William Shatner now open to Star Trek return as James Kirk, but with conditions

William Shatner is now telling people a Star Trek return as James Kirk is possible.

Just a few months ago William Shatner tweeted out that he had no interest in returning to Star Trek to reprise his role as James Kirk, claiming that the character’s story has been told. Yet, now in an interview with Metro.co.uk, Shatner is walking back those claims.

Instead of rejecting the idea out of hand, Shatner is claiming that he’d return to the franchise if it was an important role in a film and not just as a cameo or passing moment.

"If they wrote it and it made reasonable sense then I’d love to [revive Captain Kirk].I wouldn’t do a series. If the role was written properly and it wasn’t a cameo or gratuitous; being there just to show my face, I wouldn’t do that."

So is Shatner angling for a role in the next Star Trek film? Who knows. Maybe when he says he doesn’t want to do a series, maybe he means star in it, but would do an episode as a guest star. Who knows. It’s pretty vague.

If Shatner is hoping for a film return, however, that seems unlikely. At 89-years-old, he’s not exactly a spring chicken. While he’s ten years older than Patrick Stewart, he does look a lot younger than Stewart. That could be due to a number of reasons both organic and cosmetic but the fact is that he’s not a young man anymore, despite looking like he’s in his 60’s. Shatner running around, assuming he still can, at 90 in a Starfleet uniform is something most fans would presumably rather not see.

Shatner has given fans more than enough memories to hang on to, there’s no reason to run back to the franchise. Especially if his coming back is met with as much divisive feedback as Stewart did in his return to the franchise with Picard.