Following his surprise appearance in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 finale, Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk stopped by for three Season 2 episodes, with the latter two, “Lost in Translation” and “Subspace Rhapsody,” taking place in the main Star Trek continuity. In other words, unlike Chris Pine’s Kirk, who lives in the alternate Kelvin timeline, Wesley is playing the exact same Kirk whom William Shatner brought to life in Star Trek: The Original Series, just several years younger. While this didn’t end up translating to Wesley doing a Shatner impression while working on the Paramount+ show, he does have high praise for his predecessor’s performance.
Wesley spent some time talking about Strange New Worlds while appearing on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast. When the title host asked the Vampire Diaries vet if he ever wondered about imitating the way Shatner would deliver his lines in The Original Series and his following seven film appearances, he responded:
