The Star Wars franchise is chock full of legendary actors. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Ewan McGregor, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Natalie Portman, Lupita Nyong’o, James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson and countless more have all contributed their talents to the series at one point or another.
Still, Quentin Tarantino maintains that Star Trek has one legendary superstar that instantly makes it better than its primary competition: William Shatner. When describing why he finds the former to be so much better than the Lucasfilm projects, the Academy Award-winning director said the following:
“I’m a big fan of the show Star Trek. I really like it a lot, but my portal into that show is William Shatner. I love William Shatner on Star Trek. I love his performance as James T. Kirk. That is my connection. That is my umbilical cord. It’s why I like Star Trek more than Star Wars, because William Shatner’s not in Star Wars. I think it’s one of the greatest performances in the history of episodic television, of a series lead, and rightly so, because very few series leads have ever gotten the opportunity to play all the different wild, crazy things. ‘The Enemy Within’ alone.”
Well, it’s clear which side Tarantino is taking in the recent Shatner vs. Hamill Twitter feud. The filmmaker is such a big fan of the legendary actor that he’d even considering bringing him back for his long-awaited Star Trek movie, which he claims will basically be like Pulp Fiction in space. Shatner has already said on the record that he’d love to rejoin the series, so now it’s up to Tarantino to find a role for him somewhere. This shouldn’t be too hard, either, given the fluidity of the rules in space and the 88-year-old’s versatility onscreen.
Shatner is undoubtedly one of the best actors of his generation. Tarantino’s adoration of him is therefore understandable and heartwarming. It’ll be interesting to see if the director can somehow maneuver the franchise icon into his possible R-rated Star Trek flick though, if it ever ends up getting made. It sure would be a nice moment for the fans, including Tarantino, as well as a great send-off for the original Captain Kirk.
Meanwhile, the filmmaker’s new effort, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood will hit theaters on July 26th. There are plenty of big-time stars in this movie, but it’s probably fair to say that none of them compare to Shatner in Tarantino’s mind.
