Star Trek Finally Settles It: William Shatner Was Wrong About Captain Kirk
Among a galaxy of Star Trek captains, James T. Kirk still commands the bridge—and William Shatner, now in his 90s, keeps the legend loud with headline-grabbing takes on the franchise and its fandom.
William Shatner is in his 90s, he literally went to space in 2021, and he still stirs the pot every time he talks about Star Trek. Lately, he has been clear about one thing: he is not coming back to play Captain James T. Kirk, and in his view there is nothing left to do with the character anyway. Respectfully: the last few years of Trek have been busy proving the opposite.
Shatner is out, but Kirk is very much alive
Shatner says he has done all he wants to do with Kirk. Fair point — he defined the guy. But Star Trek has already shown the role can evolve without him, and not just as an impression of the original.
- Chris Pine carried Kirk through J.J. Abrams' 2010s films. Yes, Pine nodded to Shatner’s swagger, but he also rebuilt Kirk into a modern big-screen hero and made the character iconic all over again for a new crowd.
- Paul Wesley stepped in as a younger James T. Kirk on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, first showing up in that show's Season 1 finale back in 2022 and popping up more since. He borrows some classic Kirk rhythms, sure, but his version has been praised for more obvious depth and heart — the guy actually learns and changes in episodes that are clearly paving the road to future Enterprise captain. The Strange New Worlds audience is smaller than a blockbuster movie ’s, but it is big and engaged enough that this recast actually stuck.
- Ethan Peck deserves a shout here too. As the younger Spock on Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New Worlds, he has managed the same trick: honoring what came before while taking ownership of the role — and winning over long-timers in the process.
So what happens next?
The TV side is a little murky right now. Paramount has been reshuffling its strategy, and the scuttlebutt points to a renewed push to get Star Trek back on the big screen. A new feature is in development with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who are said to be exploring a
"completely new"
take on Star Trek.
What does that mean for Paul Wesley and the Strange New Worlds crew? Realistically, it makes any immediate spinoff shot less likely — but not impossible. Strange New Worlds is back this summer, and there is still runway left for the series after that. By the time it wraps, Paramount should have a clearer map of where the franchise is headed and whether continuing what Strange New Worlds started is part of that plan.
The bottom line
Shatner’s perspective on Kirk will always matter — he built the blueprint. But the character has already outgrown a single interpretation, and recent Trek has found new angles (and new audiences) without needing to drag the past back onstage. However the next film shapes up, the door for Kirk to boldly go somewhere new is still wide open.
If you want to catch up or argue with your friends about which Kirk did it best, Star Trek is streaming on Paramount+.