Idris [Elba] do his stuff. " ( SFX , issue 276, pp. 54 & 55) While working on Star Trek Beyond , Pine felt an increased sense of personal ownership regarding the role of Kirk. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

Chris Pine has admitted that his portrayal of Kirk has been influenced by his own real life experiences, and speculated about how Kirk would cope with a promotional tour, the likes of which he and his castmates undertook to promote Star Trek Beyond . " I think he'd probably be a big fan of the hanging out with friends, and not so big a fan of answering questions, " Pine reckoned. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 20)

When asked (shortly after the making of Star Trek Beyond ) if he could imagine playing an older and retiring Kirk in a few decades, Chris Pine answered, " That's too far in the future for me to say, but at this point, I'd be very interested, sure. " Pine also acknowledged that he loves the character of Kirk and expressed an interest in continuing to return in the role, despite being unsure of precisely how his version of Kirk will develop in the future. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 22)

McCoy actor Karl Urban once stated about his co-star Chris Pine, " He is absolutely spot on as Kirk. " With a laugh, Zoë Saldana agreed, " His approach to the character, the kind of Kirk that he and J.J. created, is so much fun. He's so sexy, so entertaining, and at the same time such a leader. This Kirk is no different than the original one: definitely a flirt, and the cockiness is overbearing at times, but it makes him who he is [....] And there's an intriguing sensitivity about him. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 145 , pp. 22 & 35) Khan actor Benedict Cumberbatch raved, " I think Chris [Pine] is one of the best leading men there is. He's extraordinary in the performance he gives. He's really smart, he varies his game, he's constantly grinding away at the script, the story arcs. He's always paying attention to where his character is, and Kirk's story in the overall scheme of things. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 172 , p. 27) Jonathan Frakes concurred, " Pine is perfect as Kirk. " ( SFX , issue 270, p. 63)

The 2013 virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals uses screenshots for card #36, Recruit James T. Kirk, card #56, Cadet James T. Kirk, card #84, Acting First Officer James T. Kirk, and card #101, Captain James T. Kirk.

Apocrypha [ ]

His female counterpart

The novelization of Star Trek by Alan Dean Foster states that Winona Kirk was given an inhibitor that would help slow the birth of James until the Kelvin 's return to Earth. However, the impacts to the ship by the Narada 's attack cause her to go into early labor. The novelization also merges the conflicting abusive-adult characters, making "Frank" the boys' step-father, and revealing that he wanted the car washed because he planned to sell it behind Winona's back, which is what truly drives Jim to steal it.

Kirk is one of the playable characters in the 2013 Star Trek video game. Prior to leaving the bridge for his trip to Helios Station ( β ), Sulu and Kirk briefly discuss friendly sparring matches they'd had in the past. According to Sulu, Kirk was improving, as he almost made contact the last time.

According to the comic book I, Enterprise! Part 2 (Issue #32 of the Star Trek: Ongoing comic series), Kirk's identification number is 0001.

In comic book two-parter " Parallel Lives, Part 1 and 2 ", Kirk has an equally reckless female counterpart named Jane Tiberia Kirk.

In the first issue of Star Trek: Boldly Go , Kirk, along with Dr. Leonard McCoy and Pavel Chekov were assigned to the USS Endeavour .

External links [ ]

• James T. Kirk (alternate reality) at StarTrek.com
• James T. Kirk (Kelvin timeline) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• James T. Kirk at Wikipedia
• 3 Ancient humanoid

Star Trek: Every Actor Who Played James T. Kirk, Ranked

Several James T. Kirks have sat in the captain's chair throughout Star Trek history, but who did it better?

Star Trek has been revamped again with The Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley cast to play the captain himself, James T. Kirk. However, audiences can’t forget those who have boldly taken the chair before him. William Shatner was the original and most iconic James T. Kirk and has subsequently cast such a huge shadow on any future Enterprise captains. Not only is he iconic, but the adventures of Kirk and Spock set the tone for the Starfleet crew. So, it’s not a surprise that the Star Trek franchise would continue to resurrect these characters. Now that a new actor is playing the Captain of the Enterprise, it is the perfect time to go through the other actors who have taken on this role.

Paramount Pictures first decided to relaunch the franchise back in 2009 , and with that, they also decided to revamp the entire original Enterprise crew. Back in 2022, Paramount Plus again decided to revisit the Star Trek universe with another new Kirk. This version of the Captain is set in an alternate universe version that audiences have not quite seen before. The collection of Kirks has typically been based in the prime Star Trek universe or the Kelvin timeline. Here is every actor who has ever played Captain James T. Kirk within the Star Trek TV shows and movies.

5 Jimmy Bennett — Star Trel

Young Kirk, played by Jimmy Bennett , is a troubled kid who's had a rather rough childhood. In an early scene of 2009's Star Trek , Kirk steals an antique car and drives it off the cliff as the Beastie Boys plays in the background. The prime timeline for Star Trek has Kirk living off-world with his parents, but the Kelvin timeline changed Young Kirk's story by having him live on Earth with a not-so-great childhood.

Bennett was perfectly cast in the role of young Kirk as he was able to take on the "I don't care" attitude that the older Kirks embodied. His grand theft auto moment also gives a nice nod to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as Kirk says he thought he'd die young.

4 Paul Wesley — Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Paul Wesley is the current James T. Kirk in the Star Trek universe. He made his debut in the Strange New Worlds Season 1 finale and giving audiences an alternate version than seen in the original series. The Wrap reports that this means Wesley's Kirk won't be captain of the Starfleet in this series. Pike is shown the potential future as a way to get him to accept his fate in Star Trek and handing the captaincy of the Enterprise to Kirk. T

his is a complete change to the Pike and Kirk relationship that have been seen in the J.J Abrams movies as Pike realizes how important Kirk and Spock are in the future. Wesley has made the decision to play his iteration of Kirk different from what was seen in Shatner and Chris Pine's previous takes on the character. It would make sense that he would make this decision as he's a younger version of Kirk that audiences know very little about.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Best Moments

3 sandra smith — star trek: the original series.

Body swapping within Star Trek universe has become a trope within the series. It was recently seen in Strange New Worlds where Spock swapped bodies. In the original Star Trek series, the body swap took a darker turn with one of Kirk's ex-girlfriends. Janice Lester, played by Sandra Smith , is a bitter scientist because her options are limited due to the fact that she is a woman.

In this Star Trek episode, Lester decides to come up with a scheme to make her dream come true of becoming the starship captain by body-swapping with Kirk. The episode had well-intentions to show gender inequality, but it seemed to miss the mark as the series was canceled shortly after. Smith deserves to be recognized for her portrayal of Shatner's Kirk by perfectly getting his mannerisms and delivery as if she were Shatner herself.

2 Chris Pine — Star Trek

Chris Pine plays Captain Kirk in the Kelvin timeline in the Star Trek movies. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek series 40 years after the show was canceled. The new reboot focused on the internal struggles on Romulus that was first seen in Star Trek: Nemesis. The Romulan home world becomes destroyed after the Federation failed to give sufficient support. Spock follows Nero into his own past, which than triggers a domino effect that leads to the death of Kirk's father on the USS Kelvin, which, in turn, created the Kelvin timeline .

All these changes led to a different version of Kirk played by Pine and a change in his origin story. Pine's Kirk is a bit more rebellious as he acted out due to feeling abandoned by his parents. It also showed him throwing out the rule book, which gave Pine the ability for his character to have his own swagger and charisma. His Kirk is more vulnerable than past iterations as he is trying to fill the void left by his absent father, but he also needs Spock's assistance more to keep him in check.

Star Trek 4: Development History & Why It's Taken So Long

1 william shatner — star trek: the original series.

The original Captain Kirk was played by William Shatner in the 1966 TV series. Gene Roddenberry needed a new captain to helm the Enterprise after Jeffrey Hunter stepped down as Christopher Pike. This is when the character of James Kirk was born and played by Shatner for three years until the series was canceled . The show, however, was very popular among audiences and was brought back for an animated series and six movies, with Shatner still voicing the infamous captain.

Shatner's Kirk oozed swagger and was the definition of a hero that had a unique approach to the rule book than the stereotypical captains of the '90s. James Kirk is a space cowboy who makes it his mission to make a name for himself in the space frontier. Shatner was the perfect person to embody this with his charisma and machismo making him the best Captain Kirk the Star Trek universe will ever see.

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Movie Review | 'Star Trek'

A Franchise Goes Boldly Backward

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By Manohla Dargis

• May 7, 2009

A bright, shiny blast from a newly imagined past, “Star Trek,” the latest spinoff from the influential television show, isn’t just a pleasurable rethink of your geek uncle’s favorite science-fiction series. It’s also a testament to television’s power as mythmaker, as a source for some of the fundamental stories we tell about ourselves, who we are and where we came from. The famous captain (William Shatner, bless his loony lights) and creator (Gene Roddenberry, rest in peace) may no longer be on board, but the spirit of adventure and embrace of rationality that define the show are in full swing, as are the chicks in minis and kicky boots.

Initially appearing in 1966, the original “Star Trek” is a utopian fantasy of the first order, a vision of the enlightened future in which whites, blacks, Asians and one poker-faced Vulcan are united by their exploratory mission (“to boldly go”), a prime directive (no intervention) and the occasional dust-up. An origin story directed with a sure touch and perfect tone by J. J. Abrams, the fully loaded film — a showcase for big-studio hardware, software, muscled boys who can act and leggy girls who aren’t required to — turns back the narrative clock to the moment before the main characters first assembled on the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a sleek spacecraft that invariably sails into intergalactic storms. Even utopia needs a little bang.

Apparently so do franchise reboots, which explains why the movie opens with a loud, somewhat chaotic scene filled with fireballs, airborne bodies, heroically clenched male jaws and a squawking pregnant woman about to pop out the future James Tiberius Kirk. Born in space (well, a shuttle craft), Kirk is destined to return to its embracing darkness. (Future “Trek” scholars will be working the Oedipal angle hard.) But this being an origin story, first there’s a peek at a boy (Jimmy Bennett as the young Kirk) tearing down an Iowa highway in a stolen hot rod, a paradigmatic character moment that’s juxtaposed with images of a young brainiac (Jacob Kogan as the wee Spock) problem-solving with intelligence and a few punches.

Kirk and Spock don’t meet in person until they’re adults — now played by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto — at Starfleet Academy, which, in keeping with the show’s liberal leanings, is in San Francisco. At school Kirk flirts with Uhura (Zoë Saldana), a hot number who coolly brushes him off, and makes friends with a doctor, Leonard McCoy, a k a Bones (Karl Urban, wild-eyed and funny). Kirk also comes smack up against Spock, an officious instructor. In the tradition of many great romances, the two men take almost an instant dislike to each other, an antagonism that literalizes the Western divide between the mind (Spock) and body (Kirk) that gives the story emotional and dramatic force as well as some generous laughs.

Those laughs never slide into mockery. Mr. Abrams doesn’t treat “Star Trek” as a sacred text, which would be deadly for everyone save the fanatics. But neither does he skewer a pop cultural classic that, more than 40 years after its first run, has been so lampooned (it feels like there are more “South Park” parodies than original episodes) it was difficult to see how he was going to give it new life. By design or accident, he has, simply because in its hopefulness “Star Trek” reminds you that there’s more to science fiction (and Hollywood blockbusters) than nihilism. Mr. Abrams doesn’t venture into politics as boldly as Mr. Roddenberry sometimes did, though it’s worth noting he does equate torture with barbarism.

The barbarians here are the Romulans, who at one point in television time used to look a lot like Spock, but here resemble a Maori motorcycle gang complete with facial tattoos and Goth threads. Led by the glowering psychopath Nero (Eric Bana, an actor who knows how to take villainy seriously), the Romulans are mainly on hand to provoke the Starfleet cadets into space. There Mr. Abrams shows off some expensive-looking special effects, including an enemy warship that, with its enormous, grasping tendrils, by turns resembles a monstrous jellyfish and a malignantly blooming flower. The film comes down on the side of hope, but its apocalyptic interludes, including the image of a planet imploding into gray dust, collapsing like a desiccated piece of fruit, linger.

Despite these visions, the flashing lasers and latex aliens, “Star Trek” is fundamentally about two men engaged in a continuing conversation about civilizations and their discontents. Hot and cold, impulsive and tightly controlled, Kirk and Spock need each other to work, a dynamic Mr. Abrams captures with his two well-balanced leads. Mr. Quinto lets you see and hear the struggle between the human and the Vulcan in Spock through the emotions that ripple across his face and periodically throw off his unmodulated phrasing. Mr. Pine has the harder job — he has to invoke Mr. Shatner’s sui generis performance while transcending its excesses — which makes his nuanced interpretation all the more potent. Steering clear of outright imitation, the two instead distill the characters to capture their essence, their Kirk-ness and Spock-ness.

Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the story has plenty of chatter, but Mr. Abrams keeps the talk moving, slowing down only intermittently, as when Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) or the wryly smiling Leonard Nimoy (!) unload some paternalistic advice on Kirk. A television veteran (“Lost”), Mr. Abrams handles the action scenes better than he did in his only other big-screen outing (“Mission: Impossible III”), largely by not lavishing too much time on them. By far his finest moments take place on the brightly lighted deck of the Enterprise, where against the backdrop of limitless space, Kirk, Spock and the rest of the young crew fumble with roles that — much like the young actors playing them, including Anton Yelchin as Chekov and John Cho as Sulu — they ultimately and rather wonderfully make their own.

“Star Trek” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Some intense but bloodless action.

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Star Trek Episodes That Will Make You Love James T. Kirk

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," the new hit series on Paramount+, revisits the five year mission of the USS Enterprise as commanded by Captain Christopher Pike, played by the absolutely lovable Anson Mount. Pike has endeared himself to fans by being the space dad of our dreams, a sweetheart who leads the Enterprise family by consensus and is always ready to support his crew with a kind ear and a bowl of pasta mama. So, when his successor, James T. Kirk, makes a surprise guest appearance on the first season finale, "A Quality of Mercy," Kirk comes across a bit cold and stiff by comparison.

While new Kirk actor Paul Wesley may not have made a strong impression with his version of the character just yet, there are plenty of episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" that can serve as a great introduction to space sci-fi's most famous captain. While certainly a product of the time in which he was created, Jim Kirk as originally portrayed by William Shatner is a remarkable and textured leading man, as capable of warmth and compassion as Pike but also burdened with the expectations of stern, authoritative 1960s masculinity. With Pike now existing as a reimagined, refurbished midcentury man, Kirk becomes all the more fascinating by comparison.

Here's a selection of standout episodes that demonstrate what made James T. Kirk such a beloved and memorable character, and why he's still some Trekkies' favorite captain of the Enterprise.

Where No Man Has Gone Before

"Strange New Worlds" picks up the adventures of Captain Pike, Number One, and Lt. Spock, all originally created for the first Star Trek pilot in 1965. When this pilot was rejected and Pike actor Jeffrey Hunter declined to return for a second attempt, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry retooled the series around a new character, Captain James T. Kirk, portrayed by Canadian actor William Shatner. While this might be surprising to fans of "Strange New Worlds," Shatner's Kirk is actually a warmer, softer character than Hunter's Pike. The second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," introduces Kirk not only as a brave Starfleet Captain but as a caring friend, and presents him with a dilemma that pits these obligations against each other.

When we first meet James Kirk, he's not on giving orders on the bridge of the Enterprise, but invested in a friendly three-dimensional chess game against his first officer, Mr. Spock. As the story unfolds, Kirk confronts a challenge to another of his close friendships, when a mysterious space phenomenon endows his mentee Gary Mitchell with godlike powers and an arrogance to match. With Mitchell growing more powerful and more dangerous by the hour, can Kirk find a way to save both the Enterprise and his friend? If not, does he have the strength to do what's necessary?

While the triumvirate of "The Original Series" wouldn't be complete until the addition of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the series proper, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is also a first taste at the famous dynamic between Kirk and Spock, a constant push and pull between instinct and logic that would define both characters for decades to come.

The Corbomite Maneuver

All Starfleet captains, regardless of which series they're from, share certain noble characteristics. They're fearless, curious, and compassionate people, the finest examples of humanity even if they're not actually human themselves. Starfleet may prize truthfulness as its highest value, but there are times when scrupulous honesty can put a Captain or their crew at a disadvantage, and this is where James T. Kirk has the edge. When Kirk can't win the day by playing the rules, he's got no qualms against bending, breaking, or outright changing them to achieve victory.

In "The Corbomite Maneuver," the Enterprise is confronted by a massive alien craft whose captain, Balok, threatens to destroy them for accidentally intruding on his territory. Kirk faces an opponent who refuses to negotiate and has him both outmaneuvered and outgunned. He knows he can't beat Balok at his own game, but rather than admit defeat, he decides to try and bluff his way to victory, turning this from an interstellar chess match into poker. Kirk may not be holding the winning hand, but he doesn't need it so long as he has the confidence and cunning to convince his opponent otherwise.

Kirk shows off this talent for talking his way out of trouble numerous times throughout the series, but no episode better encapsulates his unique daring and charisma than "The Corbomite Maneuver," making it the most essential Kirk episode in all of Star Trek.

Balance of Terror

To fans of "Strange New Worlds," the classic 1966 episode "Balance of Terror" should be instantly familiar. This is the story to which Captain Pike is catapulted through time in the first season finale, "A Quality of Mercy." Here, the USS Enterprise is called to respond to an crisis on an old Earth border outpost, which has been destroyed in a sneak attack by their ancient enemy, the Romulan Empire . Just like in "A Quality of Mercy," the Enterprise must race to catch the cloaked Romulan vessel before it escapes into its home territory, but with Kirk in the captain's chair, the rest of the story plays out a bit differently.

"Balance of Terror" is a great submarine story in space that highlights the senselessness of military conflict, but it's also a great showcase for Jim Kirk as both a commander and as a human being. In times of overwhelming pressure, the crew of the Enterprise looks to their captain for stability and certainty, and it's Kirk's job to give it to them. Of course, deep down, he's as vulnerable and imperfect as everyone else, but he hides his self-doubt from his subordinates in order to protect both his image and their confidence.

The episode's true stroke of genius is when the perspective shifts to show us that the commander of the Romulan vessel is coping with that same stress. While Kirk may be more aggressive than Pike, he's still capable of seeing himself in his opponent. "Balance of Terror" challenges its audience to do the same, and recognize that one's true enemy is rarely the person across from them but the circumstances that put them at odds in the first place.

Though all of Star Trek's captains have seen their share of battle, none are as famous for throwing down as James T. Kirk. Like all good Starfleet officers, his goal is coexistence, not conquest, but he's also the last guy you'd want to challenge to a space battle or an old-fashioned fistfight. Kirk is unrelenting in any contest, armed with a sharp wit, a stiff punch, and a flagrant disregard for his own wardrobe.

Kirk finds himself locked in a number of life-and-death struggles throughout "The Original Series," and the most famous is his duel with the unnamed Gorn captain in the first season episode "Arena." After chasing his warship from the scene of a massacre at a Federation outpost, Kirk is trapped with his reptilian foe on the surface of a barren desert planet. Kirk has no weapons and no hope of defeating the Gorn hand-to-hand, and must use his intelligence and local resources to construct a means of victory. (This episode was released 20 years before the movie "Predator.") Of course, the Gorn of "The Original Series" isn't nearly as cool or scary than the reimagined version confronted by Pike's crew in "Strange New Worlds," but the campy aliens portrayed by stunt actors in rubber suits is part of the charm of classic Trek.

"Arena" may have the setup of a bloody action movie, but this is still Star Trek, and the episode's final message is one of peace and mercy. Kirk is a warrior, no question, but like all Starfleet heroes, he knows war is only ever a last resort.

A Taste of Armageddon

Not all of Jim Kirk's habits have aged terribly well, and one of them is nearly inseparable from the basic structure of "Star Trek." In the classic "Trek" formula, the alien cultures encountered by the Enterprise crew represent contemporary issues faced by the viewing audience, while Kirk and company represent an evolved future humanity that has already grown beyond them. Therefore, it's part of Kirk's narrative purpose to show up on some alien's doorstep and try to explain to them why their society is somehow broken. This often comes across as distastefully self-righteous, especially when he takes the job one step further and unilaterally upends an entire civilization so that they have no choice but to change their ways. No individual has the right to tell millions of people how to live their lives. However, Kirk's one-man revolutions are occasionally very cathartic as a power fantasy for viewers.

Nowhere is that more true than in "A Taste of Armageddon," in which Kirk and the Enterprise are declared as casualties in a simulated war between the planets Eminiar VII and Vendikar. The two worlds have been at war for centuries, so long that it's become a routine part of life. Rather than seek an end to their conflict, they've merely made it as convenient as possible, determining the death tolls of virtual bombings by computer and then ordering the citizens who have been "killed" to report to suicide booths. Kirk refuses to surrender his crew and decides to put a stop to this sanitized bloodbath once and for all, forcing Eminiar VII and Vendikar to choose between crafting a real peace or waging a real war.

Kirk may overstretch his authority, but he's never content to allow evil to triumph through his inaction.

The City on the Edge of Forever

If you mainly know Jim Kirk through cultural osmosis (or from the J.J. Abrams reboot), then you're likely aware of his reputation as a horndog. While it's true that Kirk has a lot of one-episode love interests over the course of the show's three seasons, the perception that he's led by his hormones has been greatly exaggerated through decades of parody and imitation. His behavior towards women doesn't always hold up terribly well through a modern lens — just as plenty of "romantic" storylines from the past can read as subtly or overtly predatory — but his fast and brief entanglements are a product of the show's format, not the character's intentions.

Jim Kirk might never find a partner who he loves more than the Enterprise (unless you count Spock), but there's one woman in particular who truly steals his heart. In the acclaimed episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are thrown back in time to the early 1930s, where Jim meets a visionary social worker named Edith Keeler. Jim falls deeply in love with Edith for her generosity and brilliance, but destiny has other plans for both of them.

The romance with Edith allows us a glimpse at the quiet and tender side of Jim Kirk, the part of him that might have been satisfied living a more normal life away from the grave responsibilities of command. But, it's those very same responsibilities that keep Jim and Edith apart, as their respective roles in the future make their continued relationship impossible.

Mr. Spock may have gone on to feature in many stories without Captain Kirk — alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Picard, Michael Burnham, and Christopher Pike — but it's still very hard to imagine Captain Kirk without Mr. Spock. On "The Original Series," Kirk, Spock, and McCoy essentially act as three parts of a single character, with Spock representing pure logic, McCoy representing raw emotion, and Kirk representing the reason necessary to reconcile the two. The friendship between them is the beating heart of the show, and Kirk's loyalty to Spock is one of his most endearing characteristics as well as the source of his most shining moments.

In "Amok Time," Spock is struck by pon farr, the irresistible urge to return home to Vulcan to mate with his estranged wife, T'Pring. Since pon farr can be fatal if not satisfied, Kirk violates direct orders from Starfleet to rush Spock back to Vulcan. The situation gets more complicated when T'Pring announces that she's selected a new mate: Kirk. This twist leads the friends into mortal ritual combat, during which Kirk must find a way to save both himself and his friend, whose condition has driven him mad beyond reason.

Kirk may not let most of his crew as close to his heart as Christopher Pike does on "Strange New Worlds," but he'll still go to any lengths to protect them, and that goes double for Spock. Their bond is unbreakable by time or death, and is part of what makes them two of the greatest television characters of all time.

The Trouble with Tribbles

There's no denying that Jim Kirk is arrogant and self-important, and that this can be an obstacle to enjoying him as a character. So, it's no surprise that one of the most famous and beloved episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" shows Kirk being knocked down a peg and thrust into a truly embarrassing situation. In "The Trouble with Tribbles," the Enterprise is assigned to protect a crate full of grain bound for a disputed planet, a task for which Kirk believes he is utterly overqualified. The mission becomes further complicated when both the Enterprise and the nearby space station become infested with adorable, rapidly-multiplying critters called Tribbles. Add in a dust-up with the Klingons and the incessant complaining of an agricultural bureaucrat, and you're looking at James T. Kirk's most agonizing and humiliating workweek ever.

"The Trouble with Tribbles" is the first attempt to twist "Star Trek" into the shape of a workplace comedy, a genre in which many subsequent series have dabbled since. (The animated "Star Trek: Lower Decks" is basically "The Trouble with Tribbles: The Series.") Here, Kirk is a put-upon middle manager presiding over a fiasco that's outside his interests and beyond his control. Rarely have Kirk and company been more relatable than here, far from the high stakes and moral dilemmas of most episodes. It sucks, but they're trying their best to enjoy themselves at work.

It helps that William Shatner and the entire cast are in rare form in this episode, clearly relishing the chance to show off their versatility as comic actors. The success of "The Trouble with Tribbles" would assure that the franchise would afford them more such opportunities in the future, to varying degrees of success.

A Piece of the Action

If "The Trouble with Tribbles" is a story in which Captain Kirk is forced to take a silly situation seriously, "A Piece of the Action" lets Kirk — not just William Shatner, but Kirk himself — dive headfirst into the silliness. In this episode, the Enterprise makes contact with an alien planet and discovers that, thanks to the accidental influence of an Earth ship a century prior, its society has modeled itself into a caricature of 1920s Gangland Chicago. The people of Sigma Iotia II wear pinstripe suits, carry Tommy guns, and speak in the cartoonish slang of early James Cagney talkies.

Where Kirk spends "The Trouble with Tribbles" under the tiresome supervision of Federation bureaucrats, "A Piece of the Action" lets him tackle this bizarre scenario as he pleases, and he chooses to simply go with it. By the end of the episode, Kirk is dressed up in a period outfit and doing a funny voice, and he's got Spock doing it, too. While his strategy for repairing the cultural contamination of Sigma Iotia II once again sees him overreaching his authority by light years, it's undeniably fun to watch him confront an absurd problem by equally absurd means.

Moreover, "A Piece of the Action" represents a quality of the original "Star Trek" that so many of its descendants have struggled to recapture: It lets you have fun with the characters. "Star Trek" is and should be serious business a lot of the time, but ending the occasional episode on a punchline and a freeze frame can be a breath of fresh air that brings the audience a little closer to the characters.

Return to Tomorrow

If you're familiar with "Return to Tomorrow," you might find it a surprising inclusion on a list of episodes about Captain Kirk. After all, Jim spends much of the hour possessed by the spirit of another life-form, the ancient alien Sargon. In this story, Kirk, Spock, and astro-biologist Lt. Commander Ann Mulhall agree to allow three non-corporeal beings to inhabit their bodies while they construct their new, permanent robot forms. The plan goes awry, of course, putting all three officers' lives in jeopardy and leaving Jim Kirk's mind trapped in a glowing plastic sphere for a solid twenty minutes.

However, it's what Kirk does in the first half of the episode that solidifies it as one of his best, as he delivers a passionate speech about the value of embracing danger for the sake of discovery. Lending a helping hand to three stranded immortals has a value beyond simple decency, as the androids that Sargon plans to create represent a massive scientific breakthrough for the Federation. Kirk argues that this is exactly the sort of danger that he and all of Starfleet exists to face.

"Risk is our business," Kirk concludes. "That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her."

In the space of 100 seconds, Captain Kirk succinctly summarizes the spirit of adventure and curiosity that drives all of "Star Trek," a rousing call to action who all who are willing to take a chance on a better tomorrow.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

While his 79 episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series" allowed audiences to explore multiple facets of Captain James T. Kirk, the conventions of 1960s television made it impossible for him to demonstrate any real growth. Kirk is always the same man at the beginning of every episode of "Star Trek," no matter what happened the week before. It wasn't until the feature film series, which began a decade after the TV show was canceled, that Kirk was afforded the luxury of deconstruction and evolution.

1982's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" finds a now Admiral Kirk suffering from a mid-life crisis. "The Wrath of Khan" takes each criticism one might have of Kirk on "The Original Series" and turns them into a new challenge. Because he's routinely cheated death, he doesn't know how to face it. Because he's married to his work, he's never met his son. And because he rides off into the sunset after each adventure without ever looking back, he's left a huge mess in his wake. When Khan, the antagonist from a classic episode that Kirk has all but forgotten, comes looking for revenge, Kirk must face the dire consequences of his arrogance.

Even 40 years later, "Wrath of Khan" remains the single essential film in the entire Star Trek franchise, not only for being a rousing adventure in its own right, but for humanizing one of television's most legendary characters better than any story before or since.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

After three more sober installments of the feature film series, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was the first to deliberately engage in the light-hearted fun of the classic show's comedy episodes. The story sends Kirk, Spock, and company to the contemporary setting of 1984 San Francisco to retrieve a pair of humpback whales and bring them forward to save the future. In contrast to the rest of the films in the franchise, "The Voyage Home" has no deliberate violence, only an urgent mission of peace and a lot of silly, fish-out-of-water comedy.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy spend much of the film as a vaudeville-style double act, with Kirk trying to fake his way though the modern world and Spock making zero effort to blend in. This is Shatner and Nimoy at their most adorable and entertaining, playing off of each other with an ease that can only be achieved with years of experience working together. Shatner also enjoys terrific chemistry with Catherine Hicks as marine biologist Dr. Gillian Taylor, portraying Kirk at his sweetest and most charming.

If "Wrath of Khan" is the film that deconstructs James T. Kirk, then "The Voyage Home" is the film that puts him back together, restoring the sense of joy and adventure that has made him a beloved icon for over 50 years.

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William shatner explains how he landed ‘star trek’ role as captain kirk.

The actor landed in Austin for South by Southwest and discussed his iconic role.

By James Hibberd

James Hibberd

Writer-at-Large

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William Shatner recalled how he managed to land the role of Captain James T. Kirk on the original 1966 Star Trek series.

During the actor’s keynote interview at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League asked Shatner about how he got his career-changing gig.

“Talent,” Shatner initially deadpanned, to audience applause, but then he told the story.

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“So they went around looking for a new captain,” Shatner continued. “I was in New York doing some work. They called me and said, ‘Would you come and see the pilot?’ With the idea of me being the captain. And I watched the pilot [and thought], ‘Oh my God, that’s really good. Why didn’t they buy it?’ Yet [the actors] were a little ponderous. Like, [ soberly ] ‘Helmsman, turn to the Starboard.’ You’ve been out five years in the middle of space, wouldn’t you say, [ casually ] ‘Hey, George, turn left’? ‘There’s a meteor coming!’… ‘Well, get out of the way!’ So I added a little lightness. Then it sold. And that’s the answer.”

Shatner also said his worst “role” ever was one time when he attempted to give a stand-up comedy performance as Captain Kirk, with the joke being that Kirk would deliver cliche one-liner jokes and not understand why he wasn’t funny. Yet the bit bombed spectacularly. “It was probably the the worst thing that ever happened to me,” Shatner said.

League also asked how Shatner would deal with somebody talking or texting during a movie in a theater. “Shut the fuck up!” Shatner roared, then proceeded to talk about the benefits of the F-bomb for getting people’s attention.

The 91-year-old Star Trek icon was also at the festival to support his new biopic documentary, You Can Call Me Bill , which chronicles his six decade as an Emmy-winning actor, author, recording artist and environmental activist. The film has its premiere tonight.

Shatner made global headlines last year by becoming the oldest person ever to go into space. The actor flew in a suborbital capsule piloted by Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin. In his memoir  Boldly Go , he shared how the experience left him profoundly sad. “I wept for the Earth because I realized it’s dying,” Shatner wrote. “I dedicated my book,  Boldly Go , to my great-grandchild, who’s 3 now — coming 3 — and in the dedication, say it’s them, those youngsters, who are going to reap what we have sown in terms of the destruction of the Earth…. I saw more clearly than I have, with all the studying and reading I’ve done, the writhing, slow death of Earth and we on it. It’s a little tiny rock with an onion-skin air around it. That’s how fragile it all is. It’s so fragile. We hang by a thread…. We’re just dangling.”

Shatner currently is the host and executive producer of The UnXplained on The History Channel, which “explores the world’s most fascinating, strange and inexplicable mysteries.”

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Star Trek: 7 Alien Civilizations Discovered By Captain Kirk

Throughout the Star Trek franchise, Captain Kirk has met a diverse array of alien civilizations, as these examples illustrate.

• Star Trek: The Original Series lays the franchise's foundations by exploring strange new worlds and new civilizations with Captain Kirk.
• Not every episode can be a winner, "Spock's Brain" details the quest to rescue Spock's brain from the Eymorgs, an entirely female alien civilization.
• Star Trek addresses social issues like race through metaphor, as seen with the Cheronians in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield."

At its core, Star Trek is a franchise about exploring the depths of space and, as a result, exploring various facets of the human condition. Indeed, while later iterations of the franchise, such as Star Trek: Discovery and J.J. Abrams' Kelvinverse chose to prioritize action set-pieces over measured exploration, Star Trek: The Original Series lays the franchise's foundations by depicting the adventures of Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise .

Star Trek: The Original Series – 8 Alien Civilizations Based On Earth History

The Enterprise 's five-year mission saw the crew of the Federation vessel coming into contact with all manner of strange creatures, from the furry and promiscuous Tribbles to godlike individuals like Trelane. Ultimately, however, nothing distracts Kirk from carrying out the show's mission statement: to explore strange new worlds, and to seek out new life and new civilizations.

1 The Eymorgs

"spock's brain" | season 3, episode 1.

The Star Trek franchise is remembered for many amazing episodes , from "The City on the Edge of Forever" to "The Best of Both Worlds." However, not every episode can be a winner, as evidenced by "Spock's Brain." This much-maligned episode details the Enterprise 's quest to rescue Spock's brain after it is stolen by an entirely female alien civilization, the Eymorgs.

Led by Kara, the Eymorgs inhabit an underground complex on the planet of Sigma Draconis VI. The Enterprise discovers that a life of luxury (all Eymorg desires and needs are handled by a powerful supercomputer) has resulted in intellectual atrophy. Despite possessing powerful technology, few Eymorgs understood how to use it. As such, they felt compelled to replace their vital computer with Spock's brain.

"Return To Tomorrow" | Season 2, Episode 20

The universe of Star Trek is no stranger to disembodied entities, from the Saltah'na in Deep Space Nine 's "Dramatis Personae" to Beverly Crusher's ghostly lover in The Next Generation 's much-maligned "Sub Rosa." A notable early example of the trope can be seen in "Return to Tomorrow," in which the discorporate Sargon, an Arretan, demands that the Enterprise crew construct android bodies for his compatriots.

As a stop-gap measure, Sargon and two other Arretans assume control over several members of the Enterprise crew while their new bodies are under construction. This leads to conflict when one of the Arretans refuses to leave Spock's body. The resulting power struggle sees the Enterprise crew emerge victorious, while the remaining Arretans choose to consign themselves to oblivion rather than cling to life.

3 The Eminian Union

"a taste of armageddon" | season 1, episode 23.

Before Deep Space Nine 's Dominion War, Star Trek avoided depicting open warfare between major powers. However, this is not to say that war stories are absent from the franchise's early days, as evidenced by the novel take on conflict depicted in "A Taste of Armageddon." The Enterprise makes contact with the Eminian Union, a civilization that conducts its wars through computers rather than on the battlefield.

Star Trek: The Fates Of Every Live-Action TV Show's Main Character

Nonetheless, there is a cost to this strategy, as the Eminians allow themselves to be killed if the simulation determines that they are a casualty. Kirk and his comrades point out that this sanitized approach to war robs the conflict of its immediacy, allowing it to drag on for decades with no resolution. Luckily, a classic speech by Kirk causes the Eminian Union to see sense.

4 The Providers

"the gamesters of triskelion" | season 2, episode 16.

The Original Series is not the only entry into the franchise that might be accused of an over-reliance on humanoid aliens with various forehead bumps. As such, the Providers depicted in "The Gamesters of Triskelion" are a welcome break from this norm, even if the show itself has rarely looked cheaper.

Despite being little more than brains in a jar, the powerful Providers are one of the Federation's most worthy opponents. Their advanced transporter technology allows them to ensnare individuals over vast distances, while their control over the planet of Triskelion is absolute. It's perhaps a mercy, then, that they dedicate their time to betting on gladiatorial battles rather than making wider plans against the galaxy.

5 The Cheronians

"let that be your last battlefield" | season 3, episode 15.

Gene Roddenberry did not shy away from using Star Trek 's utopian future to address contemporary social issues. His foregrounding of Nichelle Nichols' Lieutenant Uhura was genuinely groundbreaking , as was the interracial kiss depicted in "Plato's Stepchildren." Nor did the series shy away from discussing issues like race via metaphor, as with the Cheronians in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield."

The black and white Chellonians are locked in a brutal racial conflict over differences that appear trivial to the enlightened crew of the Starship Enterprise . Lokai, a Cheronian with white skin on the left side of his face, is pursued by Bele, who has white skin on the right. Each possesses historical racial grudges against the other, but the episode suggests that their mutual hatred is ultimately suicidal. Prejudice, as demonstrated by the Cheronians, can only end in disaster.

6 The Kelvan Empire

"by any other name" | season 2, episode 22.

Star Trek 's galaxy is divided into four regions: the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma Quadrants. Many of the franchise's most memorable creations hail from these diverse areas, but some civilizations come from even further afield. For instance, "By Any Other Name" sees the Enterprise make contact with scouts from the Kelvan Empire, a powerful state situated in the distant Andromeda Galaxy.

Star Trek: 8 Best Book-Only Characters, Ranked

The Kelvans are ruthless in the pursuit of their survival, even killing a female redshirt (a rarity for The Original Series ) to demonstrate their power. Additionally, they possess impressive technical knowledge, as they can easily modify the Enterprise to pass the Galactic Barrier. The Kelvans' downfall is the result of their social ineptitude, a flaw that allows the Enterprise crew to regain the upper hand over this domineering race.

7 The Scalosians

"wink of an eye" | season 3, episode 11.

Kirk's Enterprise is no stranger to time travel , as the starship rocks up in the twentieth century on more than one occasion (likely for budgetary reasons). Yet while Star Trek makes time travel seem as easy as just slingshotting around the sun, relatively few temporally active races are discovered throughout the franchise. The usual rarity of time-active civilizations makes the Scalosians, seen in "Wink of an Eye," all the more intriguing.

The Scalosians are unwilling temporal voyagers. A natural disaster caused them to experience time at a far faster rate than the rest of the universe, while also rendering all male Scalosians infertile. As such, the Enterprise 's arrival represents a chance to save their civilization by kidnapping new breeding stock from the starship—a scheme that Kirk is determined to foil.

What Star Trek Looks Like Before Special Effects

"Star Trek" is one of the most iconic and enduring science fiction franchises of all time, following the adventures of Starfleet in the far-future as they explore space, the final frontier. To bring strange new worlds and civilizations to life, "Star Trek" leans heavily into visual effects, many of them cutting edge for technology available at the time. These special effects did everything from showcasing the starship Enterprise to making the ship's memorable transporter look seamlessly functional. Simply put, "Star Trek" wouldn't be what it is without its meticulously realized visual effects.

It takes a whole team and a whole process to bring these futuristic sights to the screen and these behind-the-scenes photographs offer a look at how it was all made. From extensive use of models and bluescreen to modern digital projection, "Star Trek" uses every visual effect trick in the book to thrill audiences. Here is what "Star Trek" looks like before all the special effects magic.

Khan gets his own space ride

One of the most notable episodes from "Star Trek: The Original Series" is "Space Seed" from the first season. The episode introduces genetic superhuman Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), who went on to become the primary antagonist in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" in 1982. Khan and his fellow superhumans are exiled from Earth on an automated freighter, the Botany Bay, encountered centuries later by the Enterprise. After finding the ship in deep space, the Enterprise docks alongside it to investigate the wayward starship for themselves.

American Cinematographer recalled the lengths the production went to capture the deep space adventures of the Enterprise, using a number of different effects. Like the Enterprise, the Botany Bay had its own scale model constructed, a technique used since the series' second episode "Charlie X." Both ships were filmed together against a blue screen, with the starry background added to the shot in post-production. This method demonstrates the scale of the Enterprise, compared to the much smaller freighter.

The Enterprise takes flight again

A full decade after the cancellation of "The Original Series," fans were treated to the return of the Enterprise and its crew with 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." A special reverence was taken in bringing the Enterprise to the big screen, including a sequence of Kirk and Scotty touring the outside of the hull in a shuttlecraft. After reuniting on board, the Enterprise sets out to confront V'Ger, a cloud-like entity headed towards Earth destroying all in its path. Like many visual effects of the era, the Enterprise's recommissioned voyage is a mix of practical and digital effects.

The behind-the-scenes documentary "Sense of Scale" depicts the painstaking attention to detail and work that went into creating the Enterprise model for "The Motion Picture." A photo from the documentary by Piercefilm Productions reveals the sheer size of the Enterprise model during production on the 1979 movie. Crew members around the model assemble plates, which will be used to impose the Enterprise in space in post-production. Back and literally bigger than ever, the Enterprise's cinematic debut used the best in contemporary special effects technology to impress audiences.

The Klingons strike in Star Trek III

Leonard Nimoy took the helm of 1984's "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," pitting the Enterprise against the Klingons. The longtime "Star Trek" enemies make their grand entrance in the film as their Bird of Prey decloaks while searching for information on the Genesis Project. The sight is one of the more impressive moments in the film, firmly reestablishing the Klingons as a genuine threat. For help developing the visual effects for "The Search for Spock," Nimoy turned to "Star Wars" effects company Industrial Light & Magic .

Nimoy approached ILM early during production on "Star Trek III," creating scale models for the Bird of Prey and Starfleet's orbital space station, Spacedock. A behind-the-scenes photo from the production shows VFX supervisor Ken Ralston working with ILM for shots involving the Bird of Prey. Impressed by their work on "Star Trek III," Nimoy collaborated with ILM when he resumed his directorial duties for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."

Spock joins Kirk at Yellowstone

The first time Captain Kirk and his friends are seen in 1989's "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," they aren't on an interplanetary mission, but enjoying a much-needed vacation. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy decide to go on a camping trip at Yellowstone, with Kirk going on a free solo climb of El Capitan. Spock interrupts his climb, rapidly catching up with the aid of hover boots, to question why his friend would indulge in such a dangerous activity. While long shots were filmed on location at El Capitan, the close-up shots involving actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were not.

This behind-the-scenes picture  from the special edition DVD release of the movie shows Nimoy standing comfortably on a platform, with a fiberglass composite of El Capitan's face positioned next to him and Shatner. Yosemite and its sweeping vista is seen in the background, with the production taking advantage of the on-location filming. Having the actual landscape in frame helps lend the illusion that Kirk and Spock are actually by Yosemite as Kirk makes his daring climb.

The Borg Queen makes her entrance

One of the most sinister antagonists in all of "Star Trek" is the Borg Queen, introduced in 1996's "Star Trek: First Contact." After the Borg Collective infiltrates the Enterprise, turning its engineering bay into a makeshift headquarters, the Queen reveals herself to Data. As the Queen delivers her opening monologue, the upper half of her torso is lowered onto a waiting body. Seamlessly executed, the Queen attaches to her lower half and walks to Data in a single take, without missing a beat.

A behind-the-scenes photo from Paramount Pictures  shows "First Contact" director Jonathan Frakes on set with actor Alice Krige in her Borg make-up. The robotic torso is fixed to the floor while Krige's lower half is covered by bluescreen material to facilitate the illusion of it initially being missing. Though Krige moves normally during filming, post-production creates the effect of her affixing to her body and walking. The resulting scene is one of the most visually impressive moments in "Star Trek" history, with a variety of tricks used to bring it all together.

The Star Trek reboot's innovative outdoor shoot

When filmmaker J.J. Abrams resurrected "Star Trek ," starting with an eponymous reboot film in 2009, this new take on the franchise had a decidedly more action-oriented approach. One of the biggest set pieces in the 2009 movie has Kirk and Sulu skydiving from a shuttlecraft above Vulcan onto a Romulan mining platform blasting into the planet. While the precariously hanging platform, Kirk and Sulu fight the Romulans operating it before destroying it in a desperate bid to save Vulcan. Rather than being filmed inside of a studio, the sequence was filmed outside, albeit far from being shot on-location.

Footage from an Industrial Light & Magic "Star Trek" featurette shows production of the mining platform scene, which reveals that it was shot in a parking lot. This exterior approach gave the scene the natural feeling that the actors were outside while still in a tightly controlled environment. The skies above Vulcan and, of course, the massive mining laser, were added digitally in post-production, with greenscreen on the ground to facilitate this. This approach paid off, with "Star Trek" earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects for its hard work.

The Klingon home world is a digital construction

One of the biggest action set pieces in "Star Trek Into Darkness" involves a covert mission to recover the villainous Khan (now played by Benedict Cumberbatch) on the Klingon home world of Kronos. The Klingons themselves are heavily redesigned from past "Star Trek" appearances, introduced moments before Khan massacres them in a prolonged gunfight. The battle is set in a rocky region of Kronos, with ash atmospherically falling around the combatants before Khan surrenders himself to Kirk and his landing party. Of course, none of the background on Kronos is actually real.

While the costumed actors are on set for the Kronos sequence, the landscape around them was created and superimposed around them via blue screen, as revealed in a VFX reel from Pixomondo . Lights around the set help make the Klingons appear more intimidating, lending a subtle shadow effect. With so much of "Star Trek Into Darkness" set in Starfleet locations, Kronos is among the most visually striking places in the movie. And though the entire sequence feels like it's shot on a soundstage, how much of it never physically existed is a bit surprising.

Star Trek Into Darkness digitally creates another planet

To take down Khan in "Star Trek Into Darkness," Starfleet Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) has the Enterprise loaded with specially designed torpedoes. Suspicious about this secret weapon, Hank McCoy (Karl Urban) and Doctor Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) defuse and disassemble one of the torpedoes on a remote planet. A brief but tense scene in the movie, things nearly turn explosive when the torpedo's failsafe program is accidentally triggered until it is successfully disarmed. Though the landscape resembles any number of Hollywood productions filmed in expansive exteriors like Iceland, it was digitally constructed.

Like Kronos, the planet where McCoy and Marcus carry out their dangerous investigation was largely created in post-production. Actors Karl Urban and Alice Eve stand on set in costume, with the ground and torpedo prop also physically on set. However, as revealed in a behind-the-scenes photo from Atomic Fiction , the background was created through green screen behind the actors. In comparison to its predecessor, so much of "Star Trek Into Darkness" takes place outdoors, with the production digitally creating distinct environments for the story to unfold in.

Star Trek Beyond puts Jaylah into focus

Whereas much of the action in "Star Trek Into Darkness" takes place on the Enterprise, its sequel "Star Trek Beyond" takes place on solid, if unfamiliar, ground. The 2016 movie opens with the Enterprise lured into a trap on the faraway planet Altamid where it crashes on the surface. As the crew faces the villainous Krall, they are joined by the formidable scavenger Jaylah, who has her own violent history with Krall. Taking refuge in the wreckage of the lost Starfleet vessel the USS Franklin, Jaylah is prepared to deal with any enemies with extreme prejudice.

Like many of the planetary environments in "Star Trek Into Darkness," Altamid is similarly largely created from special effects magic. A behind-the-scenes photo from Rodeo FX depicts actor Sofia Boutella in full costume and makeup as Jaylah taking aim with a sniper rifle. Though the wreckage of the Franklin is a physical presence on set, the mountainous background was created through a green screen behind the actor. Like 2009's "Star Trek," the Altamid exteriors were filmed outdoors, to give the movie a natural lighting to help accentuate the illusion.

The USS Discovery's window to the galaxy

The start of this new wave of "Star Trek" programming on Paramount+ began with the prequel series "Star Trek: Discovery" in 2017. Initially set before the events of "The Original Series," the second season of "Discovery" ended with the crew whisked away to the 32nd century. Many episodes feature intense sequences set in the USS Discovery's bridge, with the crew peering out the ship's viewscreen at incoming threats. Like similar viewscreens in the franchise's numerous starships, the Discovery's viewscreen, of course, isn't functional at all.

In a scene from the fourth season of "Discovery," the bridge crew is seen peering out at a strange starship from their viewscreen. The behind-the-scenes photo, courtesy of  OutpostVFX , the visual effects studio behind much of the special effects magic in "Discovery" reveals the entire screen and wall to be a greenscreen. "Discovery" completely reinvigorated "Star Trek" 50 years after the franchise launched after a big part of that is the significant upgrade in visual effects.

The Romulan double agent stands revealed

The first season of "Star Trek: Picard" revolves around two tragedies: The destruction of Romulus and an artificial intelligence attack carried out on Mars. In the years since Jean-Luc Picard's retirement after the Mars incident, the remnants of the Romulan Empire infiltrate the upper echelons of Starfleet. One of the early twists is that high-ranking Starfleet officer Commodore Oh is secretly in league with the Romulans. After revealing her true colors, Oh leads a rebuilt Romulan armada to confront Starfleet from her own starship.

While "Picard" does feature a healthy amount of practical sets and on-location filming, the interior of Oh's Romulan ship isn't one of them. This behind-the-scenes image  from Paramount reveals that the inside of the Romulan is entirely blue screen, with the interior added in post-production. Actor Tamlyn Tomita, in costume, is filmed in front of the screen, with a boom mic capturing her dialog. Given that the scenes inside the Romulan ship aren't extensive, creating digitally rather than dressing an entire set is certainly a cost-effective decision.

Captain Pike's crew braves the elements

The 2022 prequel series "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" follows the adventures of Kirk's predecessor on the Enterprise, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). In the first season's finale, Pike and a small landing party investigate a crashed starship on an icy planet. The small ensemble beams a safe distance away from the starship, which is balanced precariously at the edge of a rocky cliff seen in the horizon. These landscape shots, like many seen throughout the series, are part of a relatively new visual effects technique popularized by "Star Wars."

"The Mandalorian" uses a facility, known as StageCraft, that projects a digital background on a limited set, offering a more immersive experience for actors than a bluescreen. "Strange New Worlds" uses a similar technique for its landscapes, employing a wall of LED screens on set. The behind-the-scenes photo (via American Cinematographer ) reveals the cast and crew on set filming a scene from the finale as the landing party approaches the wreckage. Featuring a mix of physical set and digital background projected in real-time, "Strange New Worlds" continues the franchise's tradition of using cutting-edge visual effects.

• April 12, 2024 | Interview: Wilson Cruz On How “Jinaal” Sets Up The Rest Of The Season For Culber On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
• April 12, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed For Season 4; ‘Lower Decks’ To End With Season 5
• April 12, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Goes To Trill With ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ For “Jinaal”
• April 11, 2024 | Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate
• April 11, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Tries Too Many Connections In “Jinaal”

Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 216 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

Star Trek (2009)

Jimmy bennett: young james t. kirk, photos .

Quotes 

[Kirk drives his stepfather's Corvette toward a cliff. As he skids sideways, he jumps out before the Corvette falls off while he hangs on the edge of the cliff. The Iowa cop chasing him steps off his bike as Kirk climbs off the cliff] 

Young Kirk : Is there a problem, officer?

Iowa Cop : Citizen, what is your name?

Young Kirk : My name is James Tiberius Kirk!

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A Star Trek Origin Movie Is Coming in 2025 From Director Toby Haynes

• A new Star Trek prequel film, an "origin story", is in development, at Paramount.
• The Star Trek history before Kirk's missions on the Enterprise is largely unwritten, leaving room for creativity with the new film.
• Director Toby Haynes, known for Andor , is working on the film alongside writer Seth Grahame-Smith; a 2025 release window was announced at CinemaCon.

Star Trek may finally be coming back to the big screen. A prequel to the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise is in the works from director Toby Haynes . The news comes from Paramount's presentation at CinemaCon today, as reported by Collider's Steve Weintraub and Britta DeVore . With Haynes, who recently helmed six episodes of the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor , at the rudder, the film will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith .

So far, other details on the new film are scarce, but it will reportedly be an "origin story", taking place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film, which took place in 2255. That likely means that it will not feature the cast from the 2009 reboot, which has so far been difficult for Paramount to wrangle together for a fourth film, despite numerous attempts to do so . That doesn't necessarily mean that a fourth movie isn't happening: back in March, Paramount hired The Flight Attendant scribe Steve Yockey to pen a new script for the film. For their part, the cast is game as well, with Zoe Saldaña recently stating her willingness to return for a fourth mission on the USS Enterprise .

What Happened Decades Before Kirk's First Missions on the Enterprise?

The history of the Star Trek universe prior to the celebrated voyages of the Enterprise is largely unwritten. The first starship Enterprise 's adventures in the 22nd century were chronicled on the UPN prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise . That series ended with the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, which leaves almost a century of mostly unexplored history between that and the history now being charted on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (and the first two seasons of mothership show Star Trek: Discovery ).

At some point, the nascent Federation faces a devastating war against the Romulan Star Empire , while also engaged in a Cold War with the Klingons. The USS Enterprise will eventually be launched in the 23rd century, under the captaincy of Robert April, who has been briefly glimpsed on Star Trek: The Animated Series and Strange New Worlds , before being handed off to Christopher Pike . Apart from that, however, Haynes and Graeme-Smith have a near-blank canvas upon which to make their mark.

In addition to Andor , Haynes has also helmed episodes of Doctor Who , Sherlock , and Black Mirror ; his work on the latter series includes the episode " USS Callister ," a loving pastiche of Star Trek . Graeme-Smith wrote the novels Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter ; he worked on the story for the upcoming horror comedy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice .

A new Star Trek prequel film is in development; no date has yet been set beyond a 2025 release window . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

William Shatner Recalls Pushing for Star Trek's Interracial Kiss Scene

William Shatner looks back upon making television history with Star Trek co-star Nichelle Nichols.

William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols made history when their characters kissed in an episode of Star Trek in 1968. Now, Shatner has done some more reflection on the big moment, reaffirming how it wouldn't have happened if he wasn't pushing to make it so, even with some reluctance from the network.

In a new interview on Real Time with Bill Maher , Shatner was asked about the famous kiss scene. Bill Maher described the big scene as a "major moment in American culture," noting how "it was the first time, in a scripted moment, a white man had kissed a Black woman." Maher goes on to commend the Star Trek actor for being "brave," pointing to the well-documented story of how Shatner had insisted upon doing the kiss scene, despite any controversy that it may have caused at the time.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Gets Renewed, Lower Decks to End With Season 5

"NBC, of course, was nervous about it," Maher said. "I mean, we had seen before when Southern stations would cancel shows, or not show them, for something like that. And you stuck to your guns and did the kiss."

Miming the kiss, Shatner said, "Yes, I puckered up my lips , and [kissing motion]. She's no longer with us, but in her lifetime, she was a remarkably attractive lady."

When asked what would've happened if Shatner hadn't insisted upon doing the scene, Shatner added, " It would not have gotten done ."

Star Trek Origin Movie Confirmed by Paramount, Logline Revealed

Nichols passed away in 2022, though she previously had addressed the major kiss scene in various interviews. She recalled how Shatner refused to film any takes of the scene where he wasn't actually kissing Nichols, even with the director requesting him to fake it for the camera.

"It had been OK'ed, script-wise, and we went into production for that episode," Nichols said in a 2012 interview . "After the first take, the director yelled 'CUT!' and came over, saying, 'Bill, what are you doing? You actually kissed her!' And Bill said, 'Yeah, I can't get her to let me do it any other way except that it was written in the script. So, what's the problem?' And the director said, 'The South -- they'll kill us.'"

Nichols added, "Bill would say, 'Just once more. I feel there's an intensity that we're not getting because (the aliens) are causing us to do it with their telekinetic powers.'"

Nichelle Nichols Passed Away in 2022

" I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Nichelle ," Shatner said in an X post in 2022 after Nichols' death was announced. "She was a beautiful woman & played an admirable character that did so much for redefining social issues both here in the US & throughout the world. I will certainly miss her. Sending my love and condolences to her family."

The new episode of Real Time with Bill Maher featuring William Shatner is streaming on Max. Meanwhile, the new documentary about Shatner's life and career, called You Can Call Me Bill , hits VOD on April 26.

Source: Real Time with Bill Maher

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.