And no, it's not money.
William Shatner, along with his co-stars George Takei and Walter Koenig from The Original Series, are all scheduled to be in attendance at the Star Trek 60th anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, which kicks off this week on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
And when Shatner was asked if he’d portray the iconic role of Captain James T. Kirk again, ahead of the ST-LV: Trek to Vegas 2026 convention, the actor replied simply in a video posted to his official Instagram account: “Depends on the story.”
As the official 60th anniversary of Star Trek on Tuesday, September 8, inches ever closer, the magnitude of the franchise’s importance certainly isn’t lost on Shatner. Although, he admitted during the same sit-down that “it’s a phenomenon that I’ve discounted from time to time.”
Shatner also agreed with Elex Michaelson about the important spotlight Star Trek shines on humanity itself. And that is a subject Shatner touched on earlier this year courtesy of an interview with AARP:
“Although the background was futuristic, the foreground was what happens because you’re a human being,” Shatner said. “And I think that was the key to Star Trek’s success.”
With the end of Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy coming in 2027, CBS Studios could capitalize on their need to appease the Star Trek fandom and greenlight a new television series which would feature Shatner’s return as Kirk in some form or fashion.
Personally, I’d love to see Shatner come back and have him help correct the egregious mistake Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, and Ronald D. Moore made back in 1994 when the creative team elected to kill off Captain Kirk on the big screen in Star Trek Generations.
The publicity promoting Shatner’s return to Star Trek alone would almost certainly guarantee streaming success with viewership that would likely surpass what Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy have combined to garner in recent years. All CBS Studios needs to do now is to hire someone who can come up with an engaging store that will entice Shatner to play Kirk again.
I also suspect that Paramount Skydance and CBS will need to fill a Starfleet shuttlecraft full of cash and land it in Shatner’s backyard to seal the deal. Would you like to see the iconic Star Trek actor reprise his most famous role one more time? 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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