Even though season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hasn’t even aired yet, it’s clear Paramount Plus has big plans for the sci-fi series, with production and casting for season 2 already getting started. One major addition to the Strange New Worlds cast in season 2 will be a young Captain Kirk, with the streaming service revealing on Twitter that the iconic role will be played by Paul Wesley.
Wesley, who is best known for playing Stefan Salvatore in CW TV series The Vampire Diaries, said on Twitter: “I am deeply humbled and still a little startled to have been given the honor of playing the inimitable James T Kirk.”
“Ever since I was a kid, I have been awed by the imaginative world Gene Roddenberry created,” he wrote. “Recently, I boarded a flight to LA to discover that the man in the empty seat beside me was the one and only William Shatner, having himself just returned from space. I could barely put two words together but ultimately I managed to say hello and we chatted. I’m not one who usually believes in fate but this was more than a coincidence.”
If you ask us, coming across the OG Captain Kirk as you gear up to play the character’s newest iteration is one hell of a coincidence. What a Strange New World we live in! Other cast members who will likely be joining Wesley include Anson Mount (Captain Pike), Rebecca Romijn, (Number One) and Ethan Peck (Spock).
Strange New Worlds follows Captain Kirk’s predecessor, Captain James T Pike aboard the USS Enterprise. The show is canon to the Original Series, acting as a direct prequel to Captain Kirk’s adventures and five-year mission. If that didn’t cement it enough into Star Trek lore, it is also a direct spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery, which is taking place more or less simultaneously.
Season 1 of Strange New Worlds is set to premiere exclusively on Paramount Plus on May 5, 2022. In the meantime, why don’t you check out our guide to some of the best sci-fi movies?