In a big way it almost feels as though MovieWeb and a lot of other publications are making a big deal out of something that probably won’t go anywhere unless someone is ambitious enough to make it happen. To hear that William Shatner would actually come back as Captain Kirk if someone were to devise a story that would make sense and pay a good amount of respect to the famed captain is kind of interesting, but also may very well split the fan base just a little since Shatner hasn’t really been a big part of Star Trek since his character’s death in Generations. I’ll amend that just a bit by stating that he’s always been a big part of the franchise, but his character was more or less put to rest at one point and as a result the next time we saw Kirk he was being played by Chris Pine, who a lot of people came to love in the role. So really, anyone asking Shatner if he would take on the mantle of Kirk again is likely fishing around for an answer to the ‘what if’ that might come along should Shatner actually respond as he did, that he would do so if the timing and opportunity were right.
He wouldn’t want his own show apparently, as he doesn’t want such a responsibility as that which Patrick Stewart has taken on with Picard, and he doesn’t want a cameo or gratuitous showing of his and likeness. It does sound as though he would be happy being a recurring character if such a thing could be worked out, and given the directions that Star Trek has gone in over the years it’s fairly certain that a writer could come up with a way to bring Kirk back or possibly write in a story that would make sense somewhere along the time line. What might happen and how he might interact with the overall story is hard to say since in the movies the time line was switched up in a big way when Chris Pine took over, and in Generations it’s hard to imagine that he could come back from the dead in some way, but of course when one factors in movie and TV magic there’s really a lot of ways to bring a character back, but the question would be why, not really how at one point. A lot of fans might respond to such a query with a snort of derision and an obvious answer that, to them, might appear to be the only reason that was needed. But from a story standpoint there are a lot of reasons why Kirk might be brought back, but the how would then come into play and it might be a little more difficult to sort out.
It’s kind of easy to imagine that Kirk might have come back into the discussion now that Pike is getting his own time in the sun and as it’s obviously remembered, Pike mentored Kirk and helped him to become the captain that so many people came to care about. But if that’s the case, if Kirk is about to become popular again because of Pike (which is unfounded theory), then it would best to see a younger man playing Kirk unless there’s a story in the works that could work for Shatner. Right now it’s more conjecture and ‘what if’ than anything though since trying to get around his death in Generations would be a tricky hurdle, even if the change to the time lines managed to somehow alter the outcome of the movie. Kirk was a fine captain in his day but bringing him back leaves a person thinking that he’d have to play a lot of catch-up when it comes to the current era. Of course if someone wrote up a story for him before the events of Generations it might be kind of interesting, but it would also require people to really go back and see what they remember about the movie and about the captain. But again, this is all a lot of conjecture at this time as it would take a lot of convincing it sounds like to really make it happen. While Kirk might be a favored captain of Star Trek he’s not the only captain and as a result it’s likely that people would want to continue to focus on Picard instead of dredging up Kirk once again, unless it was for another movie.
Right now it sounds like Trekkies can hope and dream at best when it comes to seeing Shatner return, but there’s always that what if that might be lingering about. So long as writers can find a way to make it happen it sounds as though Shatner might be down for it, much as the writers at Trek Movie would agree.
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