Star Trek saviour JJ Abrams has admitted in an interview with MTV that William Shatner could return to Star Trek in upcoming sequels.
As a result of the new Star Trek film essentially resetting the fates of the crew of the USS Enterprise, all of the restrictions that canon previously placed on the series are no more. Consequently, Kirk’s death in Star Trek: Generations is now part of an alternate timeline, which opens up the possibility of a future Kirk, played by Shatner, making an appearance in the new universe. And it’s not something that has escaped Abrams’ attention either, “The fun of this new alternate Trek reality is that the destiny of these characters is in their hands — it’s not constrained by the pre-existing films or TV series. Believe me, whether it’s William Shatner or Khan it would be ridiculous to not be open to those ideas.”
Trek fans the world over will no doubt be thrilled by the prospect of seeing Shatner as Kirk again, even in a cameo role, and SciFiNow certainly includes itself in that group. However, were it to happen, it would be interesting to see if Abrams chooses to alter Kirk’s older persona in any way, as the experiences that define everyone’s favourite Captain may be entirely different in this timeline.
