“Even at 95, I think Captain Kirk would be a really good captain…”
It’s been over 30 years since William Shatner last suited up as Captain James T. Kirk in the feature film Star Trek Generations (1994). And despite his character being unceremoniously killed off at the movie’s conclusion, while thwarting the genocidal plans of Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell), 95-year-old Shatner is still open to playing the iconic character again. So, what would it take to get him back in the captain’s chair? Shatner addressed that very question in a new interview, which fans can watch below (per TV Insider), by saying:
“Well, it’s easy to say money [laughs]. But, you know, the longer I played Kirk [...] I was allowed to put various shades of character in there. I think Captain Kirk — as the captain of a deadly instrument of war, as well as a dhow [vessel] of peace — could reside in somebody like me very well. I mean, I still have the aggression and the instinct for battle, and, you know, I’ve gotten myself into very dangerous things."
Shatner continued by comparing and contrasting his own attributes of aggression and peace with those his character could possess in a new iteration of Kirk during the same sit-down:
“But there is planing, a wood-working planing of all those heights and peaks of attitude and activity. So leveling off of say, 'Well, wait a minute. How can we work this out? How can we avoid the worst to both of us, if we do something more intelligent?' And I'm at that stage [...] That comes with age, as against aggression, which is sort of a youthful characteristic. So, I would [play Kirk again], even at 95. I think Captain Kirk would be a really good captain of a spaceship, which is capable of peace and war.”
It sounds like Shatner's new interpretation of Kirk would make a wonderful Fleet Admiral. However, I would still love to see Shatner return as the character at any rank once more, if for no other reason than to get the bad taste out of everyone’s mouths after what producer Rick Berman plus writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore did by killing off the character in Generations.
Berman, Braga, and Moore did so much for the franchise through hundreds of hours of television, creatively contributing to The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.
However, they really dropped the ball in a USS Excelsior-sized way when they decided to kill off Kirk in the first TNG feature film. I for one would like to see that mistake rectified. I’d also like to watch Kirk receive some semblance of a happy ending after all the times he and his crew saved the galaxy.
Whether it would be the captain having moved up the ranks of Starfleet again, commanding his own starship, and/or even finding love in the twilight of his life, Shatner and Kirk deserve another shot to make things right.
Would you like to see William Shatner return as James T. Kirk either on the small or big screen, too? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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