Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Paul Wesley and Ethan Peck recently explained how Season 2 will set up the friendship between James T. Kirk and Spock.
Wesley and Peck, who play Kirk and Spock, respectively, talked up Kirk and Spock's first encounter in an interview with TVLine. "[Kirk and Spock's initial encounter is] somewhat casual," Wesley said. "But I think Kirk was drawn to this man for whatever reason and wanted to meet him and talk to him and found him intriguing." Added Peck: "I recall Spock being intrigued and also very skeptical. Kirk gives off this confidence and charm and an intelligence... There’s an immediate respect and admiration they feel for one another."
Kirk and Spock's blossoming friendship is one of several major moments slated to appear in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' second season. Notably, the Paramount+ show's next batch of episodes will also feature the long-awaited live-action debut of Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) from the adult animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks. Fans got a taste of the Lower Decks crossover in Strange New Worlds Season 2's latest trailer, which showcases a scene in which Mariner and Boimler are unwelcome guests aboard the USS Enterprise.
Lower Decks Star On the Strange New Worlds Crossover
Jack Quaid opened up about the experience of portraying Boimler in live-action in August 2022, describing it as a tricky undertaking. "We got to step on board the Enterprise, which was really interesting, and got to interact with that amazing cast and that amazing crew," Quaid said. "And it was such an interesting challenge to be a live-action version of an animated character. What do you do? What's too much? What's too little? How do you stay in the voice? How do you bring some physicality to it? How does the character move on the animated show, and how can you make that work in live action?"
The Lower Decks crossover won't be Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2's only bold creative move, either. That's according to comments by star Rebecca Romijn, who recently insisted that the show's second season takes "very big swings genre-wise." Romijn, who plays Una Chin-Riley/Number One, added that the Strange New Worlds cast and crew were all "very proud" of Season 2, particularly the installments in the latter half of its 10-episode run.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres on Paramount+ on June 15, 2023.
Source: TVLine