The “real” James Kirk will show up in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds second season

The real James Kirk will show up on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

When Paul Wesley was cast as a “young” James Kirk, Wesley was pushing 40, thus making everyone think that he’d play either an older version of the character and then a younger version of a character, or that he’d be some type of alien clone. Well, we were right with the first theory, as Wesley did in fact play an “older” version of Kirk.

He appeared in the season one finale as a more aged and experienced Kirk, but it wasn’t the Kirk we’d end up seeing, as Wesley himself said that version of Kirk was from an alternate timeline future. He told this and other things to IGN, including that Kirk will in fact be back for season two.

Wesley went on to talk about what to expect from Kirk in season two (via TrekMovie.com, saying);

"Anything you saw in the [season 1] finale is strangely not applicable because it’s an alternate timeline future. So when we meet Kirk again in season 2, there’s no memory. He’s meeting Pike for the first time. He’s a young lieutenant. He’s not a captain. He doesn’t have that formidable Shatner-esque quality yet. And I think that he does take some mentorship and he has a high degree of respect for Pike for sure."

In another interview with TV Insider (via TrekMovie.com), Wesley went on to describe more about who he is as the younger Kirk, saying;

"In the season 1 finale, he’s an alternate version of Kirk… so we get to see the real Kirk in season 2. He’s much younger, he’s a little bit lighter. It’s Kirk pre-Kirk, basically… We’re going to see pre-Kirk trying to figure out who he is, as a lieutenant on the Farragut. And he’s going show up in unexpected places at unexpected times."

Then Wesley spoke to Collider (via TrekMovie.com) about Kirk being looser than his first appearance in season one.

"I’m looking forward to season 2 because Kirk gets to kind of let loose a little bit and have a little more fun, and not be alt/future timeline Kirk. He gets to be young Kirk in The Original Series canon. So I’m excited to explore that."

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will have to do their best to make James Kirk likable

The casting of Wesley wasn’t the most universally well-received one possible. There were plenty of people who liked it, sure, but even more that didn’t. His age was brought up a lot, and the fact that he wasn’t known to have that same type of William Shatner-esque charisma.

The thing is, a good script and a well-directed episode can make all the difference in the world. If we’re really getting young Kirk in season two, let’s get the most Kirk-like Kirk we can possibly get. Let’s see if the series can make this version of Kirk even more likable in season two than he was in season one.

Hopefully, he gets some better reviews considering we’ll be getting a more authentic version of the character.