"I Want To Be a Part of It": William Shatner Wants To Return to Star Trek With a Little Sci-Fi Magic [Exclusive]

Modern-day movie-making technology can bring people back from the dead, literally. It can make people look 10, 15, or even 30 years younger than they are with the right tools. Those kinds of tools are how William Shatner suggests he could make a return to the Star Trek franchise. Longtime fans of the long-running science fiction franchise know that Shatner's Captain James T. Kirk was killed off, the end, no coming back in the film Star Trek: Generations. He starred in the film alongside Sir Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. During a red carpet interview at the 2025 Saturn Awards, Shatner told Collider's Aidan Kelley the way he sees a return to the franchise, without much effort on his part. He said:

"Well, the science of special effects is progressing to such a degree and I want to be part of it. So, although I don't want to do it again, being part of this advanced technology is wondrous."

So, Could Captain Kirk Come Back in Star Trek?

The definitive answer is, of course, left up to the executives at Paramount. However, the fun answer is that yes, yes he could. In a day and age where just about every science fiction franchise has a multiverse or the concept of multiple universes, Shatner could reprise his role even without the use of CGI. Though given his "I don't want to do it again" comment, it may seem like he might just leave it up to the special effects team to add him in post. A special effects team could also do what's been done for shows like The Mandalorian as well as movies such as Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, where a stand-in actor is used in the actual scene when they're filming and their face is digitally altered using archival footage of the character they're trying to portray in the scene. Paramount could enlist someone who resembles Shatner's height and build from either 1994's Star Trek: Generations or from the 1966 Star Trek: The Original Series and use archival footage to CGI Shatner's face over another actor.

Shatner did actually appear as Captain Kirk once after Star Trek: Generations, with creative usage of footage from the TOS's Season 2 episode "The Trouble With Tribbles" during a 1996 episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "Trials and Tribble-ations." During the episode, the crew on the Defiant (so most of the main cast of DS9) are transported back in time after a Klingon disguised as a human uses a Bajoran Orb to take them back so that he can complete his mission from a TOS episode. The episode was created in honor of the 30th anniversary of TOS, along with Star Trek: Voyager's episode "Flashback."

Star Trek: The Original Series is available to stream on Paramount+ along with other Star Trek shows. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.