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William Shatner may be returning as Kirk

William Shatner, the famed captain of the Enterprise admits to wanting to return to his role in the captains chair. He says that new VR CGI could be the key to him returning.

By KaiserKirk Thu 08 Feb, 2018 7:22 AM - Last Updated: Thu 08 Feb, 2018 7:42 AM
William Shatner is one of the most iconic and memorable names in entertainment history. As we all know he was propelled to fame mainly by the success of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and most notably Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn. He was a huge success in all the Star Trek films and TV shows (and others) but he ended his time as Captain in the 1994 production Star Trek: Generations, where he was killed (most ironically) by a bridge to make way for the new cast.

But on the 3rd of February this year he was interviewed by UK's Daily Mail. The Daily Mail talked about the possibility of Shatner's return to Star Trek. He gave this response.

Name: Star-Trek-shatner.jpg Views: 283 Size: 45.8 KB
J.J. has never indicated bringing Captain Kirk back and I don’t know how you would do that fifty years later. How do you rationalize my present appearance with what I was like fifty years ago? On the other hand, I have recently connected with a virtual reality company – Ziva – and they virtual realized me [with] 240 cameras all around shooting me. So, they now can produce my body and my face in any way, shape or form, including what I was like 50 years ago.
The UK's Daily Mail further questioned William if he was interested in coming back to the franchise.

Oh, lord yes. What an interesting role that was, and what it could be 50 years later. Captain Kirk is caught somewhere in the byways of the universe.

Tarantino is a great director and I would love to work with him. [To appear] would be a wonderful thing. The fans have been so supportive.
Shatner has always said that he would leap at the opportunity to come back to the franchise and his possible partnering with Zivia may give J.J and Tarantino the possibility and freedom to have a 'Tarkin' like approach to a prime timeline Kirk going into the Kelvin timeline.

It is my opinion that such a concept would be really interesting, seeing the two generations of Kirk's face to face would blow my mind, and I think that most fans would agree.


ZIVA Real-Time, Interacting with your “Ziva Self"

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WRITTEN BY KIRK 142
EDITED BY INFINITY - lewis.holt@ufplanets.com

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13 Comments
Thu 08 Feb, 2018 8:25 AM
No. Just no.

Please, in the name of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, please keep that man and his ego away from Trek.

I lost all respect for Shatner when he walked out on James Doohan's last convention appearance before he died, saying "I don’t want to do this and I really don’t want to deal with all this Alzheimer’s crap.". (https://trekmovie.com/2010/12/09/geo...-farewell-con/)
Thu 08 Feb, 2018 2:31 PM
I agree with Aceman67, I cannot stand Shatner anymore. I followed him on twitter for years and you see he really is the ass**** everyone said he was.

He tried to get involved with the first JJ movie with Nimoy, and they were not interested.
Thu 08 Feb, 2018 3:24 PM
Shatner Kirk is dead. I like Chris Pine's Kirk. Shatner can go climb his mountain and stay there. Smile
Fri 09 Feb, 2018 6:38 AM
Ah yes, I used to idolise him... but then I found out how, well bluntly narcissistic and attention-grabbing he was. It broke my heart. Even though my respect for him is completely gone I would still like to see him or a CGI version of him 50 years back, face to face with Chris Pine.
Fri 09 Feb, 2018 4:01 PM
I went to see him appear at a convention around the time Generations came out. This was before the days of paid signings and such. It was held in an old gymnasium/small arena and he was the only guest. Since I was in the upper level of seats, I just stood at the entrance to the side stairs. I had a great view of the parking lot through the stairway windows. I watched a limo arrive and as I suspected it was his.

I saw him get out of the limo with a scowl. Soon, he was on stage for his appearance. He must have been contracted for an hour because he pretty much stopped in the middle of a story at precisely one hour. The most fascinating part was watching him approach the stairway as he was leaving. He was all smiles as he disappeared under the stairs I was standing near, only to emerge with the scowl back on the face and he was driven off.

It was a bit disheartening to see that the smiles and fan interaction and friendliness was seemingly an act. That being said, I guess it's hard for our idols to live up to our expectations. Plus we don't know what they have going on in their real lives. The stars don't have to do the appearances, so regardless of reasons why they do it, I guess we should be appreciative and thankful they show up. I always did enjoy his Kirk. Especially Wrath of Khan.

As for the talk of him making an appearance in a new movie or whatever, If they bring him back in a way that makes sense, I'm not opposed to it, especially if the VR/CG can make him look realistic. I just don't want it done in a haphazard way and done for the sake of doing it. We'll see what comes of it.
Sat 10 Feb, 2018 8:50 PM
Chris Pine is the BEST KIRK! Attachment 8146
Thu 08 Mar, 2018 2:49 AM
I often used to believe that Shatner was an idiot but that his portrayal of the great Captain Kirk was the best at the time. Then, the Trek gods made Chris Pine and we were gifted the next generation of Kirk and Spock.
Fri 09 Mar, 2018 2:16 PM
I'm strangely ambivalent about this. I mean, I love "Kirk" because I've read enough books with that character. Meanwhile, I'm old enough to think that the character is Shatner.
Fri 09 Mar, 2018 4:08 PM
I do not think it is a good idea at all to bring William Shatner back as James Kirk. That's only fan service for the TOS/TMP generation audience. And he is on numerous occasion to be said to be not cool at all. And even if he's in the movie, what would he bring to the table except cowboy diplomacy?!

I would rather very much see Nichelle Nichols again as Uhura and make her head of Starfleet Intelligence (or some other important function in the Federation) and is teamed up with Patrick Steward's Jean-Luc Picard (who was also reported to have an interested in a Star Trek movie directed by Tarantino) and make them touch the fallout after the destruction of prime timeline Romulus before by accident or spore driven tech they make an appearance in the Kelvin timeline and meet Chris Pine's Kirk and co to have then an adventure inside the Galactic Barrier.
Fri 09 Mar, 2018 10:51 PM
That is a really good idea Seetherius! I really like it.
Sat 10 Mar, 2018 11:28 AM
Hell no not the Shatner just no, bloted ego and a narcist to boot.

Pine is kirk now lets keep it that way!!!
Tue 13 Mar, 2018 3:53 AM
Originally Posted by aceman67
No. Just no.
Says it ALL right there
Tue 13 Mar, 2018 4:01 AM
Shatner's already had his time, while I didn't like pine's Kirk at first, the comics did a pretty good job developing his character to me and I liked Pine's kirk in Beyond.