In Star Trek‘s Prime Universe, James T. Kirk (William Shatner) was a young man when he became Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, but in J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin timeline, Kirk (Chris Pine) was a lot younger when he scored the Enterprise‘s big chair. Introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, Shatner’s original Kirk was the hero for three seasons of the TV show and starred in seven Star Trek movies. Pine took over the role in Abrams’ reboot, which resulted in a successful Star Trek trilogy from 2009-2016.
In the annals of Starfleet, Shatner’s Kirk and his Enterprise‘s five-year mission are legendary. Along with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Kirk and his Enterprise boldly explored the final frontier, initiated numerous first contact with new species, and they saved the galaxy on several occasions. In the Prime Universe’s canon, Kirk was born on March 22, 2233 in Iowa, and he joined Starfleet Academy in 2252. Cadet Kirk entered the Command Training Program (where he infamously cheated to beat the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario), and he served aboard the U.S.S. Republic, where Ensign Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant. Kirk became an instructor at Starfleet Academy before he joined the crew of the U.S.S. Farragut. Despite some controversies in his Starfleet career, Kirk had a rapid rise through the ranks and, in 2265, he was promoted to Captain and assumed command of the U.S.S. Enterprise at the age of 32.
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However, Shatner’s Kirk had nothing on the improbably meteoric rise of his Kelvin timeline doppelgänger because Chris Pine’s Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at 25! As seen in J.J. Abrams‘ 2009 Star Trek, Kirk was born in outer space when his father, Lieutenant George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), was killed during the U.S.S. Kelvin‘s encounter with the time-traveling Romulan Nero’s (Eric Bana) starship. Kirk grew up in Iowa, but it was a chance encounter with Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) in a bar in 2255 that led Jim to enlist in Starfleet. 3 years later, Cadet Kirk was suspended for cheating to beat the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario programmed by Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto), but he stowed away aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise during the Pike-led mission to save Vulcan from Nero.
It may seem like Kirk jumped directly from Cadet to Captain during the course of Star Trek 2009, but he actually rose through the ranks throughout the film. Before Pike beamed over to Nero’s ship, he shocked the crew by promoting Kirk to Acting First Officer to serve alongside Acting Captain Spock. This meant Kirk received an instant field promotion to the temporary rank of Lieutenant. After clashing with Spock, Lieutenant Kirk was forcibly exiled from the Enterprise and crashed on Delta Vega, where he met the older Ambassador Spock.
After returning to the Enterprise thanks to Montgomery Scott’s (Simon Pegg) transwarp beaming, Kirk tricked Spock into stepping down from command due to being emotionally compromised from the destruction of Vulcan. Kirk then promoted himself to Acting Captain and led the Enterprise to the successful defeat of Nero, saving the Earth in the process. Afterward, Starfleet formally promoted Kirk to full Captain and he assumed command of the Enterprise, relieving the injured Captain Pike. But considering the events of Star Trek 2009’s main story only lasted the span of a few days, Kirk was still just 25 when he went from Cadet to Lieutenant to Captain at warp speed.
In Star Trek Beyond, set five years later, the Enterprise was destroyed and Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise-A at the age of 30. In comparison, Shatner’s Kirk was 53 in 2286 when he got the Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. So, it seems nearly everything about J.J. Abrams’ version of Kirk was designed to consistently beat Shatner’s version to the punch — and this includes when Pine’s Kirk was born. The destruction of the U.S.S. Kelvin not only created an alternate timeline but one of the first things it affected was James T. Kirk’s date of birth: the Kelvin version of Kirk was born on January 4, 2233, which is 2 1/2 months before Shatner’s Kirk is born in Star Trek‘s Prime Universe.