Patrick Stewart is set to return to Star Trek to reprise his role as Jean-Luc Picard in the upcoming Picard TV series. But would the franchise’s other most beloved Enterprise captain be up for heading back to Starleet once again?
William Shatner last played James Tiberius Kirk 25 years ago in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, but over the years he’s said he’d be interested in making a comeback and now, he’s doubled down on that. And specifically, the actor’s said that he’d like to have a role in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Star Trek movie, which is starting to turn a lot of heads.
See the video below for what Shatner had to say:
William Shatner said he'd love to reprise the role of Captain Kirk for Quentin Tarantino's possible ‘Star Trek’ project pic.twitter.com/78ci7iGbnm
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 27, 2019
Of course, what the iconic actor’s referring to here is Tarantino’s comments from earlier this week, when the acclaimed director said he’s a huge fan of Star Trek: The Original Series and loves Shatner’s performance as Captain Kirk.
“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…”
While none of this is confirmation that Shatner will indeed suit up again for Starfleet, it’s certainly encouraging to hear that both parties are interested in making it happen. Then again, it doesn’t look like QT’s Star Trek film is moving very fast, with the project still seemingly in the early, early stages of development. And if the director continues to take his time with it, Shatner may be too old to return. As he says in the video above, he doesn’t know if he’d be up for it.
Still, we’ll remain hopeful and with any luck, Tarantino will find a way to bring the legendary actor back in some capacity whenever the movie eventually takes flight.