Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 To Feature A Famous Friendship

Highlights

Kirk and Spock’s friendship will take center stage in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, exploring their close bond.
The dynamic between Kirk and Spock as opposites who complement each other will be a slow burn in the upcoming season.
Despite fan theories about a romantic relationship, Star Trek writer David Gerrold confirmed Kirk and Spock are just close friends.

One Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actor shared new updates about the upcoming third season. According to him, Season 3 would delve into the friendship between Captain James T. Kirk and the half-human and half-Vulcan Spock.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery and a prequel of Star Trek: The Original Series. It follows Captain Christopher Pike and the starship Enterprise crew as they explore new worlds and carry out missions through the galaxy decades before TOS. It stars Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn as Pike, Spock and Number One, respectively. All three characters were from The Original Series. Several actors also appeared as guest stars, including Eugene Cordero (Sam Rutherford), Tawny Newsome (Beckett Mariner), Jerry O’Connell (Jack Ransom), Jack Quaid (Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (D’Vana Tendi), and Paul Wesley (James T. Kirk). One of them shared some key details about what fans could expect in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3.

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Wesley appeared at STLV: Trek to Vegas to discuss his career, including The Vampire Diaries and his take on the iconic role of Captain Kirk in Strange New Worlds. While speaking at the event, Wesley tried to avoid spoilers as he answered fans’ questions, Screen Rant reported. He teased that “amazing stuff” was coming. He also spoke about Kirk’s blossoming friendship with Spock, which would be featured in the new season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. He said, “We have some amazing stuff in season 3. Yeah, it’s a slow burn. You don’t wanna, out of the gate, explore everything. It’s nice to have the characters slowly get to know one another, because that friendship is so important to this series. It’s really nice to [give] sprinkles and hints of what’s to come.”

Since the next season would feature Kirk and Spock’s tight bond, Wesley offered some details about the duo. According to him, the pair are connected, and even if they are opposite, they complement each other. Strange New Worlds will feature the friendship at a slow pace. Wesley said, “Hints of how connected they will be, even though they could not be more opposite. Kirk and Spock are very yin and yang in a good way. But we explore that… The short answer is yes. We very much explore that in season 3. But I think we intentionally let it slowly build.”

Kirk and Spock’s relationship is interesting to explore because they are really close in the Star Trek franchise. Some even speculated a potential romantic relationship between the two. However, David Gerrold, writer of Star Trek: The Original Series, had shut down the “slash” theory about the pair. In an interview with Tim Farley and Randall Landers, Gerrold shared that the two fictitious characters are not lovers or boyfriends but just good friends. Their friendship is evident in Star Trek: TOS. For instance, in Season 2, Episode 1, “Amok Time,” when Kirk noticed Spock behaving erratically and the latter explained “pon farr,” an overpowering hormone imbalance that Vulcan males and females experience every seven years that may cause insanity, loss of self-control or even death unless they engage in sexual intercourse, Kirk rerouted the Enterprise to planet Vulcan against orders to help his friend. The move showed that he chose his friend over his duty.

The pair relied on each other and were willing to die for one another. For instance, when their ship was put at risk by the Genesis Device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock didn’t hesitate to sacrifice his life for Kirk and the latter once again disobeyed Starfleet’s orders to ensure his friend’s soul would be at peace. Kirk and his crew stole the decommissioned USS Enterprise to return Spock’s body to his homeworld. Kirk and Spock are among those who have a solid friendship in Star Trek and exploring their relationship will always be a treat for Trekkies.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 will stream on Paramount Plus in 2025.