Major 2026 Star Trek Release Gets Harsh Response From Original Series Cast Member

On the cusp of its 60th anniversary, it’s safe to say that Star Trek is in a bit of an odd place in 2026. While Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy are the standard-bearers for the franchise, both of those series are set to end after their newest seasons, leaving Star Trek’s TV future in a bit of limbo.

Still, despite that, Star Trek is one of the few science fiction franchises that can truly be considered evergreen. Outside the big and small screens, Star Trek is thriving in places like comics, where IDW’s current Trek line is earning fan acclaim and expanding the franchise’s world and characters in ways that a TV series or movie might have a hard time doing. IDW’s line is currently gearing up for a massive Star Trek 60th anniversary special, and fans have every reason to get hyped for that.

One upcoming Trek release that could be massive, however, is more about reliving the glory days than forging a new path ahead. Magic: The Gathering’s upcoming Star Trek set is releasing on November 13th. Despite mixed reactions from existing Magic players, all signs point to the upcoming release being a wonderful celebration of the legacy and lore of Star Trek. This is why it’s so surprising to see The Original Series’ biggest star share some sharp criticism of the set before it’s even released.

Magic: The Gathering’s Star Trek Set Earns Backlash From Iconic Original Series Actor

Recently, an early sneak peek at Captain Kirk’s card in the upcoming Star Trek commander decks was spoiled. The spoiled card was enough to generate discussions among players of the game, as many wondered whether Green, White, and Blue truly fit Captain Kirk’s devil-may-care attitude.

Captain Kirk, Boldly Going

1GWU

Legendary Creature – Human Officer

Vigilance

Spacecraft creatures you control get +3/+3.

Whenever Captain Kirk enters or attacks, search your library and/or graveyard for a basic land card or a card named Starship Enterprise, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you search your library this way, shuffle.

3/4

The card’s lore accuracy was not, however, what Kirk actor William Shatner latched onto. When a fan shared the artwork of Captain Kirk, Boldly Going to Shatner on X, the actor focused in on the art. Shatner speculated that the artwork was AI-generated and specifically cited the blurry background characters, such as Spock, as evidence that something was off.

It looks like it’s AI. There’s lots of things not “right” about it: Where’s Kirk’s right thumb? The characters on the right are poorly executed and why is Spock leaning to the right like

Specifically, Shatner wondered why everyone in the art was leaning to the right, comparing their posture to that of a famous scene from the film Friday. While the image may, indeed, appear to have some oddities at a glance, a closer inspection and a little bit of context make it incredibly doubtful any artificial intelligence was used to generate the image.

Magic: The Gathering’s New Kirk Art Is Not AI

Despite Shatner’s concerns, there’s very little chance the artwork for Kirk, Boldly Going was made with generative AI.

The card’s artist is Josh Newton, a Magic: The Gathering artist with 17 pieces of card art to his name. His style, best seen on showcase cards for Innistrad Remastered and Duskmourn, tends to have a retro look that evokes the hand-painted posters for classic horror and science-fiction films. This aesthetic is why the art for Kirk looks the way it does. Emphasizing Kirk while blurring background characters is an obvious stylistic choice meant to evoke pulpy sci-fi novel covers from the original Star Trek era.

Additionally, just scouring Newton’s social media presence makes it clear that the artist is no fan of AI, as he was quick to repost criticism of Martin Scorsese’s decision to use AI in his film productions. Given this, it just doesn’t seem particularly likely that Newton would be using AI.

All of this makes it disappointing to see Shatner so casually accuse an artist of using AI. AI is a serious issue in the art world, with the technology potentially being a black mark on the records of any artist credibly accused of using it. While it’s understandable that Shatner would wish to protect his likeness, accusing Magic: The Gathering’s Star Trek set of using AI isn’t the right way to go about it.

Created by

Gene Roddenberry

First Film

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

First TV Show

Star Trek: The Original Series

First Episode Air Date

September 8, 1966

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh

TV Show(s)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star Trek is one of pop culture’s biggest multimedia franchises, spanning multiple movies, TV shows, books, comics, video games, and various other media. The franchise was created by Gene Roddenberry and started with the 1960s TV series starring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Over the decades, several equally popular series have come out since as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Discovery.