Strange New Worlds show-runner seemingly disproves James Kirk theory

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds show-runner disproves James Kirk theory, we think.

Paul Wesley has joined Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as James T. Kirk. Wesley, who’s turning 40 this year, is about a decade too old to be James Kirk. This led many to believe that Wesley was playing an older version of Kirk, who’s telling the story of his time on the USS Farragut and the brief crossovers he had with the Enterprise.

Yet, while this could still be the case, it appears as though the Kirk that we’re getting in the show is in fact supposed to be a younger Kirk. The first season of Strange New Worlds is set six years before Kirk takes over the Enterprise, so we may be seeing Wesley in a number of different storyline ways, but what is made abundantly clear by series show-runner Henry Alonso Myers, is that this is Kirk pre-Enterprise and not some futuristic version of the captain.

Myers spoke to TV Line about this, saying;

"Our goal was to tell a story of this Kirk, in this time period, which is a totally different Kirk that has only been touched on in the Kelvin Universe. We hope the fun of the show is telling the inner stories that they maybe wouldn’t have been told back then about younger versions of the characters who have yet to become who we know."

That said, Myers did give themselves an out, saying that they can introduce Kirk in many different ways.

"This is a science fiction show, so there are many ways in which a character can enter a story and exit a story. We are absolutely in an era where [Kirk] is alive and present, and as much as we’re trying to tell the stories of how [Spock, Pike and Uhura] came to be the person that they become, there are other people who we also want to tell that story for."

Did he leave the door open for a time-traveling James Kirk?

My original idea for Wesley’s Kirk was that this was a Kirk firmly set as the captain of the Enterprise, and was telling Spock and the crew of the Enterprise a story about his time on The Farragut.

This may still be the case, as having an older actor would allow them to de-age him for flashback scenes with makeup. And while they claim that this Kirk was younger, Myers also said that this Kirk could be introduced in a very science-fiction way. Time travel, flashbacks, and all other manners of possibilities exist when telling this story. So only time will tell how this Kirk is portrayed and how he’s introduced.

Even Myers himself, this time in an interview with TrekCore, told fans to assume nothing.

"TREKCORE: So, assume nothing until you see the product.HENRY ALONSO MYERS: Assume nothing. Yes."

So how will Kirk be introduced? Who knows gotta tune in to find out.