Paramount+ Gave Captain Kirk a Business Suit—and Fans Are Furious

Paramount+ has sparked outrage among Star Trek fans after using generative AI to create a thumbnail for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that places Captain Kirk in a business suit—something the character never wore in any film or series. The image, first flagged by Kotaku, shows William Shatner’s Kirk dressed in a button-up shirt and tie, a far cry from his standard Starfleet uniform or the casual flannel he sported during a 1930s time-travel episode.

Artist Ryan Estrada pieced together what likely happened: Paramount+ wanted to use a close-up of Kirk from a retinal-scan scene in the film. But the original frame cuts off at his forehead and shows only his uniform collar. So the streaming service apparently used generative AI to stitch Shatner’s face onto a fake body in a suit, complete with oddly rendered hair. The result is a thumbnail that fans have called “ugly” and “AI slop.”

Kotaku confirmed the thumbnail remains live on the platform. This comes as Paramount owner David Ellison recently told CNBC the company is “using technology to transform every single aspect of this business.” If this is the standard, longtime Trek fans worry about the franchise’s future, especially after Paramount canceled the well-received *Starfleet Academy* and paused production on *Strange New Worlds*.

As a lifelong fan, it’s painful to see one of sci-fi’s most beloved properties reduced to a poorly generated corporate afterthought. For now, many are holding onto their Blu-Rays.