Epic characters deserve epic deaths. And yet it’s been 22 years since William Shatner’s iconic Captain James T. Kirk met a rather ordinary and half-hearted end in Star Trek: Generations. Despite Kirk’s death, Shatner has previously teased possible reappearances in Star Trek: Enterprise and the rebooted Star Trek films. While neither of those appearances have panned out, Shatner isn’t quite ready to close the door on Star Trek.
While talking to TV Guide about his new NBC series, Better Late Than Never, Shatner was asked if he would be up for a cameo appearance on CBS All-Access’ upcoming Star Trek: Discovery series. Shatner’s response was that he would do it “if I were useful.” He explained that he felt that Leonard Nimoy was underutilized in the first two Star Trek reboot films.
“Leonard, my friend, did a cameo [in the new Star Trek movies],” said Shatner. “I said to him, ‘You know you’re old when you go back in time and you’re still old.’ It was a cameo, and I thought, ‘That’s a waste of time. He’s so talented. Why didn’t they do something more with him?’ So that’s the way I feel about that.”
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As a counterpoint, Nimoy’s Spock did play a pretty key role in the first reboot film. He wasn’t the headlining star, but he passed the torch to the new crew and brought the reboot Kirk and Spock together. Star Trek Into Darkness didn’t have much for Nimoy to do, but he had largely retired from acting by the time that movie was released.
It might be fun to see Shatner as Kirk again, but his demise would be a little difficult to fix considering the fact that he died onscreen and Shatner is clearly 22 years older. Given recent advances in special effects, it’s not impossible to make Shatner look younger onscreen, but it may not be a feasible direction to go in.
Do you want to see Shatner as Kirk one last time? Chart a course to the comment section and leave your thoughts below!
