Probably a little bit different, since the idea is that things are slightly altered to what Pike's vision was. So, what we saw is probably not exactly how things will be going forward.
Paul Wesley's incarnation of James T. Kirk
- Thread starter Caeruleus
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I think he'll be hot to rush in without full awareness of what's going on like alt-Kirk demonstrated in "A Quality of Mercy". But he'll learn to listen and understand the situation like Pike. I think Pike will be SNW-Kirk's mentor for the Enterprise captaincy in S2.
This was an interesting interview with Anson Mount on Esquire
"For you, what’s the essential difference between Pike and Kirk?
There are very few things that I’ve learned in making a long-running TV show. But one trick I’ve learned is that no matter what you do, you’re always putting down footprints that you’re going to have to tread again. So, in the beginning, you try to be careful not to press those footprints too deep. You go in saying to yourself, "Okay, just be careful of how much you think you know."
There are very few things that I know for sure. But one thing that I told [showrunner] Henry [Alonso Myers] is that at the end of all of this, we think the defining quality of Kirk is machismo or bravado. The defining characteristic for Picard, perhaps, is intellect. I would like that defining quality for Pike to be the heart. That’s the best I can put it. Hopefully, Pike can give Kirk just enough of that heart for Kirk to avoid making the kinds of mistakes that he makes in this episode."
There are very few things that I’ve learned in making a long-running TV show. But one trick I’ve learned is that no matter what you do, you’re always putting down footprints that you’re going to have to tread again. So, in the beginning, you try to be careful not to press those footprints too deep. You go in saying to yourself, "Okay, just be careful of how much you think you know."
There are very few things that I know for sure. But one thing that I told [showrunner] Henry [Alonso Myers] is that at the end of all of this, we think the defining quality of Kirk is machismo or bravado. The defining characteristic for Picard, perhaps, is intellect. I would like that defining quality for Pike to be the heart. That’s the best I can put it. Hopefully, Pike can give Kirk just enough of that heart for Kirk to avoid making the kinds of mistakes that he makes in this episode."
Even if Kirk moved off in one direction (with some weaving), Enterprise could have gotten on top of or behind the Romulan ship. End of episode.
Agree on Pine's looks, BUT Pine does have a swagger or "it" factor. This guy did not along w physical differences made ot meh for me, MWV. He did play Kirk more serious and I liked that
Peck is growing on me a lot, Uhura is solid, chapel is an improvement LOL
I disagree with the statement that Kirk is machismo or bravado. Once again, that's the pop culture version of the character. Kirk does have a lot of heart. He cares a lot. He's self-reflective and emotionally aware. He expresses his feelings... all the time. And that was rare compared to the other stoic leading men on other 60s action-adventure shows.
Sure, Kirk's sterner and more military in TOS than this version of Pike. But he hardly operates from machismo.
And all the qualities Pike gets praised for in SNW are actually qualities Kirk has in TOS.
Wesley as Kirk did not work for me. I don't expect a lookalike. And I certainly don't require an actor to have a similar build. But there needs to be some essence of the same character. Paul Wesley didn't capture the essence of Kirk in my opinion. If he had played a generic Starfleet captain, he'd be fine.
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According to a Ready Room interview, Mount tried to replicate Kirk's BoT swagger on to the bridge. I thought that was cool. Agree that Shatner has a natural charisma as Kirk.
I also agree that TOS Kirk is not all machismo or bravado. I bolded the part about SNW-Kirk making mistakes in the episode as I found it interesting but included the entire quote so the context was not left out. I think for S2, SNW will have Pike mentor SNW-Kirk to have those Pike qualities when he becomes the Enterprise captain.
A look alike would have been good but the acting and on screen presence could have been better. His Kirk did not work for me either but the real test will be when he and Ethan Peck start acting together side by side.
Would they be able to create that special magical chemistry that Shatner and Nimoy had or Pine and Quinto.
If I am judging from Wesley performance as Kirk, The simple answer is No.
I thought the Uhura casting is disappointing. I am mixed on the Chapel casting too. They cannot cover up her tattoos? Uhura looks nothing like the original Uhura but at least the Uhura actress in SNW can act. Paul Wesley needs serious acting lessons.
Una casting is also giving me mixed feelings, The actress seem to be lacking a lot of spark in the role. She was Mystique in X-Men. She needs to bring some of that to Una.
It's true that Pine has a swagger and an It factor. This could not be said better watching Wonder Woman (1984), he was the best part of quite a bad sequel to a good first comic book film.
Peck is okay but now that I have seen balance of terror episode and a quality of mercy side by side. There is really only one true Spock and that was Nimoy, although I will give Quinto his deserved due too he is the Spock who had this entire being tested the most.
I actually liked that the TOS theme played full when Kirk appeared and again when he beamed to the Enterprise. Because in TOS that theme was strongly associated as Kirk's theme too.
I think that's one reason given for not using it to open SNW.
That, and Russo would earn no (less?) royalties for it.
Since Gooding isn't play Nichols, she's not required to look like her.
I think that's one reason given for not using it to open SNW.
That, and Russo would earn no (less?) royalties for it.
Agreed. And the SNW theme has grown on me. One of Russo's better Trek themes.
Which makes recasting impossible.
Nimoy may be iconic, but if he is the only one to be truly Spock then Star Trek is moribund in terms of revisiting different eras or characters. Recasting is a part of any franchise so Star Trek embracing it is a positive and not a slight against past actors.
Recasting is always a risk and there's rarely an ideal outcome, so it should be done as little as possible. In my opinion. Same with CGI doubles, deep fakes and deaging etc. We can have Young Spock or Alternate Universe Spock, but we can never truly get TOS Spock back no matter how good the actors are or how much money they spend. We can revisit an era or characters but not both at the same time, not when it's as long ago as this.
I'm back and forth on this. On the one hand, I never consider a performance so sacred as to never recast again. To me, that's putting an artificial limit on it and denying actors the opportunity to explore iconic roles because of our own emotional biases.
On the other hand, Nimoy and others definitely defined those roles in a unique way, so it is like retiring a jersey number to acknowledge the contribution of a great actor.
But, to me, the bad outweights the good in this process by saying "Nope, don't ever cast again." So, you're telling me that those stories we got in TOS, the TOS films, one appearance in TNG and Kelvin films are the only Spock stories we will ever receive? No other actor is allowed to bring their interpretation to the role? It's too restricting to my view.
And it should be noted that nothing a new actor brings will take away from the iconic status of past performances. But it can take away from the potential of storytelling because of reluctance to accept change.
Why does that have to be a bad thing? Moving on and trying something totally fresh, creative and new shouldn't be scary. Using a comic book example, moving on from Peter Parker to tell Miles or Gwen or Miguel stories is much more exciting than a 5th and 6th and 7th new attempt at Parker.
Like how Gene originally moved on from Kirk and Spock to Picard and Data. You can still embrace the old while moving onto the new.
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