Paul Wesley would helm a show as Captain Kirk but not any time soon because of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Paul Wesley, who recently just won a Saturn for his portrayal of Lt. James T. Kirk on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, is really happy to be a part of the show. When asked by Trekmovie at the 51st annual Saturn Awards whether he would be up for being the series lead in a show about Captain Kirk, Wesley said he would "1000 percent " do a starring role. But the actor said Strange New Worlds isn't going anywhere anytime soon because there's still a lot to be explored by the Paramount+ hit.

"First of all, I would one hundred percent do a series regular starring role, one thousand percent. But I think Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the pre [Kirk’s] Enterprise is so fascinating. It’s so well done. It’s a huge hit. Anson Mount is brilliant. I don’t think that show is going anywhere, I don’t want that show going anywhere anytime soon. I think it would be something that—who knows? Maybe it will happen, but I don’t think it would happen certainly any time in the next—I think there’s a long road to explore here with Strange New Worlds and I’m just really happy to be a part of it."

- Paul Wesley

The topic of Captain Pike's (Anson Mount) future came up in the interview as we all know PIke will eventually have to step down as captain. But, as Wesley said, we don't know when that will be. Time moves differently in the world of Star Trek, and five years of space travel could actually take seven or more. So, despite the fact that PIke has a grueseome future ahead of him, that doesn't have to happen until either Mount is ready to call it quits or Paramount is.

The big question is if Paramount would put money into another series with a Captain Kirk lead. So far, we haven't had any series where an original captain has been the series lead again except for Captain Picard who returned as Admiral Picard and with the original actor. No other acftor has portrayed previous captains. So a series with Paul Wesley playing Captain Kirk would essentially be a soft reboot of Star Trek: The Original Series. And I'm just not sure that's something the fans would get behind as The Original Series is one of the most highly-regarded series in the history of Star Trek. Because of it, we have the franchise we have now. So rebooting it would be a big risk.