Even though William Shatner's iconic Star Trek character died in 1994's Star Trek Generations, there are several sci-fi tropes often used by the space opera that could allow the actor to reprise his seminal role. With Shatner in talks with Paramount to return as James T. Kirk, the possibility of his return to the franchise feels a little greater compared to recent years, although nothing has been confirmed just yet. The actor has declared that any comeback has to "mean something" rather than just being for the sake of taking place, but it also needs to make canonical sense.
After making his debut as Captain Kirk as part of Star Trek: The Original Series' cast, Shatner went on to voice the character again in Star Trek: The Animated Series. He also reprised the role in several Star Trek movies before his exit in 1995, when he starred alongside Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek Generations. Kirk has appeared in the franchise since Shatner's departure, played in the Kelvin Timeline movies by Chris Pine, and by Paul Wesley in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, it really would be something else to have the original actor back.
6William Shatner Could Return As Kirk From Another Star Trek Universe
Prime Kirk is dead, but other versions could appear
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 recently reminded everyone of just how vast the franchise's multiverse is. It's not a trope that Star Trek often explores, but it does it just as well as any other saga when it chooses to. Star Trek's multiverse has already allowed the return of certain legacy actors in alternate versions of their original roles, so there's no reason why the same opportunity can't be afforded to Shatner.
5Time Travel Could Create A Timeline Where Kirk Survives Star Trek Generations
Kirk's death at the end of the 1994 Star Trek movie could be undone
At the moment, William Shatner has aged out of playing Kirk in Star Trek's Prime Universe, as the main version of the character canonically perished in Star Trek Generations during his team-up with Captain Picard. If Paramount is willing or able to digitally de-age Shatner for the entirety of his potential comeback, it won't be as much of a problem, but doing so would be time-consuming and expensive. Plus. it might just not look that great. That being said, Kirk's death could be retconned using time travel.
There are many Trekkies still unhappy with how Kirk left the franchise in Star Trek Generations, so a retcon such as this would solve that issue. Plus, it would mean Prime Kirk could live to an age much closer to Shatner's current age. That way, the nonagenarian actor could simply reprise the role without the need for digital intervention or high-concept multiverse storylines.
4Star Trek Could Bring James T. Kirk Back Via A Transporter Malfunction
Commander Riker's transporter clone storyline is a prime example of how this could work
Shatner's age would likely need to be applied to the transporter clone, but after a line like, "The temporal compensators degraded after decades of neglect," it would make sense why Kirk's pattern wasn't perfectly preserved.
To illustrate, Kirk traveled by transporter countless times throughout the Star Trek timeline, and not all instances will have been tied to the Enterprise. All it would take would be for Star Trek to introduce an old transporter that was used by Kirk at some point, and include the twist that a copy of Kirk has been stuck in the pattern buffer all this time. Shatner's age would likely need to be applied to the transporter clone, but after a line like, "The temporal compensators degraded after decades of neglect," it would make sense why Kirk's pattern wasn't perfectly preserved.
3Section 31 Could Resurrect Shatner's Kirk After Recovering His Remains In Star Trek: Picard
Kirk's remains are no longer buried on Veridian III
James T. Kirk dies on Veridian III in Star Trek Generations, and Picard gives him a burial under a pile of rocks on the surface of the uninhabited beta quadrant planet. His remains buried there for a long while, but Star Trek: Picard 3 came with the shocking revelation that Kirk's body was recovered by Section 31 at some point and placed into stasis at the Daystrom Institute.
The Federation-run institute that's been revealed to be harboring Kirk's remains specializes in advanced robotics and other technological research. So, if they are storing the dead body of a decorated Starfleet officer, it stands to reason that they would have something in mind akin to resurrection. It seems like a very specific addition to Star Trek canon if the franchise isn't planning to bring back Shatner as Kirk, but such a twist hasn't yet been officially confirmed.
2Shatner Could Appear As A Future Version Of Chris Pine's James T. Kirk In Star Trek 4
Star Trek 4 could allow Shatner to (kind of) follow in Leonard Nimoy's footsteps
There is already a loose blueprint in place that could allow William Shatner to come back to Star Trek as James T. Kirk, and it exists in JJ Abrams' 2009 reboot movie - the simply-titled Star Trek. Taking place in an alternate reality called the Kelvin Timeline, Zachary Quinto's Spock was visited by Leonard Nimoy's Prime version of the character at the end of the movie to give him some sage words of wisdom. The destruction of the USS Kelvin had caused their two realities to diverge, so although both Spocks had the same origin, they had essentially become separate characters.
Although Abrams' Star Trek series hasn't been active since the third installment in 2016, Star Trek 4 is still heavily reported to be happening, but stuck in production hell. If and when the third sequel happens, Shatner could travel back from the Kelvin Timeline's future as an older version of Chris Pine's version of the character, which would be a kind of tribute to what happened between the two Spocks in 2009. A more accurate comparison would be Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) visiting her past self in the Star Trek: Voyager finale.
