Strange New Worlds’ Star Officially Confirms New Bones and Sulu Just “Clicked” in Season 5 [Exclusive]

The Season 4 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds gave us a glimpse of the future as two versions of the USS Enterprise crossed paths on either side of a black hole. Just one year from the current timeline, the Enterprise will officially be in the hands of Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley). While some of his crew will look very familiar with the likes of Uhura (Celia Gooding), Scotty (Martin Quinn), and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), Kirk’s Enterprise will introduce a few more characters we haven’t seen since The Original Series.

I recently sat down with Paul Wesley to discuss the final episodes of Strange New Worlds Season 4, and during our discussion about the finale, I asked what the early days of Kirk’s Enterprise might look like to him. He explained that these episodes — and the ones that await in Season 5, are giving him the tools to become the Kirk we know and love. He told Collider:

“First of all, I think all of these episodes with Reger, whatever, all these things that he’s experienced are giving him the tools to understand who he wants to be as a captain. And I think for me, when I took this role, one of my goals was to create an arc and an evolution from this guy who’s not necessarily sure of himself, doesn’t really understand who he is as a captain, to eventually becoming someone who understands who he is. I think all of these things — figuring out who his father is, understanding his relationship with his son, falling in love — all of these things allow him to better understand himself for better and for worse. In some ways, he’s scarred. In some ways he’s grown. I think all of those things hopefully culminate in this final season, in the finale, in seeing this guy that is oddly familiar to us.”

As we head into the final season — which is expected to bring the prequel series full circle and drop audiences off at the beginning of The Original Series — fans can also expect to meet a few more members of Kirk’s crew before the show ends. Late last year, it was revealed that Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami had been cast in the series as Bones and Sulu​​​​​​, respectively. Speaking about what made these two actors the right people to round out Kirk’s beloved crew, Wesley said: “The only thing I can say is that I know that some of the magic of TOS, The Original Series, was the chemistry that all those characters had with one another — all those actors had with one another, I should say — and I will say that when we were shooting, I felt that. I felt this kind of like, “Oh, this is working. He feels like Bones,” and “Oh, he feels like Sulu.” It just kind of clicked. We all kind of clicked in terms of just our chemistry on screen, and so I’m very excited for people to see it because I do think it has a similar kind of magical quality to it that is not necessarily explainable.”

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Is Abandoning Its Winning Formula for Season 5

With a shortened final season of only six episodes, Strange New Worlds is officially putting one of its best features aside to make sure it lands the ship, so to speak, for the characters. When asked if there would still be big genre swings, Wesley told Collider, “I will say it’s a little bit not as much, because this is a show that is a huge ensemble and every character has to conclude their character arc.” Akiva Goldsman, speaking to Collider in another interview, also confirmed there would essentially be “no genre hopping” in Season 5. But as Wesley explains, Goldsman and co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers will be using these final episodes to make sure these characters get a fitting send-off​​​​​​. “Because there are only six [episodes], there’s less flexibility to have those kinds of fantastical episodes, said Wesley. “It’s going to be more just like a conclusion to these wonderful characters that we all have been thankfully blessed with, because a lot of shows end and you don’t get to conclude things.”

Within these final episodes, Wesley is particularly proud of the work he’s done with Ethan Peck to fill out the early years of Kirk and Spock’s relationship, a relationship that Wesley rightfully calls the most important in the franchise. Telling Collider what he’s most pleased with from his work on the series, Wesley said:

“It’s so hard to put that into words because there have been so many moments. But I will say, my friendship with Ethan [Peck] is very important, my friendship with Christie, and I think some of that shows onscreen. Some of the stuff that Spock and I do in the finale, frankly, the series finale, is really special because the Spock-Kirk relationship is arguably the most important relationship of the entire story, from all the Star Treks. I guess I’m a little partial to that, but I am proud of what we accomplished together on screen throughout this series.”

Wesley couldn’t end the conversation without giving Anson Mount his flowers for his work as Captain Pike. When asked about a time in these episodes where one of his castmates blew him away with their performance, Wesley was quick to praise the whole ensemble, saying, “It happens often. They’re all so talented, so it happens often. I’ve seen all of them do special things, very, very special things.” But much like Kirk himself, Wesley was particularly impressed with everything Mount brought to Star Trek’s original Captain. “I’m always amazed at Anson [Mount]’s ability to portray such a… I actually look at Anson, and I go, “Oh, wow, he’s a captain.” And I think in many ways, Kirk, as a lieutenant who’s around Pike all the time, takes a lot of Pike’s gravitas and his ability to lead and learn from that,” Wesley explained. “So, certainly me as an actor, I was able to look at Anson’s performance and go, “Oh, I want to do that. That’s how I want Kirk to be one day.”

The Season 4 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now streaming on Paramount+. Season 5 is expected to air sometime next year. Stay tuned at Collider for more.

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Release Date

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2022 – 2027-00-00

Network

Paramount+

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Showrunner

Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman

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Directors

Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman

Writers

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Onitra Johnson

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