It doesn't and isn't directly referenced. This short is well done because it's open to the viewer's interpretation.
William Shatner Confirms Talks for Star Trek Return at 93 Years Old
- Thread starter oktay
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I’ve been a fan for over 50 years and agree with almost everything you say. My only caveat is that I love a lot of what OTOY has done. As Dukhat says above, Unification gives you the opportunity to make of it what you will. For me, it provided a kind of closure for Kirk and Spock, and Bill and Leonard, and it was wonderful to see two characters - who have meant so much to me - brought back to life.
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He could have walked away.
Leonard Nimoy is dead. No-one cares about Bill Shat or even Pat (best actor ever) ... Ultimately, there is/are Data!I always thought the ENT pitch for him playing MU Kirk, "Tiberius" was the best way to feature him. Just don't even deal with the headache of bringing back our Kirk and making up excuses for his age.
And hopefully if this does happen it doesn't work in a way that screws with the OTOY Unification short.
Sure they do, if the damage to their reputation would be more than the money is worth.
(Take William Shatner, for example. No more starving 1960s actor living on fruit salad, so he can walk away from acting in a nonstarring role.)
I'm sorry, but the defense "it can be whatever you want it be" is incredibly weak and is often used to distract from a lack of imagination or creative commitment. I have no doubt Paramount stifles a lot of creativity in terms of what can and can't be done with Trek, so I'll give OTOY that.
Yes, I will grant you that kind of trope is usually a cop-out (the final episode of "The Man In the High Castle" springs immediately to mind.) But I get the feeling that this was not OTOY's intention. I personally thought it was quite creative and imaginative.
It was meant as a tribute. The "it's whatever you want it to be" refers to the mechanism by which Kirk and Spock are reunited. But, that doesn't need a black and white answer to be moving.
That's a lot less common than you think. Often that kind of mentality is career suicide in Hollywood. The only reason Shatner got away with it in Trek XI was because he was in his late seventies at the time and thus his career was winding down anyway. There's no way Rick Berman of 1994 was going to walk away from the opportunity to begin producing movies just to protect his "reputation."
Er, no.
Okay, so you bring 94-year-old Shatner back. Then what? What story point do you use him for? What message does that episode or movie have to tell the audience?
Bringing back an actor just to bring them back is vapid, shallow, and cynically pointless.
Exactly Shatner's point for never having returned for any other production since GEN (until OTOY's short film). He was always very resistant to any kind of perfunctory cameo-style role. It needs to mean something and be contingent to the plot, not "stunt casting". This was one of the biggest reasons Nimoy and several of the other TOS cast never returned for GEN. Shatner's very protective of his character, and he has every right to be.
For the feels.
That's why Star Trek is so important. It's all about how it makes you feel.
Yeah, Shatner is Star Trek...He's return brings instant positive buzz and is the biggest thing to happen to Star Trek in the general publics eye in decades.
Apparently, there is a group of writers who agree with me and are drafting (or have drafted) a script to include Shatner. Why do you suggest it would be "vapid" or "pointless"?
Shatner's return would bring bigger ratings and more positive buzz than all of Lower Decks and Discovery combined.
Mke no mistake. Shatner wants to get paid. That's the bigger issue.
