Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 sees a young Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) subvert one of his most famous lines from the beloved film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Strange New Worlds takes place about a decade before Kirk takes command of the USS Enterprise, starring his doomed predecessor Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Some of Kirk's future comrades also serve under Pike, like Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding).

Kirk made a surprise appearance in the Strange New Worlds season 1 finale "A Quality Of Mercy." In that episode, an alternate future Kirk assists Captain Pike to confront a version of the Romulan threat that Kirk famously faced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Balance Of Terror." Lt. Kirk is set to make his proper debut in Strange New Worlds season 2, and the season's new trailer is already nodding to the character's considerable legacy.

Strange New Worlds Reverses Kirk's Classic Star Trek IV Joke

Kirk Iowa

Kirk is briefly seen in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 trailer. After struggling with a revolving door, Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) pokes fun at him, suggesting he's never encountered a door like that before. An exasperated Kirk exclaims "I'm from space!" curiously suggesting that most advanced planets haven't quite cracked the technology on revolving doors.

It's a funny bit, but it's also an inversion of one of the original Kirk's (William Shatner) most famous lines. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Captain Kirk and his crew travel back in time to the late 20th century to retrieve a pair of humpback whales, which are the key to preventing a 23rd-century calamity on Earth. Kirk attempts to gain the trust of whale expert Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks) over dinner, where she pointedly asks him if he's from outer space. Kirk smoothly replies "No, I'm from Iowa, I only work in outer space."

How Kirk Is Different (But The Same) In Strange New Worlds Season 2

Strange New Worlds Season 2 Lt. Kirk

The version of Kirk featured in "A Quality Of Mercy" was more or less the same man as seen in Star Trek: The Original Series, owing to the episode's time jump, although Strange New Worlds' Captain Kirk commanded the USS Farragut, not the Enterprise. The version of Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 will be a somewhat different man, lacking the experience and seasoning of a commanding officer. He's also yet to form the relationships that will eventually define him, namely his friendships with Spock and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley).

Kirk is something of a wild card in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2. Canonically, it seems unlikely he and Pike will form a meaningful relationship; it's telling that most of the footage of him in the trailer is only with La'an. And yet James T. Kirk will almost certainly still fundamentally be the same man, a swashbuckling romantic whose love and wonder for the cosmos is infectious.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres Thursday, June 15, on Paramount+.