In 1994, almost 30 years after William Shatner debuted as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek: The Unique Sequence, his onscreen journey with the character got here to an finish. The film Star Trek: Generations noticed Kirk dying whereas serving to Jean-Luc Picard forestall Soran killing tens of millions in an try to achieve the Nexus. Over three a long time later, it’s been introduced that Shatner’s Kirk will return in a method that, whereas not occurring in an upcoming Star Trek present, did legit shock me as a fan.
IDW Publishing has introduced a comic book e-book sequence launching in September referred to as Star Trek: The Final Starship, which is being written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, and illustrated by artist Adrián Bonilla. Per THR, the sequence will see Kirk being resurrected post-Generations, however not instantly afterward, i.e. the time when Deep Area 9 and Voyager had been operating. As an alternative, The Final Starship will happen in centuries later in The Burn period, which the characters in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 realized about after they traveled to the thirty second century.
For many who haven’t seen Discovery (which will be rectified with a Paramount+ subscription for those who select), The Burn was a catastrophe that noticed many of the galaxy’s dilithium being rendered inert, ensuing within the detonation of each warp core and killing trillions. This in flip destroyed the peace that the United Federation of Planets had maintained for hundreds of years and almost destroyed the interstellar union. It was solely in the course of the latter half of Discovery’s run, which passed off greater than a century after The Burn, that the Federation lastly began to get well.
Star Trek: The Final Starship will see James T. Kirk resurrected throughout The Burn beneath mysterious circumstances. From there, he’ll lead a brand new ship and crew in an effort to “uphold Starfleet’s mission of unity throughout the cosmos” on this devastating time. It was additionally clarified that that The Final Starship is aimed to be accessible for all readers, and that Kirk might be surrounded by brand-new characters.
It needs to be famous that this isn’t the primary time Kirk has been resurrected in written Star Trek materials. William Shatner beforehand wrote a sequence of novels, informally referred to as the Shatnerverse, that noticed the Borg and Romulans bringing him again to life and despatched him to assassinate Jean-Luc Picard, although he was ultimately retunred to regular. So whereas the information of one other Kirk resurrection story didn’t take me abruptly, the truth that it’s set throughout The Burn did. That stated, this truly connects properly with Star Trek: Picard Season 3 revealing that Kirk’s physique had been transferred to the Daystrom Institute.
I’ve loved Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing earlier Star Trek comics, so I’m trying ahead to seeing how they clarify James T. Kirk’s resurrection on this continuity and fleshing out The Burn period in Star Trek: The Final Starship. In the meantime, you possibly can see Paul Wesley proceed to play the pre-Unique Sequence Kirk when Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds Season 3 premieres on the 2025 TV schedule subsequent month.