The 60th anniversary of Star Trek started with a cancellation and uncertainty about the future of the franchise, but there’s still a lot to look forward to. Or at least to hope for. Paramount’s new era for the franchise will begin with a new movie, which we should learn something about at Comic Con in July, and after Strange New Worlds and the recently cancelled Starfleet Academyrelease their final seasons, we will presumably get a renewed focus on the TV branch of the IP. Quite what that will look like is anyone’s guess at this point, but Paramount should learn from the best parts of the Alex Kurtzman era and balance nostalgia with new stories that remain accessible to both Star Trek fans and newcomers. And they could do a lot worse than one final swansong for William Shatner’s Captain Kirk.
Videos by ComicBook.com
While he was resurrected for a Star Trek comic recently, William Shatner hasn’t been on-screen in a Star Trek project since he was unceremoniously killed off in crossover movie Generations. But would the Star Trek legend be willing to return? Speaking to TVInsider, the original Captain Kirk is more open to a return than you might expect, and when asked what might get him to consider returning, he said: “It’s easy to say money, 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 the deadly instrument of war, as well as a ship of peace — could reside in somebody like me very well. I mean, I still have the aggression and the instinct for battle, and I’ve gotten myself into very dangerous things. But there is a planing, a smoothing of all those heights and peaks of attitude and activity that comes with age, as [opposed to] aggression, which is sort of a youthful characteristic. Even at 95, I think Captain Kirk would be a really good captain of a spaceship capable of war and peace.”
We Could Still Get a Captain Kirk Project
Speculation has run quite rampant online about the possibility of a Strange New Worlds spinoff that bridges the gap between the series and the start of the Original Series timeline. And while some might say Star Trekneeds to avoid nostalgic fan service in the future, Paul Wesley’s take on the character has been one ofStrange New Worlds‘ best assets. His burgeoning dynamic with Ethan Peck’s Spock is also compelling, and will be one of the upcoming season’s most fascinating stories. And if it happens, the spinoff could actually be the best way to bring Shatner back.
It turns out Strange New Worlds already tried to bring Kirk back, but Paramount wouldn’t meet his demands. The idea was a mirror universe episode that would have brought Kirk back as his “Emperor Tiberius” alter ego, which now ranks as one of the finest Star Trek pitches that never came to be. It now won’t happen in Strange New Worlds, of course, because the final season has been filmed, but that doesn’t mean the idea can’t be revisited or reframed for the potential Kirk spinoff. Having the younger Kirk presented with a Dickensian warning of what he could become if he were to turn to evil would be particularly interesting, and would give Shatner something to really have fun with. We didn’t get to see enough of the Mirror Universe version of Kirk, and allowing him a late villain turn would be a lot of fun.
The alternative is a little difficult to conceive of: Kirk was killed off definitively in Generations, and while not every Star Trek fan was impressed with that decision, undoing his death after this amount of time would be a strange move. There’s always the possibility of another multiversal version of Kirk – like the Spock Prime who turned up in the Kelvin Universe, played by Leonard Nimoy, of course – but something tells me Shatner would have more fun hamming it up as a bigger, grander caricature of his most famous character.
Shatner was also asked what he thinks gave Star Trek its longevity: “Kiddingly, I used to say, well, it’s me. You know, I’ve been around, and it turns out, of course, it isn’t me, but it doesn’t seem to be any individual either. It seems to be the general concept that, 400 years from now, not only will we humans still be around on Earth, but we’ll be thriving, and the possibilities are there.”
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
The Star Trek Episode That Almost Killed the Whole Franchise Before It Started
