New Photos of Paul Wesley as Captain James T. Kirk

Paul Wesley takes over the iconic role of Captain James T. Kirk

Following the release of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ first season finale, CBS has released some new photos of actor Paul Wesley as Captain James T. Kirk.

Warning: Strange New Worlds first season finale spoilers ahead.

Officially announced as joining Strange New Worlds back in March, it was originally thought that Wesley would appear in the second season of the latest Paramount+ Star Trek series. However, Wesley made a surprise appearance as Kirk in the first season finale “A Quality of Mercy” and played a very pivotal role in the episode.

While Wesley will surely be seen throughout the series’ upcoming second season, these new photos — in addition to his appearance in the finale itself — give us our best look at him as the iconic Starfleet Captain.

Check out nine new photos (along with one previously released photo) of Paul Wesley as Kirk below.

Wesley joins a shortlist of actors who’ve played an adult Kirk — a character made famous by William Shatner in the original Star Trek series and the first seven feature films. In recent years, Kirk was portrayed by Chris Pine in J.J. Abrams‘ “Kelvin Timeline” films, including 2009’s Star Trek, 2012’s Star Trek Into Darkness, and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond.

Prior to Strange New Worlds, Wesley is best known for his portrayal of Stefan Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries and as Tucker Reed on Tell Me a Story.

Wesley joins the cast of Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock, and Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley (a.k.a. Number One), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Christina Chong (La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Cadet Nyota Uhura), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas) for Strange New Worlds season two — expected in 2023.

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Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+.

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