If Shatner were to appear, I'd want him to sing like in Free Enterprise. It's not like anyone would be taking it seriously at that point anyway.
Will WILLIAM SHATNER ever play James T Kirk again?
- Thread starter Danlav05
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When they make the inevitable remake of "The Deadly Years", then have Pine morph into Shatner. Problem solved! 
The filmmakers do have the technology now to make an actor look younger. Look at Michael Douglas at the start of the recent ANT-MAN film, as an example. I could see them finding a way to make him look like he did on screen in The Undiscovered Country.
2015 Michael Douglas looks a whole lot more like 1989 Michael Douglas than Shatner does compared to his younger self.
Sucks to say it, but Shatner has put on a few pounds. His voice has also aged quite a bit. It's a lot more than adding some heft to his cheeks. You'd have to totally reshape his face and stick him on a new body.
In the end, what's the point of going through all that effort to make him look 25 years younger if he still wouldn't look like a 25 year older Chris Pine?
I think the latest Shatner could have credibly reprised his role as Kirk was around the late 1990s. It's not like Shatner didn't have opportunities to reprise the role. But now, I say no thanks! We really don't need Shatner as Kirk anymore, and haven't since Chris Pine was cast in the role. But I doubt Shatner cared all that much whether his version of Kirk was resurrected or not, beyond how much money he would make off it. And if that is all he cares about, I prefer him not to return anyway.
On the one hand I'd have no problem if it didn't happen, we've had a lot of "Passing the torch" moments from the original cast going all the way back to Star Trek VI, it doesn't need another and Nimoy has already done that for the new crew very well (and his return victory lap in Into Darkness was less satisfying than his original handover in the '09 film).
But... I think Tom Baker's appearance in Day of the Doctor shows how this could be done, and done very well. And what made that work was that there was only the most token of attempts to make it make sense in-fiction, to all intents and purposes it was Tom Baker popping up in the 50th anniversary special and being celebrated as the oldest surviving lead for the series in a completely gratuitous way that still sent shivers down the spine. If they were able to manage something like that with Bill, I'd love it.
But... I think Tom Baker's appearance in Day of the Doctor shows how this could be done, and done very well. And what made that work was that there was only the most token of attempts to make it make sense in-fiction, to all intents and purposes it was Tom Baker popping up in the 50th anniversary special and being celebrated as the oldest surviving lead for the series in a completely gratuitous way that still sent shivers down the spine. If they were able to manage something like that with Bill, I'd love it.
I don't see why he couldn't be in a flash back if the setting is the JJVerse. One of the advantages there is Kirk never had the awful events of Generations. He could be a old retired version of Pine.
Bob Orci's aborted ST3 script supposedly had Shatner and Nimoy cameo as older versions of Pine and Quinto's Kirk and Spock, when something wibbly-wobbly and timey-wimey happens. I think it could have been cool, seeing a glimpse of the Abramsverse future, where BFF's Kirk and Spock get a happily ever after of sorts.
I liked that idea but unfortunately with Nimoy gone that dream has gone with him
I said ages ago, a cameo would be great. Nimoy's (well, Spock Prime's) arc needs closure.
Something along the lines of : towards end of movie, exterior New Vulcan, Spock conversing with younger self...
Beep : ‘Incoming transmission‘
Spock Prime - 'Spock here'
Caller - viewpoint from over the shoulder of pilot of small spacecraft above New Vulcan. Spock can be seen on small screen : 'SPOCK ! It's good to hear your voice - you've been very hard to find !'
Spock - slowly recognition of the callers voice dawns 'Jim ?'
Caller (revealed as Shatner Kirk) - Who else ?'
Spock - 'But you were....'
Kirk (coming in to land nearby) - 'Ah, it's a long story - we don't have time. Come on, grab your stuff, we're going home !'
Cut to younger Spock, alone, eyebrow raised, watching the ship receed into the sky - 'Fascinating...'
Something along the lines of : towards end of movie, exterior New Vulcan, Spock conversing with younger self...
Beep : ‘Incoming transmission‘
Spock Prime - 'Spock here'
Caller - viewpoint from over the shoulder of pilot of small spacecraft above New Vulcan. Spock can be seen on small screen : 'SPOCK ! It's good to hear your voice - you've been very hard to find !'
Spock - slowly recognition of the callers voice dawns 'Jim ?'
Caller (revealed as Shatner Kirk) - Who else ?'
Spock - 'But you were....'
Kirk (coming in to land nearby) - 'Ah, it's a long story - we don't have time. Come on, grab your stuff, we're going home !'
Cut to younger Spock, alone, eyebrow raised, watching the ship receed into the sky - 'Fascinating...'
Don't forget that James Doohan and Deforest Kelley reprised their TOS roles in TNG episodes as did Nimoy.
Shatner none of the above.
My perspective is strictly as an outsider looking in. But I can observe how human behavior affects outcome especially in an industry as dependent upon the perception of others as show business is. When you watch people mimic Shatner's performances to ridicule him you'll not that they are not quite accurate. They are in fact quite exaggerated. Even George Takei critiques Shatner's performances as brilliant (and he obviously has no love loss for the man).
Point being, Shatner's attitude and actions (like missing Star Trek reunions in particular the naming of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Saturday Night Live "get a life" slap in the face to fans, the TVLAND award hogging the spotlight, being a no show at Nimoy's funeral and the list goes on and on) THESE are what make people want to distort his brilliant performances to make fun of him AND to exclude him from real consideration of any future parts in Star Trek.
When will we ALL learn? Humility (even if we have to act humble) is the only way to endear people to us?!
Point being, Shatner's attitude and actions (like missing Star Trek reunions in particular the naming of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, the Saturday Night Live "get a life" slap in the face to fans, the TVLAND award hogging the spotlight, being a no show at Nimoy's funeral and the list goes on and on) THESE are what make people want to distort his brilliant performances to make fun of him AND to exclude him from real consideration of any future parts in Star Trek.
When will we ALL learn? Humility (even if we have to act humble) is the only way to endear people to us?!
That being said, I have written a part for Shatner in a Star Trek script that is crazy-good (even if I do say so myself... so much for what I just posted about humility, right?). I sent it to his agent who replied "Mr. Shatner does not consider these kinds of offers nor does he endorse them." I may be wrong (which is most likely true) but I got the impression the agent thought it good enough to bring to Mr. Shatner's attention and he personally shot it down since the source (me) was not of the usual channels (shall we say). And I doubt he even read it.
IMHO anyone who has ever heard the Wil Wheaton "William F*ing Shatner" (which Wheaton says Shatner is okay with) knows that the Roddenberry description of him in the narrative appears to be pretty accurate. This is what I am counting on for the part I hope he will accept. A swaggering pompous ass of a man is what I have written for the role of Romulan War hero Commodore Matt Decker in a JJverse remake of the Doomsday Machine portion of the Star Trek Fractured Universe story I've written.
The retired fleet Captain* Matthew Willard Brandon Decker (which Mr. Shatner would portray brilliantly by just being himself) maintains a flagship (the Kelvin class starship USS Constellation NCC-1017) commanded by his son Captain Willard Decker (who I hope will be Jonathan Frakes). The Commodore boards the ship every year or two to do a victory tour of the inner realm of Federation space stopping at various worlds to celebrate old victories and of course to honor the Old War Hero.
*Commodore is a title for a retired Captain the way Squire is for a retired Colonel
As brilliantly as the late William Windom portrayed Matt Decker, I know Shatner can make the part his own and one for the annals of best performances.
IMHO anyone who has ever heard the Wil Wheaton "William F*ing Shatner" (which Wheaton says Shatner is okay with) knows that the Roddenberry description of him in the narrative appears to be pretty accurate. This is what I am counting on for the part I hope he will accept. A swaggering pompous ass of a man is what I have written for the role of Romulan War hero Commodore Matt Decker in a JJverse remake of the Doomsday Machine portion of the Star Trek Fractured Universe story I've written.
The retired fleet Captain* Matthew Willard Brandon Decker (which Mr. Shatner would portray brilliantly by just being himself) maintains a flagship (the Kelvin class starship USS Constellation NCC-1017) commanded by his son Captain Willard Decker (who I hope will be Jonathan Frakes). The Commodore boards the ship every year or two to do a victory tour of the inner realm of Federation space stopping at various worlds to celebrate old victories and of course to honor the Old War Hero.
*Commodore is a title for a retired Captain the way Squire is for a retired Colonel
As brilliantly as the late William Windom portrayed Matt Decker, I know Shatner can make the part his own and one for the annals of best performances.
JohnD, the point you make about "perception" is a good one, in that if the Public perceived it as worthwhile and rewardable having Shatner return as Kirk, in some way, then it would simply happen. He'd be shoehorned into another TREK movie, somehow, despite his aging and having ballooned out. In the final episode of -ENTERPRISE- Frakes and Marina reprised their TNG roles, despite having aged well-past their character's ages in the Pegasus episode on that series. They were old and fat, but if you're a fan of these two actors and their characters, the attempts that were made to downplay that fact were more than sufficient. So it would be with a return of Shatner as Kirk. For me, personally, I don't want to see it happen. Some things in the past are better left behind ...
No offense, but your "crazy-good" script (script for what, exactly?) probably went from the agent's hands to the agent's circular file next to his desk, and Shatner never even knew it existed.
Point taken. A great episode btw. Loved Frakes' and Sirtis' performances. And the brilliance of Berman / Braga shown through in yet another ENT episode.
The toll of aging is why in my script I believe Mr. Shatner would be better cast in the role of a reboot Commodore Matt Decker (retired yet interactive with Starfleet and USS Constellation), and your names' sake (Mr. Frakes) as the son (Willard Decker current Captain of Constellation). Commodore Decker (a Romulan War hero) would be in his 80's and Captain Decker in his 60's the skipper of a ceremonial flagship honoring his father the War hero.
JJ Abrams essentially rewrote Kirk's role, and I suppose some future / aged version of him could be portrayed by Mr. Shatner. But after having done this for Mr. Nimoy already it would come across as a parent trying to appease rival siblings by giving them everything equally.
I personally believe Mr. Shatner would not be insulted with the job offer, and that he can actually improve upon the legendary performance of the late William Windom. His decision to pass on the offer would be to the fans' loss as well as his to participate in Trek before his passing... I personally hope he accepts the challenge to make the role his own.
I actually hadn't considered creating a role for Ms Siritis in this script. I had considered both she and Mr. Frakes in a subsequent (Star Trek Chronicles / Titan) format Where he is an Admiral ans she the starship Captain of his flagship the USS Titan home based in the Andromeda Galaxy on one of those killer mushroom shaped space stations...
But I did not want to use more than three or four Trek hall-of-famers in the Fractured Universe script to keep the center seat from seeming like a wheel chair to the audience. JJ in his reboots appealed to a younger audience. This was an important point I had not previously considered when I realized all of my fantasy cast members were 40+.
I could see many new roles for Trek hall-of-famers... Mr Dorn could be a ships Captain in the Delta fleet in the old pre warp 5 days when most of Earth's outreach into space was limited to bases and stations in the solar system... plenty of scripts / story lines there just waiting to be written... how antimatter was harassed and planet Mercury was half destroyed things like that...
Mr. Burton (Star Trek Convoy) and Mr Wheaton (Star Trek ENT-J) and Mr Spiner (could do a brilliant Dr. Arik Soong II in the New TOS era)... just not all in one script and especially not the first one.
There are so many fresh new idea possibilities, just depends on the network and the actors...
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I think about this a lot. I think the honest answer is no. William Shatner won't ever play James T. Kirk...
But if I were to imagine how, I'd say assuming there were a few more movies beyond... BEYOND, then have the last one be a story about time travel and the consequences of time travel. Unite all the survivng original cast members. Shatner, Takei, Nichols, Koenig.
Ignore the events of Generations. The alternate timeline changed the fate of Kirk and the Enterprise B. Set the story in the year 2319. This would make Captain Kirk approximately 86 years old, and it would correspond to the ages of the original series actors. Have them for whatever reason send someone to go back in time to the five year mission and whatever year it takes place in (after the events of ST:B). Have the cast of the new movies Pine/Quinto etc headline the movie, with occasional cues and flashbacks/forwards to the older guys. Address the death of Spock in the JJ-Timeline somehow. A funeral on new Vulcan, with Shatner's Kirk in attendance. Wrap up the adventure of the movie with the older actors riding off into the sunset. That's how I'd give them a true send-off. It'd be a logistical mess... but if there was a nice mix of the casts with some sweetness and action, it could be very successful. The 60's cast is still so beloved, and it could bridge the timelines and bring them back together. Everyone wins.
But if I were to imagine how, I'd say assuming there were a few more movies beyond... BEYOND, then have the last one be a story about time travel and the consequences of time travel. Unite all the survivng original cast members. Shatner, Takei, Nichols, Koenig.
Ignore the events of Generations. The alternate timeline changed the fate of Kirk and the Enterprise B. Set the story in the year 2319. This would make Captain Kirk approximately 86 years old, and it would correspond to the ages of the original series actors. Have them for whatever reason send someone to go back in time to the five year mission and whatever year it takes place in (after the events of ST:B). Have the cast of the new movies Pine/Quinto etc headline the movie, with occasional cues and flashbacks/forwards to the older guys. Address the death of Spock in the JJ-Timeline somehow. A funeral on new Vulcan, with Shatner's Kirk in attendance. Wrap up the adventure of the movie with the older actors riding off into the sunset. That's how I'd give them a true send-off. It'd be a logistical mess... but if there was a nice mix of the casts with some sweetness and action, it could be very successful. The 60's cast is still so beloved, and it could bridge the timelines and bring them back together. Everyone wins.