The idea of William Shatner returning to the role of James T. Kirk has been going on since his version of the character was killed off in the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations. There have been a variety of attempts to bring him back but none have panned out. Even as he has moved into his 90s the actor has made it clear if the stars align he is ready to return to the final frontier and just this weekend he indicated that there has been some discussion of just that.
William Shatner is in Vancouver, BC this weekend as a headlining guest of Fan Expo Vancouver. The Direct staff member Jennifer McDonough reported from his panel that the 93- year old actor “had been contacted by a writer on one of Paramount’s currently-in-development Star Trek series.” Shatner is quoted as saying:
“I have been asked to come back as Kirk so many times. If Kirk is going to come back, it has to mean something. It has to be the show. But I was so impressed by this writer, so I said let’s talk after I’m done in Vancouver. So I’m awaiting a pitch to make it the show, it should come on Monday or Tuesday.”
What show could fit?
The key word in the report is “series,” so if that is accurate we are talking Star Trek TV on Paramount+ and not one of the various feature projects in development at Paramount Pictures. As of now Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy are active series. A fourth season of Strange New Worlds is set to go into production within weeks and the second season of Starfleet Academy should go into production around mid 2025. The only show we know of that’s in the early stages of development (and has not been green lit yet) is Justin Simien and Tawny Newsome’s Trek comedy show which takes place in the early 25th century, that era was last seen in Picard season 3. But there could be other shows being developed that have not yet been revealed.
Set in the 23rd century before the original Star Trek, Strange New Worlds already has a Kirk in Paul Wesley, but the show also shown it’s willing to do all sorts of fun timey-wimey things, so maybe young Kirk meets an old Kirk in SNW season 4?
Without resorting to time travel, Starfleet Academy is set in the far future, as seen in Discovery, in the 32nd century. So an older and wiser Kirk could be a holographic training/teaching simulation, or even a de-aged Shatner as Kirk to look more like say Kirk of the movie era could be on the table.
There’s also the tantalizing tease from Picard season 3 of Kirk’s remains being kept at Daystrom Station, and the text of the display showing the name “Project Phoenix.” – which of course certainly implies that a resurrected Kirk/clone of Kirk may be in the works by Section 31 in the early 25th century. This might lend support to idea that the show he’s referring to is the Newsome and Simien comedy show since it’s the right era for Project Phoenix, but all of this is just speculation, of course.
Shatner has been approached before
Shatner has been approached before, it was rumored that Roberto Orci had a role for Shatner is his unproduced 3rd Kelvin timeline film. And it was confirmed a scene was written for him (but never officially pitched) in Star Trek 2009, you can read more about the scene here. There were also discussions to bring Shatner back for Star Trek: Enterprise.
Shatner’s also been softening on the idea of returning to play Kirk even without being specifically approached, as he told USA Today back in 2021.
We’ve also seen Mr. Shatner pontificate on the idea of returning in a de-aged form. He first mentioned the idea back in 2018. And of course he recently gave his approval to use his likeness at various ages as Kirk for the Roddenberry Archive’s moving short film “Unification.”
Sam Witwer as Kirk with William Shatner’s Kirk via digital makeup in Unification
