William Shatner is ready to return to Star Trek

[Terok Nor]

I still don't know why Shatner agreed to Kirk being killed off. Particularly by being shot in the back. Kirk's actual death wasn't much better but it beats the original death they'd filmed. If Shatner had turned down Generations or refused to film Kirk's death scene I wonder how things would have turned out. Maybe Shatner thought Kirk could easily come back from the dead like Spock did but didn't realise it was truly the end for him. I wish the last appearance of Shatner's Kirk had been in The Undiscovered Country and we never found out how he died. I liked it better not knowing what became of (most of) the original crew.

 

[Maurice]

Meh. Shatner stopped playing Kirk ages ago while making the TOS movies. He played Shatner playing Kirk.

 

[Drone]

I'd love Shatner, Takei, Koenig, Nichols etc to come back and star in a new Star Trek show again. Mostly because I'm really fucking old and can't let go or move on. I haven't seen my penis since the 80's. I want to be relevant again.

I find this self-characterization extremely hard to believe given the, uh, vitality that you've espoused in certain other statements. Please, tell us you're just pulling our chain. I just can't bring myself to buy into this!!!!

 

[HIjol]

@hux

 

[Vril]

Kirk dying like that was so pathetic. What an abomination Generations is.

Speaking as one of maybe 20 ST fans who loved Generations, I disagree. Kirk went out as a hero, and went out doing what he did in TOS: making a difference.

That was the essence of Kirk's character... he's the moral, genius Starfleet officer thrown out into deep space to a) represent the interests of the UFP and b) improve life for all lifeforms. He died saving an innocent civilization from an madman, and I like to think that's how James Tiberius Kirk would have wanted it. Hence the smile on his face and the last question on his lips "did we make a difference?"

Picard understood this because he's the same material. They're not there for a career, or for the thrill of it, but as moral men who set out to make things better. To me, it made Kirk more alive and realistic.

Now, those godawful novels where he's brought back to life... that was vomit...

 

[urbandefault]

He's 82 with a history of occasional weight problems. The hell do you want from the guy?

He'll be 85 on March 22.

I think he looks pretty damn healthy, much healthier than some of his contemporaries. I'll cut him a lot of slack on the weight thing.

 

[shapeshifter]

Who knows... Maybe the new TV show will give him a shot.

This tweet probably represents him putting out a line, fishing for a bite.

Kirk went out as a hero, and went out doing what he did in TOS: making a difference.

And the angels chorus singing praises unto Kirk continues.

But, in the real world, Shatner's agreement with killing the character was, IMO, motivated by an egotistical desire to control the characters fate. If he couldn't continue as Kirk then he was selfishly happy to make sure Kirk couldn't go on without him.

 

[1001001]

Speaking as one of maybe 20 ST fans who loved Generations, I disagree. Kirk went out as a hero, and went out doing what he did in TOS: making a difference.

That was the essence of Kirk's character... he's the moral, genius Starfleet officer thrown out into deep space to a) represent the interests of the UFP and b) improve life for all lifeforms. He died saving an innocent civilization from an madman, and I like to think that's how James Tiberius Kirk would have wanted it. Hence the smile on his face and the last question on his lips "did we make a difference?"

Picard understood this because he's the same material. They're not there for a career, or for the thrill of it, but as moral men who set out to make things better. To me, it made Kirk more alive and realistic.

I was fine with it. He gave up eternity in paradise to save 230,000,000 people who will never know he even existed. That's pretty damned heroic.

They should have brought him back to Earth and had a proper Starfleet funeral for him, but other than that, his death was acceptable to me.

 

[maneth]

Oh no, I sure hope not. Pine's made the character his own in the new movies, having Shatner reappear would only mess things up. A cameo would be okay, say, a voice from the future trying to make sure the young Kirk avoids making a mistake the old Kirk made at some point in his career. But two Kirks in one universe? That would be awkward, and I wouldn't want to have Shatner stealing screen time from Pine...

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Meh. Shatner stopped playing Kirk ages ago while making the TOS movies. He played Shatner playing Kirk.

Yep.

Oh no, I sure hope not. Pine's made the character his own in the new movies, having Shatner reappear would only mess things up. A cameo would be okay, say, a voice from the future trying to make sure the young Kirk avoids making a mistake the old Kirk made at some point in his career. But two Kirks in one universe? That would be awkward, and I wouldn't want to have Shatner stealing screen time from Pine...

Yep. Pine has made the role his own. He has brought his own sensibilities to the part, and having Shatner in the same film as him would be distracting.

As much as I am a fan of Shatner, his time playing Kirk has passed.

 

[Ronald Held]

He could appear in future JJ films with good writers.

 

[Trekfan12]

He's 82 with a history of occasional weight problems. The hell do you want from the guy?

Actually he'll be 85 on Mar 22nd.

 

[Noname Given]

He could appear in future JJ films with good writers.

I'm a HUGE TOS fan but at this point, Mr. Shatner needs to move on. There's no way any cameo in a new Star Trek production (JJ Abrams or otherwise) would be anything more than ridiculous stunt casting. B&B killed the character in the ST: Generations films (and the ghost written William Shatner novels reversing that got terrible reviews - never read them myself as it all seemed just ridiculous to do.)

The only thing I might find interesting is if they got Mr. Shatner to do some voice over for maybe another animated series set in a timeframe where 'Captain Kirk' thrived - or even the MMO 'Star Trek: Online' could get him to do voice over for content relating to the Star Trek franchise's 50th anniversary (again as some sort of holographic or time travel setup again set in an era where the character thrived.

At this point, no, I don't want to see geriatric Captain Kirk. Hell, I even think the fan film brigade has overdone it . Bringing 'Sulu' and 'Chekov' into ham-fisted scripts involving untoward 'aging' crisis again (already done in the TOS Season 2 episode "The Deadly Years"); or having them live a ridiculously long time (aka DeForest Kelly's cameo in the TNG pilot in 1987, or the fan based "ST:Renegades" that has an EXTREMELY old Pavel Chekov as an Admiral in the late 24th century.)

At some point, we need to let go of these actors as these characters as they are just getting to old to believably portray them on the screen in any real capacity that works. I enjoyed them all - but I don't want to keep seeing them to the point they need to be hooked up to oxygen or using a Rascal/Hoveround scooter or a wheelchair.

At some point you have to say - I did a good job with the character; and move on, or let a younger actor and production reimagine the setting (Happened with various long running franchises like "Superman", "Batman", etc. and along with "Star Trek", even the "Star Wars" franchise is realizing this.) The 3 years of TOS was short, but between TAS, the TOS era films, games, etc. the original actors as these characters has a decent run and we got to see them in a lot of situations.

I really don't want to see Shatner's (as Kirk) literal 'last breath' on screen myself. YMMV.

 

[Maurice]

^^^This. That.

 

[TheSubCommander]

Meh. Shatner stopped playing Kirk ages ago while making the TOS movies. He played Shatner playing Kirk.

Yeah I agree with that. I would say starting with Star Trek IV. Star Trek III was his last good performance as Kirk (namely David's death scene), IMHO.

That's not to say Shatner didn't have good scenes as Kirk in 4-6, but there were scenes he would ham it up too much, too.

 

[PCz911]

The only thing I might find interesting is if they got Mr. Shatner to do some voice over for maybe another animated series set in a timeframe where 'Captain Kirk' thrived - or even the MMO 'Star Trek: Online' could get him to do voice over for content relating to the Star Trek franchise's 50th anniversary (again as some sort of holographic or time travel setup again set in an era where the character thrived.
YMMV.

This is probably the only realistic way that the tos crew could be relevant again.

Not glamourous enough for shatter, I'd guess.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Yeah I agree with that. I would say starting with Star Trek IV. Star Trek III was his last good performance as Kirk (namely David's death scene), IMHO.

That's not to say Shatner didn't have good scenes as Kirk in 4-6, but there were scenes he would ham it up too much, too.

I'd say his last true performance as Kirk was TWOK.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

He'll be 85 on March 22.

Actually he'll be 85 on Mar 22nd.

I sit corrected. I'd learned recently Willie Nelson is 82 and it stuck with me.

 

[Terok Nor]

But, in the real world, Shatner's agreement with killing the character was, IMO, motivated by an egotistical desire to control the characters fate. If he couldn't continue as Kirk then he was selfishly happy to make sure Kirk couldn't go on without him.

Huh?

Was it even in the cards for someone else to play Kirk back then? The Original Series was put to bed with Star Trek VI. I never heard any talk about bringing Kirk or anyone else from TOS back to be played by different actors. Everyone seemed very confident that the TOS era was done and it was all about looking to the TNG era and beyond. Obviously that wasn't the case since they've gone back to TOS but I'm not aware of any plans for someone else to play Kirk other than Shatner back then.

 

[Dukhat]

^Actually, there was the abortive Harve Bennett idea for Star Trek VI to be prequel with young Kirk, Spock, et. al at the Academy, which was tossed in favor of The Undiscovered Country.