Star Trek: All 5 Captain Kirk actors ranked from worst to best

3. Paul Wesley

Appeared in: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

After a promising debut, Paul Wesley’s portrayal of Captain Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds lands him in third place on our list. While Wesley’s Kirk does embrace some of the most favorite aspects of Shatner’s immortal rendition, he also does his own thing for the character.

The way he plays Kirk brings a sense of cool professionalism and self-deprecating humor to the character, which some viewers find funny and entertaining. But his portrayal is often not favored, largely due to the inconsistent mannerisms that don’t quite match up to the Kirk from the Original Series.

Wesley’s Kirk is compassionate and excited about exploring new worlds and civilizations, balancing these traits with a dose of disdain and youthful confidence. Those aren’t bad traits – they’re quite fun traits to watch and that have the potential to expand in future seasons, but they are yet to fully bloom. Wesley’s portrayal is very well done, showcasing strong potential for where he could take the character next. And we hope to see more of him in the role. It may not yet be on the same level as the other two fellow actors’ interpretation, but we have a feeling he could move up this list with more time.