Space isn’t enough for William Shatner, as he’s involved with bringing back TekWar

Star Trek’s William Shatner created TekWar and it’s getting an animated series

TekWar might be one of the most 90s-thing that has ever been thought of. Created by Star Trek’s very own William Shatner, the franchise had a moderate run of success in the 90s. It was a book, then comics, a CD-ROM video game, and trading cards.

Airing on the USA Network, Sci-Fi Channell (SyFy currently) and in Canada, the franchise actually took off to a degree. Four made-for-TV movies were made and were essentially dubbed “season one”, with a second season which had 18 episodes following that.

Shatner was front-and-center and even though he had a ghostwriter for the nine books that were published, it was his vision that came to life. It’s pretty hardcore into the 90s, dystopian future, with an emphasis on edgy looks and ideas.

It’s quite honestly, among the most decade-specific creations that any decade-specific creations may have ever had.

And it’s coming back.

William Shatner’s TekWar is getting an animated series treatment

According to Deadline, the series is being brought back by Matt Michnovetz, who will develop and write the series, while it’s going to be produced by Pure Imagination Studio, alongside Shatner’s Shatner Universe.

The series, however, may be too bold to succeed. The idea behind the series is to make it interactive. As Deadline writes;

"TekWar is being conceptualized as a mixed-reality animated series where viewers will be able to participate with the show in different forms of technology via mobile, tablets or wearable devices. The series can be viewed stand-alone, but the level of immersion into the show, its characters and technology is enhanced by the ability to become part of the narrative."

It seems like a huge swing for a property that hasn’t been relevant in nearly 30 years to be built around such a concept. It’d be hard enough for a more established franchise to pull this off, but clearly, the creators and producers of the series are hoping to find success much as Black Mirror did for their interactive episode “Bandersnatch”.

It’s a big idea, and it arguably makes perfect sense to do it with a series like TekWar, which is basically a story about a cop who gets falsely convicted of a crime of dealing a substance that is basically the internet meets LSD meets virtual reality.

It’s a wild idea. So why not try a wild concept?