Star Trek wanted Chris Pine's Captain James T. Kirk to make two different comebacks but, unfortunately, neither could happen. Pine and the cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) proved the iconic crew of Star Trek: The Original Series' USS Enterprise could be successfully recast with younger actors. Pine became the first actor to play Captain Kirk other than William Shatner, embodying the Captain of the Enterprise in three movies produced by J.J. Abrams, the last being Star Trek Beyond in 2016.
Star Trek on Paramount+ has brought back numerous Star Trek legacy actors and characters, including the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation in Star Trek: Picard season 3, and most of Star Trek: Voyager's cast led by Kate Mulgrew as Admiral Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy. Star Trek's animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy, have made it easier for aging Star Trek actors to simply voice their characters while appearing at whatever age that's appropriate for the 24th century. Even George Takei reprised Captain Hikaru Sulu in a Star Trek: Lower Decks dream sequence. But Chris Pine's Captain Kirk appears to be animated Star Trek's white whale.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Wanted Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk To Appear
Mike McMahan explains why it didn't happen
Star Trek: Lower Decks' creator and showrunner Mike McMahan wanted Chris Pine to reprise Captain Kirk in the animated comedy. On stage at Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's premiere event at Newport Beach Film Festival alongside Star Trek: Lower Decks actors Jerry O'Connell, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero in a panel moderated by Scott Mantz, McMahan surprised and delighted the audience by explaining his aborted idea to bring in Chris Pine as Captain Kirk. Watch the video below:
As Mike McMahan explained, Star Trek: Lower Decks is a "Rosetta stone" that contains enough references and Easter eggs that a layman can grasp the wider Star Trek universe. Captain Kirk is arguably the most iconic Star Trek Captain and the most well-known alongside Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Before Paul Wesley became Lt. James T. Kirk on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Kirk was conspicuously missing from Star Trek on Paramount+. Meanwhile, Chris Pine is more popular with the general audience who saw J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. Chris Pine on Star Trek: Lower Decks is certainly a fascinating missed opportunity, but many issues prevented it from happening.
Star Trek: Prodigy Also Wanted Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk
Kirk could have appeared while the Protostar jumped through universes
Star Trek: Prodigy's creators also harbored an unfulfilled idea to incorporate Chris Pine's Captain Kirk into Star Trek: Prodigy season 2. A sweeping epic about saving Star Trek's Multiverse from annihilation, Star Trek: Prodigy season 2's episode 14, "Cracked Mirror," saw the young crew of the USS Protostar led by Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) visit a handful of alternate realities, including the Mirror Universe. In an exclusive interview with Screen Rant, Star Trek: Prodigy co-executive producer Aaron J. Waltke explains their idea to bring in Chris Pine's Captain Kirk. Read Aaron's quote below:
At one point, I think we had discussed the possibility of what other universes can we explore? And I think at one point, we talked about trying to bring in even the Kelvin universe, but we just simply didn't have time in the “Cracked Mirror” episode, where they're going into all the different universes. And we were like, ‘Oh, what if we brought in that Captain Kirk, and he had to help them for a couple of episodes?’ It was a cool idea, but it was just a little bit too many sauces in the stew kind of a thing. I think it would have been fun. But I think it would have diverted from the story we were telling. It would have been the Captain Kirk show for a couple of episodes. Maybe that's season three, we'll find out.
Star Trek: Prodigy's discarded idea for Chris Pine's Captain Kirk sounds even more expansive than what Star Trek: Lower Decks' might have been. Having Chris Pine's Kirk help the USS Prodigy's young heroes for "a couple of episodes" would have been the most significant time Pine spent as Kirk since Star Trek Beyond, even if it's just a voice role. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 did reference J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies' Kelvin Timeline when Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) namedropped "the Narada Incident" in Star Trek (2009), so there was a tiny nod to Chris Pine's universe as Captain Kirk.
Why A Star Trek Animated Comeback Would’ve Been Perfect For Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk
Chris Pine has voiced animation before
Chris Pine is a gifted and charismatic leading man, and an animated comeback for his Kelvin Timeline Captain Kirk would have worked because Pine is also an accomplished voiceover actor in animated feature films. Pine voiced Jack Frost in DreamWorks' Rise of the Guardians, he was King Magnifico in Disney's Wish, and he played Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sony's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Pine likely would have jumped at the chance to play Captain Kirk again, even if it was just voicing the Captain of the Enterprise in a Star Trek animated series.
Chris Pine remains popular as Captain Kirk, both with audiences and with the writer-producers of Star Trek's current TV series.
From Mike McMahan and Aaron J. Waltke's explanations, it sounds like bringing back Chris Pine as Captain Kirk never got past the idea stage. Legal issues from Paramount Pictures, the motion picture division that handles Star Trek theatrical movies, would likely have impeded Pine from returning as Kirk in Star Trek on Paramount+. Still, Chris Pine remains popular as Captain Kirk, both with audiences and with the writer-producers of Star Trek's current TV series. Pine's long-awaited comeback as Captain Kirk in Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy would have boosted the mainstream profile of either series if it had happened.
When Will Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk Return To Star Trek?
We're still waiting for Star Trek 4
Chris Pine has not played Captain Kirk in over 8 years, the last occasion being Star Trek Beyond in 2016. Although Star Trek Beyond underperformed at the box office relative to Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness, internal polling by Paramount found audiences were eager to see Pine's Starship Enterprise crew reunite in a new movie. Unfortunately, the J.J. Abrams-produced Star Trek 4 has been mired in development hell for years. Directors like Matt Shakman, S.J. Clarkson, and Quentin Tarantino walked away from Star Trek 4 due to "creative differences," even as Chris Pine and his fellow actors have publicly expressed their desire to return.
Star Trek 4 remains in limbo, with the last update from earlier in 2024 reporting that Steve Yockey (The Flight Attendant) was hired to write a new screenplay. Star Trek 4 is also said to be "the final chapter" of Chris Pine's Starship Enterprise saga, and enough time has passed that if it does happen, Captain Kirk and his crew would be middle-aged. Star Trek: Lower Decks is ending on Paramount+ with season 5, and with Star Trek: Prodigy's future on Netflix undecided, the window may have closed on the chances of Chris Pine returning to Star Trek as an animated Captain James T. Kirk. But, in Star Trek, there are always possibilities.
