Star Trek’s most underused character should lead the new prequel

The recently announced Star Trek prequel’s story remains shrouded in mystery – but we think we’ve figured out what origin tale it will tell.

News that Paramount was planning to beam up yet another retro-themed Trek outing first broke on January 10, 2024. Few details were forthcoming at the time, although Andor’s Toby Haynes was confirmed as the production’s director.

We also learned that the as-yet-unnamed Star Trek prequel will take place “decades” before 2009’s Star Trek reboot. What’s more, it will supposedly tell an origin story.

Whose origin remains the big unknown, however, based on all the available evidence, we think there’s one obvious candidate: George Kirk.

Who is George Kirk in the Star Trek universe?

George Kirk is the father of original Star Trek protagonist Captain James T. Kirk. Like his famous son, he served as a Starfleet officer, rising to the position of first officer.

George is a minor character in the core Star Trek canon, never even appearing on-screen. It’s a different story in the 2009 reboot, though. In this alternate chronology – known as the Kelvin timeline – George Kirk plays a prominent role, at least early on.

Portrayed by future MCU star Chris Hemsworth, George is effectively the lead character during the reboot’s prologue. Here, we see him promoted to acting captain of the USS Kelvin before sacrificing his life so that the ship’s crew (including his wife and newborn son) can escape the villainous Nero.

All told, George’s screen time in Star Trek only amounts to around 10 minutes. Yet it’s still enough to leave us wishing we could spend more time with the dashing young hero – and that wish may just come true.

Paramount Pictures

What evidence points to George Kirk headlining the Star Trek prequel?

Three key factors point to a George Kirk-headlined prequel: continuity, crossover, and concept.

First, let’s consider the continuity side of things. Given the Star Trek prequel’s time frame was specifically given in decades, it’s reasonable to assume it’s set as few as 10 and as many as 99 years before the 2009 reboot.

Not a whole lot happens within this window, in any version of the Trek timeline. There’s the tail-end of the Earth-Romulan War, the USS Franklin‘s disappearance (partly covered in 2016’s Star Trek Beyond), and the pre-Jim Kirk voyages of the USS Enterprise (which aren’t part of the Kelvin timeline).

It’s all exciting stuff, but – apart from the off-limits early Enterprise material – none of it screams “origin story.” You know what does? George’s early Starfleet career, which also fits within our established window. Better still, Georgie Boy’s formative years aren’t really covered in the existing canon, so that leaves Haynes and screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith plenty of room to cook.

Star Trek 4’s rumored script backs up a George Kirk prequel

Next, let’s look at the crossover aspect. By “crossover,” what we mean is “How will the prequel slot in with Paramount’s existing Star Trek slate?” Sources close to the studio made a point of mentioning that this project won’t replace the currently stalled Star Trek 4, which makes sense if previous reports about the sequel’s plot are accurate.

According to these reports, Star Trek 4 will tell a time-travel story that unites Kirk Junior and Senior. It’s unclear if that’s still the plan – especially since talks with Hemsworth apparently fell apart in 2018 – but Star Trek 4 producer J.J. Abram’s company Bad Robot is also shepherding the prequel. So, what if instead of replacing Star Trek, the prequel will actually set it up? It’s not exactly a huge leap of logic.

Finally, there’s the conceptual angle. Bolting an origin story onto the Earth-Romulan War or the USS Franklin fiasco would be tough; there’s so much lore to cover at the same time. By contrast, George Kirk’s early adventures come with the origin story aspect already baked in. It’s easy – and studios love easy.

Does all this mean that the Star Trek prequel will definitely star George Kirk? Of course not – for all we know, Haynes and Grahame-Smith will come up with something entirely new instead. But don’t be surprised if the project does wind up giving Jim Kirk’s dad his long-overdue moment in the sun.