Paul Wesley On How Kirk "Will Do Anything To Win" In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Exclusive)

Published Sep 11, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT

John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 8 - "Orders Of Magnitude"Paul Wesley takes a giant leap towards becoming Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 8, "Orders of Magnitude." Kirk's morality and willingness to do what's right are tested by rogue Starfleet Admiral Simon Reeger (Joe Morton), who commandeers the USS Enterprise and is hell-bent on revenge.

Wesley famously received William Shatner's blessing when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cast him as the younger James Kirk. Paul tells ScreenRant's John Orquiola, "It's funny. It's so iconic," that a large chunk of Wesley's career is now linked to Shatner. "But hey, listen, I'll take the comparison, and I'm glad. I'll take the link. That's a good link to have.”

“Orders of Magnitude” is one of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's best episodes. Wesley has guest-starred as James Kirk (often playing alternate reality versions) since the end of season 1, and he agrees that his episodes as Kirk are routinely among the best of each season: “Yeah, they give me the juicy stuff.”

Paul Wesley Teases "Magical" Moment When Captain Kirk's Enterprise Crew Assembles In Strange New Worlds' Series Finale

Image credit: Paramount+

ScreenRant: What has been your favorite time playing Kirk so far, or is it still to come?

It's very hard because, you know, ‘favorite.’ There's always something special about many different moments. I will say, it was announced, as you guys know, that we cast Bones and we cast Sulu. We obviously have Spock, and I will say without giving anything away, that there was something truly magical about having these characters on screen together. Our own version of it.

When we were on set, I was like, ‘Wow, there's something magical here. There's something working.’ The chemistry's on point, and certainly, that was the case for The Original Series, and I think we have a bit of a semblance of that as well.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' stated 'five-year mission' is to build towards the start of Star Trek: The Original Series. Strange New Worlds' fifth and final season, which wrapped filming last December, ends with Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) handing the USS Enterprise over to Captain Kirk.

"I don't know if Year One's ever gonna happen."

Strange New Worlds' ending is also meant to set up a proposed spinoff, dubbed Star Trek: Year One. However, Paramount Skydance has different plans for the Star Trek TV franchise, and Wesley admits, "I don't know if Year One's ever gonna happen."

Wesley hasn't seen Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' series finale yet, but based on being on set and his experience filming it, he's confident: “You're gonna love it, man. You're gonna love that episode. That's for sure.”

Paul Wesley Is Thrilled To Create New Kirk Canon In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Image via Paramount+

"Orders of Magnitude" fulfills another of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' missions: To reveal canon that has been missing from Star Trek, in some cases, for the last 60 years. In his dealings with Admiral Reeger, James and his older brother, Lieutenant Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte), learn hidden truths about their father, Lieutenant George Kirk, who was once Reeger's First Officer.

"That's what's great about this show," Wesley says. "The whole point of this show is to fill in between the lines with some color because so much of The Original Series is the little bits and pieces of, ‘oh well that happened.’ Kirk's brother died on this planet, and [it’s been] kind of like fact-based without any true details."

James and Sam Kirk learned that their distant, absentee father never became a starship captain because his career was sabotaged by Admiral Reeger. Further, George Kirk was a hero of the Klingon War who commanded the USS Constitution to victory when Captain Reeger was incapacitated. A furious Reeger then altered the ship's logs and took all of the credit.

This revelation changed how Sam and Jim see their father, which thrilled Wesley:

This is our job: To offer insight toward people or, frankly, build canon, and even add to canon. I love it. I love that we will forever be in the Star Trek bible, so to speak. Or, I should say, Memory Alpha.

What Acting Opposite Joe Morton Was Like For Paul Wesley

Image via Paramount+

Paul Wesley faced off with guest star Joe Morton in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Orders of Magnitude." Morton has a legendary film and TV career and is a powerful performer. Wesley says, "I knew I really needed to bring my A-game for this episode. And I loved the way it was written. It was a real honor to share the screen with him."

Paul praised Joe's dedication and talent: "When he came to set, he never once looked at his lines. He knew everything. It’s like he somehow had it locked in his brain. He sat on set in between takes. He never once looked at a cell phone. He was constantly just in the moment, in character. He's such a force, and he has such gravitas, and I knew that I had to step up my game if I wanted to go head-to-head with him."

What I think he did so beautifully in this episode is that, even though he's fighting to do something that is morally incorrect, his vulnerability and his purpose, and the way in which he sort of reveals himself… His pain is so justifiable. He does it in such an empathetic way that you almost are rooting for him. Even though he's the bad guy, you're almost rooting for him. It's very interesting. It's not a black and white villain arc. It's a really interesting gray zone in terms of his moral ambiguity.

While Admiral Reeger was willing to massacre thousands to get revenge on the aliens who killed his wife and family, much of his philosophy about starship command includes tenets Kirk would later embody as Captain of the Enterprise. Reeger believes in improvisation, taking risks, and the math of command when lives are at stake, all familiar aspects of Captain Kirk's style of command.

However, Wesley intriguingly wonders where Reeger's talk of risk-taking really comes from: “You have to question how much of that did he steal from Kirk's father? And then you go, well, is he saying all those things because that's what Kirk's father was, and that's why Kirk is the way he is?”

ScreenRant: We know Kirk cheated in the Kobayashi Maru test. But now we can also add that he poisoned an admiral's coffee.

Paul Wesley: [laughs] “Yeah, he'll do anything to win.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is streaming on Paramount+

Check out our other Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 interviews:

• Anson Mount
• Dave Foley
• Celia Rose Gooding
• Rachael Harris & Joe Lo Truglio
• Jess Bush
• Rhys Darby
• Diedre Hall

• 

  Captain Christopher Pike

• 

  Spock