Star Trek's New 12-Part Captain Kirk Series Is Here, And It Unlocks The Franchise's Future

Aug 02, 2026 - 01:08

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Star Trek's New 12-Part Captain Kirk Series Is Here, And It Unlocks The Franchise's Future

Captain Kirk despondent in Star Trek The Original Series

Published Aug 1, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows.

The latest Star Trek installment presents the perfect premise for future stories. The Star Trek franchise spans an extraordinary range of historical periods, each with its own political landscape. The 22nd century of Star Trek: Enterprise chronicles humanity's first uncertain steps into deep space, the 23rd century presents the optimistic age of exploration, the late 24th century follows a far more mature Federation through diplomatic crises, and the early 25th century centers on the post-Dominion War. Farther into the future, the 32nd century introduces a civilization still recovering from the Burn and the Federation's fragmentation.

James T. Kirk's story unfolds across several equally compelling periods. His years aboard the U.S.S. Farragut under Captain Garrovick cemented his discipline and tactical instincts, especially after the traumatic encounter with the dikironium cloud creature that claimed much of the crew. Kirk's tenure as captain of the original U.S.S. Enterprise is the heart of his career, with five-year missions that introduced iconic Star Trek adversaries including the Gorn, Klingons, Romulans, Organians, and Mirror Universe. The movie era follows the challenges of Kirk's senior leadership, with events that include Spock's death and return and the peace negotiations with the Klingon Empire.

More recent canon has expanded the years immediately before Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the decades after The Original Series through comics and novels, with stories like Star Trek: The Last Starship transporting a cloned Kirk into the distant future.

The Last Starship Explores A Key Part Of Star Trek Lore

Star Trek: The Last Starship; Written By Colin Kelly And Jackson; Art By Adrián Bonilla & Heather Moore

Captain Kirk is chained in Star Trek The Last Starship cover

Star Trek: The Last Starship arrives at a pivotal moment in the franchise's chronology, venturing farther into the post-Star Trek: Discovery era than almost any previous comic. Set after the galaxy-altering Burn, the twelve-issue comic series written by Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing explores a Federation that still struggles to recover from the catastrophic Burn, following what appears to be the final active Starfleet vessel capable of carrying the Federation's ideals across a fractured Alpha and Beta Quadrant. The Federation no longer possesses the vast fleet that once guaranteed stability across known space, while former allies, isolated colonies, and opportunistic powers have adapted to decades of separation.

Stardate 47988.1 · Crew Assessment The Final Frontier
Trivia Challenge

🚀ShipsEnterprise!

⭐CrewMake it so

☠EnemiesResistance is…

⚡TechWarp speed!

📖LoreLive long…

ENGAGE →

The USS Enterprise is the most iconic starship in science fiction. What is the registry number of Captain Kirk’s original Enterprise from The Original Series?

ANCC-1701-D BNX-01 CNCC-1701 DNCC-74656

✓ Correct! NCC-1701 is the registry of Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise. The “-D” suffix belongs to Picard’s Galaxy-class ship, NX-01 is Archer’s Enterprise, and NCC-74656 is Voyager.

✗ Red alert! The answer is NCC-1701. Kirk’s original Constitution-class Enterprise carried this now-legendary registry. NCC-1701-D is Picard’s Enterprise from TNG, NX-01 is Captain Archer’s, and NCC-74656 belongs to Voyager.

Kirk’s most trusted officer is a half-human, half-Vulcan science officer famous for his logic and iconic salute. Who is this legendary character?

AData BSpock CTuvok DSarek

✓ Correct! Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, is the half-Vulcan science officer whose “Live long and prosper” salute became a cultural icon. His struggle between logic and emotion defines the heart of the Original Series.

✗ Red alert! The answer is Spock. Data is an android from TNG, Tuvok is Voyager’s Vulcan tactical officer, and Sarek is Spock’s Vulcan father. Only Spock is the half-human, half-Vulcan first officer of Kirk’s Enterprise.

Starfleet’s most important regulation forbids interference with the natural development of alien civilizations. What is this guiding principle called?

AThe Temporal Accord BGeneral Order One CThe Omega Directive DThe Prime Directive

✓ Correct! The Prime Directive (also known as General Order 1) is Starfleet’s most sacred law. It prohibits interfering with less-developed civilizations — though Kirk, Picard, and Janeway have all famously bent or broken it when lives were at stake.

✗ Red alert! The answer is the Prime Directive. While “General Order One” is technically another name for it, the Prime Directive is the universally known term. The Omega Directive and Temporal Accord are separate, more specialized Starfleet protocols.

“Resistance is futile.” This chilling declaration belongs to a cybernetic collective that assimilates entire civilizations into its hive mind. What is this fearsome species called?

AThe Borg BThe Dominion CThe Romulans DSpecies 8472

✓ Correct! The Borg are Star Trek’s most terrifying villains — a hive-mind collective that forcibly assimilates species and technology. Captain Picard was famously assimilated and transformed into Locutus in the landmark TNG episode “The Best of Both Worlds.”

✗ Red alert! The answer is the Borg. The Dominion is the Gamma Quadrant empire from DS9, the Romulans are a rival empire, and Species 8472 is actually one of the few species that the Borg themselves fear. Only the Borg declare “Resistance is futile.”

Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands the Enterprise-D in The Next Generation and later received his own series, Star Trek: Picard. Which acclaimed actor portrays him?

AWilliam Shatner BAvery Brooks CPatrick Stewart DScott Bakula

✓ Correct! Sir Patrick Stewart brought gravitas, Shakespeare, and Earl Grey tea to the captain’s chair for seven seasons of TNG, four films, and three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. His “Make it so” is one of TV’s most iconic catchphrases.

✗ Red alert! The answer is Patrick Stewart. William Shatner plays Captain Kirk, Avery Brooks is Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine, and Scott Bakula captains the NX-01 Enterprise. Only Sir Patrick Stewart portrays the legendary Jean-Luc Picard.

Starfleet vessels travel faster than light by bending space around them using a matter-antimatter reaction. What is this propulsion system called?

ATranswarp Drive BWarp Drive CSlipstream Drive DSpore Drive

✓ Correct! Warp Drive is the standard faster-than-light propulsion in Star Trek, powered by dilithium-regulated matter-antimatter reactions. Zefram Cochrane invented it in 2063, which led to humanity’s first contact with the Vulcans.

✗ Red alert! The answer is Warp Drive. Transwarp is an advanced Borg technology, Slipstream is an experimental quantum drive, and the Spore Drive uses mycelial network navigation (from Discovery). Standard Starfleet vessels use Warp Drive.

At Starfleet Academy, cadets face a notorious no-win scenario designed to test their character under impossible circumstances. James Kirk is the only cadet who ever beat it — by cheating. What is this test called?

AThe Prometheus Trial BThe Omega Simulation CThe Corbomite Maneuver DThe Kobayashi Maru

✓ Correct! The Kobayashi Maru is an unwinnable rescue simulation that tests how cadets handle certain death. Kirk reprogrammed it so he could win — earning a commendation for original thinking. It was memorably featured in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

✗ Red alert! The answer is the Kobayashi Maru. The Corbomite Maneuver is a TOS episode, not an Academy test. The Kobayashi Maru is the famous no-win scenario that Kirk defeated by reprogramming the simulation — because he doesn’t believe in the no-win scenario.

In the widely regarded greatest Star Trek film, a genetically enhanced superhuman from Earth’s past seeks revenge against Captain Kirk. “KHAAAAN!” Who is this iconic villain?

AKhan Noonien Singh BGeneral Chang CQ DGul Dukat

✓ Correct! Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalbán, is Star Trek’s greatest villain. First appearing in the TOS episode “Space Seed,” he returned in The Wrath of Khan (1982) for a devastating revenge plot that cost Spock his life.

✗ Red alert! The answer is Khan Noonien Singh. General Chang is a Klingon from Star Trek VI, Q is TNG’s omnipotent trickster, and Gul Dukat is DS9’s Cardassian antagonist. Only Khan inspired Kirk’s legendary scream across the cosmos.

REVEAL MY SCORE →

Mission Complete Your Starfleet Record

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Are you an Admiral — or still a cadet on deck-scrubbing duty?

↻ RE-ENGAGE

Much as earlier novels and comics enriched the years surrounding The Original Series, The Next Generation, and the Dominion War, Star Trek: The Last Starship provides an alternate look at the post-catastrophe galaxy through the desperate voyage of Captain Sato and the crew of the U.S.S. Sagan. To survive in a universe stripped of active warp cores, the crew cobbles together the experimental U.S.S. Enterprise-Omega. Most importantly, Captain Kirk takes a center role as he enters this lawless frontier, clashing with Sato's command decisions and navigating phaser-point standoffs over the galaxy's last vessel.

Star Trek: The Last Starship May Only Be The Beginning Of Its Story

The Burn May Continue To Be The Center Of Future Stories

A ship escapes the burn in Star Trek The Last Starship

Star Trek: The Last Starship has the potential to become a cornerstone of Paramount's growing 32nd-century canon by giving one of the franchise's least explored eras a far richer historical foundation. The Last Starship's depiction of the Emerald Chain as an expansionist power shows how opportunistic empires filled the political vacuum left by Starfleet's disappearance, which creates the sort of long-term geopolitical tensions that future series can continue to develop. At the same time, concepts including the psychic singularity surrounding Deep Space Hope and improvised methods of faster-than-light survival that no longer depend exclusively on dilithium present fresh concepts.

Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing's twelve-issue series also brings some of Star Trek's legendary figures into the franchise's distant future without disrupting the integrity of their original stories. The resurrected James T. Kirk, brought back through cloning and placed him in the 31st century, creates a fresh dynamic that preserves Kirk's historical legacy but also allows him to confront an era unlike anything he ever imagined, placed in a civilization where the Federation's ideals have faded and familiar institutions have vanished. Kirk's unwavering optimism in the face of a struggling galaxy presents a vision of the future that honors Star Trek's past and substantially expands its narrative horizons.

Which character would you like to see star in a Burn-era Star Trek story?

Star Trek: The Last Starship is now available from IDW Entertainment