After leading the Star Trek: The Original Series cast for all three seasons of the show that began the franchise, Shatner returned to voice Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Animated Series. When the now-canon follow-up series ended, the franchise remained inert for five years until 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought the cast back together again. After six movies, Shatner's Kirk then wouldn't return until his team-up with Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 1994's Star Trek Generations. Although this was Shatner's final appearance as Kirk, Chris Pine and Paul Wesley have appeared as the character since.
Logically, There Are Many Reasons William Shatner's James T. Kirk Return Isn't A Good Idea
Star Trek canon and possible nostalgia-baiting need to be carefully monitored
There isn't just one obstacle when it comes to how Shatner could play Kirk again, and although they aren't insurmountable, they definitely come with their own unique challenges. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, there are huge canonical implications to consider. As a nonagenarian, the actor is already far older than his character ever lived to be, so unless Paramount+ plans to digitally de-age him an entire project, it's tough to see how his Prime Kirk can return. This is something the franchise has kind of already admitted, by replacing Shatner with Paul Wesley in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Plus, there's also the matter of impossibly high expectations that could arguably never be met. I love the idea of a Shatner comeback on paper, but bringing him back to play Kirk again just for the sake of doing so would be a massive mistake. The story would need to be well-written and worthwhile, or the actor's seminal role could be irreparably tarnished. The critics would be out in full force, ready to cut down the project at the first sign of weakness.
Shatner coming back could be seen as an unnecessary nostalgia trip, especially with two other actors still holding the baton they took from him.
Finally, William Shatner reprising the role of James T. Kirk is one of those possibilities that sounds like the holy grail for Star Trek fans, but it's maybe for that reason that it should be avoided. With Wesley fleshing out Kirk's pre-TOS years and Chris Pine set to return as Kirk in JJ Abrams' Kelvin Timeline, the franchise seems to be looking to the future rather than being caught up on the past. Shatner coming back could be seen as an unnecessary nostalgia trip, especially with two other actors still holding the baton they took from him.
Logic Be Damned, Star Trek Needs One Last Appearance From William Shatner's Kirk
Star Trek canon can take one for the team to bring back the OG version of the iconic Starfleet officer
For all my doubts about whether it'd be right for Shatner's Kirk to return to Star Trek, I still have the overwhelming opinion that it must happen. Modern Star Trek has already honored several stars by having them return in the post-Star Trek: Discovery era. For instance, Star Trek: Picard brought back Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc for the first time in decades, as well as the entirety of Star Trek: The Next Generation's cast in the legacy sequel show's third and final season. Star Trek legends don't come any bigger than Shatner, so he's owed the same treatment.
What I find especially frustrating is the fact that Star Trek: Lower Decks has ended. It would have been the perfect project to welcome Shatner back. Set in the 24th century, Lower Decks featured countless voice cameos from franchise stars, and the fact it was an animated show meant the original actors could reprise their famous roles, despite having physically aged out of doing so during that part of the Star Trek timeline. Of course, a massive casting like Shatner would have called for an entire episode dedicated to Kirk, but I don't think anyone would have argued against that.
Star Trek Generations Wasn't A Fitting Farewell To James T. Kirk
Shatner's movie with Stewart could have been better
Star Trek movies have an unofficial trend of being bad-then-good, and this began with Kirk's first feature-length appearance. After Star Trek: The Motion Picture failed to meet expectations, 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a huge success. After that, a pattern started to emerge that odd-numbered Star Trek movies were bad, and even-numbered ones were good. Ending with 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Kirk bowed out with a hit. However, when Shatner came back for Generations, he soured his franchise exit.
Although I love the creative way Generations allowed Kirk and Picard to cross paths, the movie itself was a little bit of a let-down. I don't think it deserves a reputation as bad as it has, but it's certainly a disappointing end to Shatner's time as James T. Kirk. So, if Kirk does return in Star Trek's modern era with his original actor once more bringing him to life, the ending of such a project needs to give him a much better finale.
He's Dead, Jim: How William Shatner's Kirk Can Actually Return In Star Trek
Creative writing can return Shatner to the role of Kirk, Prime or Kelvin
Along with all the other reasons why it wouldn't be easy to reinstall Kirk as Shatner, his character died in Star Trek Generations. That being said, Star Trek has killed Kirk more than once already, so it's nothing that couldn't be undone with some especially clever writing. Plus, Star Trek: Picard season 3 revealed Kirk's body was recovered from his grave on Veridian III by Section 31, and placed into stasis. This feels like an oddly specific twist for the franchise not to be planning a William Shatner comeback, although such a decision hasn't been confirmed.
Alternatively, Shatner could show up in JJ Abrams' upcoming Star Trek movie, the fourth to be set within the Kelvin Timeline. Despite the role being owned by Chris Pine within that film series, Leonard Nimoy appearing as Prime Spock alongside Zachary Quinto in 2009's Star Trek has long opened the door for Shatner's return as Prime Kirk. Shatner could even play a future version of Kelvin Kirk, who travels back in time to give his younger self advice, like Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) did to Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager's finale. So, William Shatner's Star Trek comeback is possible.
