Could Captain James T. Kirk be ALIVE?

All Star Trek fans are aware that the iconic Captain James T. Kirk, originally portrayed by the equally iconic William Shatner, died in Star Trek: Generations (1994) in a temporal storyline with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). However, what if Captain Kirk could be resurrected?

Captain Kirk is ALIVE! Well, at least in the form of a new comic book by IDW Publishing, according to The Hollywood Reporter. IDW Publishing, on September 24th, will issue a new flagship comic book titled Star Trek: The Last Starship, which is written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and illustrated by Adrian Bonilla. Lanzing told The Hollywood Reporter this about the project:

“The Last Starship is a new crew, a new era, and a completely different tone; our aim is to be literally, intense, innovative, and most of all accessible.”

Lanzing went on to affirm this:

“We’re bringing you into the Federation’s darkest hour through the brilliant, noir-soaked lens of artist Adrian Bonilla with zero homework required…”

Conflict in the galaxy

Last Starship is taking a daring continuity approach as a jumping-off point, set amid a Season 3 Star Trek: Discovery storyline, which devastated most of the Federation in a galaxy-wide anomalous event called "The Burn." The Burn was a cataclysmic event in which dilithium, the energy source of most Starships' warp cores, became inert and exploded in a singular event (see Discovery S3, E11 “Su’Kal”) that killed most of Starfleet, severing the peace and stability of the United Federation of Planets.

The Burn occurred during the 32nd Century, some 800 years after Captain Kirk died…so, how will the only cadet in Starfleet Academy to defeat the Kobayashi Maru be alive during this timeline? Of course, all kinds of temporal events could occur, or Kirk could meet Q for the first time, or it's just a mystery!

The latter is the case in Last Starship, as Kirk is mysteriously resurrected to lead a new crew on a new starship (Enterprise-Omega), commanding missions to unify the galaxy in an exciting journey to rebuild the UFP. Enterprise-Omega is an Omega-class starship and a subclass of the Solanae-class design that was developed in a joint effort with the Federation, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Republic.

An Experimental Starship

Enterprise-Omega has a matter-antimatter warp core, which also incorporates an experimental energy source known as Omega molecules. Omega molecules are dangerously unstable; however, each particle contains the energy of a full warp core! Starfleet banned Omega molecule research because of its volatility, as a single explosion of one molecule could destroy all subspace within several light years.

Kirk's mysterious resurrection will likely be revealed at some point during the comic book series, but for now, it's a mystery. I suspect that the Last Starship comic book creators will find a unique and creative way to rebuild the UFP that Discovery or the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy hasn’t already depicted.

I'm even more excited that the Last Starship creators are developing Starfleet stories with a "no assembly required" approach that could bring in new audiences and Trekkie neophytes who may not have a wealth of Star Trek canon and knowledge to rely on, but can still enjoy this new era of Starfleet adventures in the Alpha Quadrant with Captain James T. Kirk!