Paul Wesley is up to play Captain Kirk in a Star Trek: The Original Series reboot

Paul Wesley plays the youngest version of James T. Kirk on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Paul Wesley began playing Lt. James T. Kirk on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds during its first season and has now moved into the second season of the series. Though fans have been concerned if his presence means Strange New Worlds will eventually evolve into Star Trek: The Original Series territory where Kirk takes over as captain of the USS Enterprise, Wesley assured fans in an interview with CinemaBlend (before the SAG-AFTRA strike) that he doesn’t think they need to worry.

Calling Strange New Worlds successful and beloved, the actor said he doesn’t think fans should be concerned by a Kirk takeover as he thinks Strange New Worlds is just paying homage to The Original Series. But that’s not to say that he wouldn’t be interested in assuming the mantle of Captain James T. Kirk if a future series were commissioned.

Paul Wesley is having a blast playing Lt. James T. Kirk

We all want to love what we do so that work isn’t tedious, and Wesley admitted in the same interview with CinemaBlend that once Strange New Worlds has finished, he’d be open to playing Captain James T. Kirk in a new version of Star Trek: The Original Series.

"“With that said, if anybody called me and whenever Strange New Worlds had its run, things were over, and they said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna do a version of TOS,’ I’d jump on a heartbeat. Of course, I would. I’m having such a blast playing this character. I love it.”"

Just to be clear, there’s been no talk of a reboot of the original version of Star Trek, and honestly, it’s not something I can see happening. It’s one thing to have these original characters portrayed by other actors in different series, but to recast them all in a television remake of the series that started the franchise might not be the wisest of decisions.

Though The Original Series only lasted three seasons, it spawned an animated series that lasted two seasons and six movies. In addition, the actors who portrayed these characters have reached iconic status. It would be difficult to capture the magic that William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley had as the main trio. Yes, it’s been done in the Kelvin timeline movies, but that’s vastly different from an ongoing series. What Shatner and the rest of the actors had on The Original Series was essentially lightning in a bottle.

So though Wesley is onboard for the role if it comes his way, I don’t see a reboot of The Original Series (or any of the other series, for that matter) happening. And, honestly, it makes much more sense to create new shows to expand the franchise.