Star Trek is about to give us a much different Captain Kirk in a new comic book series, and fans may be surprised at how this icon is reimagined. Don't worry, Trekkies! For those who want to read the story first, only minor SPOILERS follow.
While Captain James T. Kirk has been the most iconic character in all of Star Trek lore, he has been reimagined a couple of times over the years. The Kelvin Timeline movies featured Chris Pine not emulating William Shatner but portraying the Kirk of a different timeline, who was more excitable and rebellious.
Meanwhile, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds features Paul Wesley portraying a younger Kirk, and that’s without mentioning the various novels featuring Kirks of alternate worlds. Now, a new take comes via the IDW Publishing comic book series Star Trek: The Last Starship. This is billed as the Star Trek version of Marvel’s Ultimate line or DC Comics’ Absolute books, which takes Trek in a slightly different continuity.
The series will finally explore the events of “The Burn,” referenced in Star Trek: Discovery’s later seasons. In 3069, an accident causes a galaxy-wide chain reaction of dilithium, destroying countless starships and basically rendering warp drive unusable. Overnight, the Federation as we’ve known it is on the verge of collapse. So, how does Kirk come back from the dead?
You’ll have to read the comic to find out, but co-writer Jackson Lanzing did discuss the series while appearing at this year's New York Comic Con alongside editor Heather Antos. Lanzing, who pens the story with Collin Kelly, also teased how the famed starship captain returns. Lanzing said during an interview with Comic Book Resources :
"That is why we use the Absolute and Ultimate frameworks simultaneously. In many ways, this is absolute Kirk. He is not the Kirk you know. He has the memories of the old Kirk in the body of a new Kirk that is not the actual body and not the actual man. He is, in some ways, a synthetic recreation and in other ways a ghost. He gets to define what it means to be Kirk now, in his framework, in the same way that Absolute Batman or Ultimate Iron Man figure that out for themselves."
This is a very intriguing turn for a book already setting up major stories! Lanzing also discussed how Kirk remembers his death in Star Trek: Generations and how it haunts him. It’s not so much the death itself but rather how Kirk, who always figured he’d go out saving his ship, perished under a bridge on the uninhabited planet Veridian III.
“James Kirk’s story reads like a man who should have died in a captain’s chair, and he did not," Lanzing said in the same interview with CBR. "That ending should haunt him. It should give him uncomfortable and uncharacteristic self-doubt. We spend issue two understanding that before we throw him into action. If you know James Kirk, you know he is going into action. It is just a matter of when and how, and how many Klingons are going to pay for it.”
This is going to be a fascinating take on the character. How does Kirk handle being reborn into a time when all he knew is gone? How does he deal with so many older memories?
Those questions add to the excitement of a series that’s a far different cry than the usual Star Trek fare and seeing Kirk in this time period is among the reasons The Last Starship is a must-read! Have you read the first issue of The Last Starship yet? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Star Trek: The Last Starship No.1 is now on sale. Look for issue No. 2 on Nov. 19.