Let Kirk stay dead. Bring back Shatner as Admiral Gardner (Prime) in a miniseries based on Star Trek: The Beginning.
https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/abc_oscars_shatner_130224_wg.jpg Here's William Shatner back in the Generations spacesuit for the 2013 Oscars. i admit being surprised at the image, he is different but this was 19 years later!
This is pathetic. You can accuse me of ageism all you want. But this is pathetic. Clinging to past shows like there is no tomorrow. No wonder pop culture is going down the drain. Yes he does. The only things that have not changed are the shape of his head and his eyes and the lack of hair. That's all.
Captain.Kirk.Will.Return.He.Is.Still.A.Cultural...Icon. Just hope they hurry up before Shatner can't play him anymore
I want to see 87 year old Kirk fight an 87 year old Gorn. I can’t imagine the Gorn moving any slower, however.
Maybe it's been put out there before, but ... STAR TREK 4: THE SEARCH FOR KIRK Kirk is missing. The crew rally and follow clues. Action happens. More action happens. Drama, drama, drama. They locate his biosignature on some rock in space. Then the big reveal ... SHATNER! Ok, maybe not.
Or...just to make heads explode...Kirk is suffering from the Deadly Years thing (without the loss of mental faculties) and they only find a cure near the end (so Pine can appear without busting the budget).
I think something fun like Tom Baker's cameo in Doctor Who's 50th anniversary would work, but he doesn't want a cameo. I don't like the idea of him as old PineKirk cause he's not really *our* Kirk, if that makes sense. Will they jump thru hoops to create a substantial part for Shatner? Probably not. Is he likely to have change of heart and settle for a sentimental cameo? Maybe. It's been a tricky proposition since Picard stuck him under a pile of rocks. Jim's dead. Maybe best to just leave it be.
Kirk isn't dead. He's still in the Nexus with Guinan. There are plenty of ways they could undo the abomination that was Generations with a little bit of creative writing. Question is, can they find someone to do it right without making it stupid?
Unfortunately I think the time has come and gone where Shatner could play Kirk again in some capacity on the big screen. Nimoy's return as Spock, bridging the two timelines worked so well. Unfortunately Shatner also doesn't look like Pine, so having him cameo would highlight that. Shatner is basically too old now to be playing Kirk on screen. It would be strange to me for him to do so after he did such a ceremonious last hurrah in Generations. Plus he should be happy as he comes across as quite the action hero in Generations. I think the nearest Shatner could come to playing Kirk would be either in; Orville as a cameo or mainrole...in a Star Trek computer game series....cameoing on a amateur Star Trek fan production e.g. Star Trek Continues or something....or maybe on Star Trek Discovery or the new Picard series.
The best way for Kirk to return would be as an old version leaving the Nexus after all the established 24th century Trek imo. Maybe in the 25th century or even later... Could become an interesting story...
The unfilmable (except for animation) novel Crucible: Kirk: The Star to Every Wandering effectively undoes the awful ending Kirk was given in Generations. I love Kirk, he's my childhood hero, but I think that ship sailed when Shatner declined to do cameos. He's got a whole other life, and doesn't need to do some cringey walk-on for a movie that the diehards would hate anyway. Look at how they talk about Nimoy's participation in the the JJ films. Who needs that aggravation?