Should Shatner return in some way in the next film?

I do remember hearing Nimoy never liked the way Kirk's death was portrayed, and now with Nimoy having passed on...It could be interesting to bring Shatner back in some (albeit small) way...

 

Only if he's playing a centaur. Shatner likes riding horses, so playing a sort of horse man is the perfect role for him. Have the Enterprise visiting a planet of centaurs, and he's the centaur leader. Then throw in some stuff with centaur night clubs, and Kirk getting a centaur STD, which causes Centaur Shatner to laugh in his face. So yeah, Centaur Shatner would be great in the next movie.

What? We aren't seriously considering the idea of bring back Prime Kirk, are we? Now that would just be silly.

 

No.

 

No! There's no reason to bring Shatner back, prime Kirk is dead and Chris Pine will not age to look like an old William Shatner, so a flash forward to future JJ Kirk doesn't work either. Shatner having a cameo as a random new character would be silly and everyone would know they're just forcing him in because of Nimoy's passing.

 

Maybe there's a holo-recording of prime-Kirk in prime-Spock's belongings, like an e-postcard from the Nexus.

 

No. Love Shatner, but his time in Trek is past.

 

What, before it's too late, or before they bin the JJverse ?

Oh, go on then...

 

Do it Do it Do it

 

I'd like to see him as KIrk's over the top, bombastic grandfather Tiberius.

 

He got in the other film didn't he? In a photo. And he was looking very handsome in that photo I may add.

 

No point. Shatner's not going to be around for too much longer, I expect.

 

Huh? He might die some day, so they shouldn't bother?????

 

Granted that in his mid 80s he probably doesn't have much time left, but my gosh, why is THAT, of all things, a reason not to bother? He's not known to be ill or anything.

As for Shatner playing old JJ Kirk, I don't see why not. They've already asked us to in effect believe Quinto ages into Nimoy, unless you think that somehow Spock and Spock prime have a different set of parents that happen to have the same names.

Above all else though, I'd need to get some sense of why they'd be bringing Shatner in if they did so. It's something that could be done well or very badly, so I'll reserve judgement on the idea.

 

I can think of only one way to do it (of course, I'm not a screenwriter--I'm sure there are many).

A "cold open", like in Into Darkness, where we see the tail end of a mission/event. In this case, a replay of "The Deadly Years". Shatner/Kirk is the last one given the "cure". He solves the crisis, gives the key order and is applauded on the bridge before being hustled off to sickbay.

• It avoids having to reanimate "prime" Kirk (way too many obstacles to that).
• It gives Shatner a "hero" moment.
• It avoids a Shatner "death scene" (already done that).
• It avoids any need to "explain" why he's so much older than in Generations.
• It avoids clogging up the main narrative with an octogenarian Kirk.

There are two problems with the scenario that immediate leap to (my) mind.

1. Shatner would likely refuse what amounts to an extended cameo, given his past statements.
2. It would have worked far better as an opening "Easter Egg (giant one)" in Beyond, for the anniversary.

Other than the above, I can't see getting around the issues a different character (ancestor/other relation), a bigger part or attempt to shoehorn "prime" Kirk into the story.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I thought being on screen was a form of immortality?

 

Here's MY two cents (plus tip).

When Nimoy was alive I was like, yes, absolutely. The aborted ST3 script would have had them playing an older Quinto & Pine from the future, which to me would have worked beautifully. In a way I was disappointed it never happened but to me Star Trek Beyond was more than perfect as a movie.

I'm now on the fence - Takei, Nichols and Koenig have in the 40th anniversary and beyond reprised their roles in fan productions and Nimoy of course was in ST09 and STID. Shatner was the only one who hasn't properly returned (Kelley and Doohan last appeared in STVI and Generations respectively)

Shatner DID come back as Kirk for a sketch in the 2013 Oscars. But he did look wrong in that uniform. Somehow; after all 19 years had past since Generations.

- this is one of my favourite pieces of fan Trek ever but I know it never will or have happened. But if you look at it this isnt really a trailer - its a full story with a beginning, middle and end. It's one of the many ways Shatner COULD have returned in the past. Enterprise was hoping to have him as wither the Mirror 'Tiberius' or the Chef, being carted off by Temporal Agent Daniels to stand in for Kirk in a major future event. Orci wrote a little scene for the 2009 movie where he was a birthday hologram for Ambassador Spock.

But the times have now past, Shatner's problem is either money or the 'cameo' being too small.

Ideally if it were to happen (I'm on the fence) I'd like him to have a role similar in size to Nimoy in 2009, either doing 'The Deadly Years' or as a futire PineKirk -- so we can see Bill in a Starfleet uniform on the bridge of the Enterprise one last time.

 

Well, shit. By that logic, no one should be in movies. Ever.

 

If Paramount has removed Orci because of Shatner, among other things, they would not do it now.
I truly believe that it was, regrettably, a missed opportunity in Star Trek 09. In my opinion, It is no longer possible to put shatner in star trek