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When it comes to “Star Trek” characters, there’s no one quite as legendary as James Tiberius Kirk, the Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise on the very first “Star Trek” series back in 1966. Played by William Shatner, the character became a cornerstone of a greater franchise universe — the captain who really set the tone for all of the other captains to come. Shatner last played the character onscreen in the 1994 film “Star Trek Generations,” which was a complicated and controversial send-off for Kirk. However, he told The Hollywood Reporter in March 2024 that he is open to playing the character again … with two major conditions.
Bringing back an older version of Kirk back would be sort of difficult since the character died in “Generations.” Of course, given that various timelines and time travel are a part of the “Star Trek” universe, it isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. It would just boil down to the 92-year-old Shatner being game to film, and everyone being willing to follow his pair of rules.
The two conditions for Shatner’s return as Kirk
During the interview, Shatner was asked if he would ever be interested in reprising the role of Kirk like Patrick Stewart did with Jean-Luc Picard for “Star Trek: Picard,” and he explained his restrictions:
“Leonard [Nimoy] made his own decision on doing a cameo [in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 ‘Star Trek’]. He’s there for a moment, and it’s more a stunt that Spock appears in a future. If they wrote something that wasn’t a stunt that involved Kirk, who’s 50 years older now, and it was something that was genuinely added to the lore of ‘Star Trek,’ I would definitely consider it.”
In the 2009 “Star Trek” film, Nimoy appears as an older version of Spock due to some timeline-jumping (creating the “Kelvin timeline”), but it is more or less an extended cameo. It’s understandable that Shatner would want something a bit more substantial, perhaps more in line with the “Picard” series, which gave Stewart a chance to say goodbye to his character in a truly profound way. Sure, Stewart had his own rules for returning as Picard and producers eventually broke one of them big time, but if there was a way to bring back an older, wiser Kirk and give him the same treatment, it sounds like Shatner would be interested.
Would an Old Kirk story work?
So, how would a show about Kirk at Shatner’s current age even work? While “Star Trek: Picard” served as both a great goodbye to the crew of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and a potential way forward for some of the other legacy characters like Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) from “Star Trek: Voyager,” it’s hard to imagine a way for writers to bring back Kirk in the same manner. Kirk’s preserved body appeared in “Picard,” which means it’s possible for the franchise to try and resurrect him in some way, although it’s more likely that he would be cloned or something to similar effect. After all, there’s probably a limit to how many “Star Trek” fans would tune in to watch a bunch of old folks scooting around the galaxy. There’s only so much nostalgia can do.
All things considered, it seems pretty unlikely that we’ll ever see Shatner reprise the role of Kirk again in any meaningful way, but we did get a lot of great performances from him before he bowed out. Live long and prosper, sir, and don’t worry about playing ole James T. again. Your legacy is secure.
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