James T. Kirk is dead, and we have proof
From my friend Andy K. on twitter:
Bear with me: Captain Kirk had an older brother, George Sam Kirk. In the new movie, Kirk has no older brother. He’s the first born.(1)
Simple: The altered timeline resulted in a scenario by which the Kirks named their firstborn James Tiberius Kirk instead of George Sam Kirk.(2)
As such, I submit to you the film’s James T. Kirk is in fact GEORGE SAM KIRK. The true Jim Kirk will NEVER BE BORN.(3)
William Shatner played George Kirk, James’s brother, in his only on-screen appearance. It’s therefore totally reasonable to assume that older Spock Prime would have mistook the younger once-George for unborn James. Sure will be a mindfuck for now-James when and if Spock Prime ever tells him the truth.
Will angry nerds burn a J.J. Abrams effigy in front of the Paramount backlot now?
Click here to Digg this and spread the gospel of the False Kirk According To Andy.
UPDATE: Apparently that little kid that young “James” drives by in the stolen car in the beginning of the film–according to the original script–was supposed to be George Kirk. According to IMDB, there is no George Kirk in Star Trek beyond the very dead one that fathered False James. Director’s cuts don’t count in my book.
I was trying to solve this same mystery when I found your page. I wasn’t sure if Sam or Kirk was older, and now I know. I figured that if Sam was younger, then he never would have been born in the alternate time line.
You make an interesting argument. I like it. Sam wasn’t the womanizer that James was, he was married with children. It is very possible that not having his father around changed that. On the other hand, it is possible that Sam was born in the alternate time line, but just never shown or mentioned in the movie. Perhaps not having his father around caused him to die or leave home prematurely.