William Shatner has long since stepped away from the franchise that made his name, but a wild rumor recently sprung up that claimed he was set to return as the Prime Universe’s James T. Kirk for Star Trek 4. Seeing as Kirk died in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, it was theorized that Shatner would be de-aged for his cameo, which would apparently see him appear alongside Chris Pine’s Kirk of the Kelvin timeline.
According to the man himself, though, there’s no truth to this story. One fan directed Shatner to WGTC’s own coverage of the scoop, which originally came from Giant Freakin Robot, and the Canadian star didn’t mince words when denying claims that he was returning to Trek. “Click bait story,” he wrote. “I wouldn’t bother putting any trust into articles that deal in rumors.”
Click bait story. I wouldn’t bother putting any trust into articles that deal in rumors. https://t.co/p5UKpP8FVH pic.twitter.com/Uwh0ndNsPm
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) February 13, 2021
To be fair to GFR’s scoop, they did specify that there were simply plans to include Shatner, not that he’d already been approached to reprise his role, so there may still be something to this. After all, the outlet has gotten quite a few big scoops correct over the past couple of months. That being said, Shatner’s attitude does fit with the previous times that he’s stated that he’s probably done with the Trek universe and has no interest in popping up for a gratuitous cameo.
In any case, Star Trek 4 has been stuck in development hell for half a decade now, with various filmmakers coming and going. However, it looks like Paramount still favors the version of the movie that brings back Chris Hemsworth’s George Kirk via time travel. A father/son buddy cop action-adventure starring two of Hollywood’s favorite Chrises definitely sounds like a winning formula, so you can’t blame them. A role for William Shatner would give fans an extra thrill, too, but maybe it’s not meant to be.
