William Shatner Praises Pine and Wesley as Kirk in 2024
William Shatner stated in 2024 that William Shatner accredited of the actors who inherited Captain Kirk. Chris Pine and Paul Wesley have been each in his reward, with Shatner calling them “wonderful.”
That response lands after years of Shatner feedback on the function he made well-known in Star Trek: The Original Series. It additionally arrives after the Kelvin Timeline had not been seen on movie since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, conserving Pine’s model of Kirk in a narrower lane than Shatner’s authentic run.
2024 and Kirk’s successors
In 2024, Shatner instructed Screen Rant, “They’re wonderful. I just wish I looked as good as they do, and their ilk, as actors. They’re both wonderful.” That line lined Pine, who performed James T. Kirk in JJ Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot, and Wesley, who portrayed Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
The quote issues as a result of Shatner was not softening his view of the half; he was extending it. The authentic Kirk actor was publicly treating each successors as legitimate influencers, not as replacements to be graded in opposition to a hard and fast commonplace.
2009, 2012, and 2014
In 2009, Pine took on Kirk in JJ Abrams’ reboot, opening a second display screen period for the character. Shatner had already signaled openness to that model in 2012 at Wizard World in New Orleans, the place he stated Pine was “a lovely young man, who is really talented and looks really good. He’s got the demeanor, the body and the voice. So, along with being a good actor, he’s got all the right equipment.”
By 2014, Shatner had gone additional. He instructed Metro, “I’ve seen the two films JJ Abrams directed, and I enjoyed them very much.” He added that seeing Pine as Kirk was “like seeing your mortality,” a blunt line that exhibits how a recast function can change into private for the actor who originated it.
Kelvin Timeline since 2016
The Kelvin Timeline had not appeared on movie since Star Trek Beyond in 2016, which left Pine’s Kirk in a frozen chapter whereas Wesley stored the character energetic on tv. That cut up provides Shatner’s 2024 reward additional weight: one actor represents the reboot movies, the opposite a later tv extension, and each nonetheless earned the identical phrase from the unique Kirk.
For viewers who monitor franchise continuity, the takeaway is easy. Shatner is just not guarding the function from his successors; he’s endorsing them, and he’s doing it in public with no hedging.
