Star Trek's Paul Wesley Says He's Ready for that Kirk Spinoff
For four years, Paul Wesley has been the most vocal advocate for his own spinoff. At the FanX Comic Convention in Indianapolis this past weekend, he made that case again, and this time, he had a punchline ready to go.
When fans at a Vampire Diaries panel asked Wesley about the future of Star Trek: Year One, the proposed spinoff that would follow his version of James T. Kirk into his first year commanding the USS Enterprise, his answer was the same as it's been, just sharper. 'We always talk about how we'd love to do a spin-off,' Wesley told the crowd, 'and if they... if we get the phone call, we'll do it. But we haven't got the phone call yet.' He followed that with a joke. Paramount may have simply 'lost my phone number.'
The line got a laugh, but the reality is no joke. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is heading into its fourth season, premiering July 23 on Paramount+, and Wesley confirmed at FanX that the show has now wrapped production on that season. What he didn't confirm is what comes after Season 5, the series' planned finale. Both Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy have been cancelled following their current runs, with no replacement series yet announced by Paramount Skydance.
Strange New Worlds executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have publicly described Year One as their '100 percent' dream plan, a show that would pick up where SNW leaves off, following Wesley's Kirk and Ethan Peck's Spock in the early days of the legendary Enterprise captaincy. Peck has said he'd return. Wesley has said he'd return. The creative team wants it. The fanbase wants it.
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What's missing is a green light from a studio in the middle of a major corporate transition. Paramount's merger with Skydance has left the Trek TV franchise in a state of limbo, with the studio reportedly prioritizing new Star Trek films over streaming series. That could shift as Paramount has said more Trek will come, but as of yet, there's no indication they're willing to move ahead with Wesley's dream project.
Interestingly, the question that prompted Wesley's comment was about Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami joining the Strange New Worlds finale as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy and Hikaru Sulu. Having Bones and Sulu aboard the Enterprise, alongside Kirk and Spock, creates an obvious handoff moment to a Year One setup. Whether that's setup or simply a satisfying ending depends entirely on Paramount.
When Wesley was cast as Kirk in 2022, stepping into a role that William Shatner made iconic for three seasons of The Original Series and many following movies, the reception was skeptical. He earned it anyway. His performance in Season 3's retro-throwback episode earned him a Saturn Award for Best Guest Star. Shatner himself gave Wesley acting advice. That's not a small thing for a franchise that can be fiercely protective of its own history.
Season 4 of Strange New Worlds arrives next month. For now, that's the Kirk story that's actually happening.
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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 5:12 AM.