it's been 30 years since William Shatner was last seen on screen for the franchise by Star Trek fans. Shatner, then 63, was seen by many as rightfully walking away. Letting the franchise move on from him and the older talent who starred for the series every decade prior, starting in the 1960s.
Yet, what no one expected was the nostalgia of it all to become such a major player in how the film and television industry created content. Now, especially with Star Trek, the stars of 20-30 years ago are the names that fans want to see more of, not so much the newer talent we've been introduced to. It's not a universal truth, but it sure seems to be the standard, especially when you look at shows like Strange New Worlds, who while using new actors, are using a cast of characters who all seemingly have ties to popular past iterations.
On the show, we've seen Shatner's Kirk back with Star Trek, but no longer played by Shatner, now played by Paul Wesley. The focus on this Kirk (as opposed to Chris Pine's Kirk, who is a different Kirk entirely) has had many wondering if Shatner would ever return to the franchisee.
Shatner, to his credit, has kept the door open at 93 years old, but only if the script is right. Yet, his, and Wesley's Kirk, died in the events of Star Trek Generations, set some 30 or 40 years prior to Star Trek: Picard's first season.
So how would you bring in Kirk once again, played this time by Shatner at 93? Well, Shatner does have an idea, albeit not a great one. Having been asked how he'd bring James Kirk back by the Global News, Shatner went on to say;
"“'We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here.’ There’s a scenario. ‘Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!’""
Clearly, Shatner is referencing Kirk's body being discovered on a black ops Starfleet outpost during the third season of Picard. Clearly, he doesn't like how Picard presented Kirk as a throwaway moment, and he's probably hoping for a better way to return than he actually suggested.