'Star Trek' TV Franchise Recasts Kirk

By Stephen Andrew

The Star Trek TV franchise has recast James T. Kirk, with actor Paul Wesley (The Vampire Diaries) taking over the role. Wesley will make his debut in Season 2 of the new Paramount+ series Strange New Worlds. The series will kick off its 10-episode first season on May 5, but the show has already been renewed for a second season. At this time, there is no word on when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will premiere but can speculate it may not be until 2023.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds follows Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his crew aboard the starship USS Enterprise as they "explore new worlds throughout the galaxy." In the larger Star Trek cannon, the series takes place during the decade prior to Star Trek: The Original Series. Recently, Paramount+ announced that it had renewed all of its Star Trek series, in addition to Strange  new Worlds. Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks have been given new season orders at Paramount+, and a new season of Star Trek: Picard recently debuted. This marks the fifth season for Discovery, the fourth season for Lower Decks, and Season 2 for Picard.

"Four years ago, we made a promise to grow Star Trek into something it had never been before, and thanks to the incredibly hard work done by our many talented showrunners, writers, and directors, along with the extraordinary support of CBS Studios and Paramount Plus, we're keeping our word," said Alex Kurtzman, the filmmaker and producer who is head of CBS Studios' creative team for all Star Trek TV franchise entries. "Now our current shows are set up for the future as we work to build 'Trek's' next phase of programming for years to come."

Younger Stark Trek fans will also be excited to learn that Star Trek: Prodigy, an animated series that airs on both Nickelodeon and Paramount+, is also coming back. The show is currently in its first season but is scheduled to come back for Season 2 later this year. Kurtzman previously sat down with THR to talk about the new show and shared some insight into Prodigy. 

"There are other Trek stories to tell in the kids' space. Hopefully, in success, this is going to be the first of many in that space," he said. "In our live-action world, one thing we hear a lot from fans is how much they've liked that we freed ourselves from canon in Discovery and jumped forward into a new timeline with a whole bunch of new worlds and new characters." Those interested in trying out a free trial of Paramount+ can do so by clicking here.

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