Star Trek: The Original Series failed to do. TOS introduced Kirk's brother (also played by William Shatner) in season 1, episode 29, "Operation -- Annihilate!" However, by the time Jim made his way to his brother's lab, Sam Kirk had already been killed by the flying parasites plaguing Deneva. In retrospect, introducing Kirk's brother by immediately killing him off feels like a missed opportunity. James T. Kirk is such a confident and assured figure that it would have been fascinating to see behind that facade from the perspective of a family member.
Star Trek attempted to shed some light on Kirk's troubled family life by focusing on the aftermath of his father George Sr's death aboard the Kelvin. However, a key scene between the young "Jimmy" and his older brother Sam was deleted from the final film. Now that Sam Kirk is a serving officer aboard Pike's Enterprise in Strange New Worlds and James Kirk is on his way in season 2, the two brothers can finally team up for the first time in Star Trek's on-screen canon.
How Sam & Jim Kirk Can Team Up In Strange New Worlds Season 2
Strange New Worlds season 1 began with Captain Pike (Anson Mount) awaiting the arrival of Lieutenant Kirk on the Enterprise, a knowing tease given that audiences knew Paul Wesley would be playing the iconic Star Trek character in season 2. The Lieutenant Kirk in question was Jim's brother Sam Kirk, who s the Enterprise as a science officer, reporting to Spock in a comic twist on the standard Kirk/Spock dynamic. The two brothers reunited in Strange New Worlds' season finale "A Quality Of Mercy" in an alternate universe where Pike never left the Enterprise, and avoided his tragic accident. In "A Quality Of Mercy", Sam refers to Jim as "a pain in the ass" who "doesn't like to lose" which teases a fascinating dynamic for the two brothers and how they could relate to one another in their pending reunion.
Sam's astute observation about his brother's attitude to the no win scenario is backed up by how, as a cadet, Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru. Kirk's unique approach to the legendary training exercise will have surely piqued Pike's interest as he read the future Enterprise captain's Starfleet record toward the end of SNW season 1. Hopefully, Strange New Worlds season 2 will dedicate an episode to Jim and Sam confronting their fraternal issues on an emotionally fraught away mission. Sam is present to send Kirk off on his five-year mission, so the two brothers clearly set aside their differences at some point, and Strange New Worlds season 2 will be the perfect place for this.
Why Star Trek 4's Kirk Team-Up Never Happened
The Kelvin Timeline's Star Trek 4 remains in development at Paramount, having been plagued by various behind-the-scenes issues. One potential plot for the movie would have teamed Chris Pine's Kirk with his father George (Chris Hemsworth) for a great space adventure, due to a quirk of Trek technology. Written by Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, the plot would have focused on the Kelvin Timeline's Enterprise discovering George Kirk preserved in the USS Kelvin's transporter buffer.
This proposed Kirk team-up fell apart in 2019 when both Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth turned it down over salary disputes. The fourth Kelvin Timeline movie remains in development hell, with director Matt Shakman departing the project for Marvel's Fantastic Four movie. After so many false starts since Sam's death in Star Trek: The Original Series, it's up to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 to finally reunite the Kirk brothers in the prime Star Trek universe.