William Shatner Will Not Return As Captain Kirk In Star Trek Beyond

William Shatner will not be reprising his role as the original Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek Beyond, the actor has confirmed.

With Star Trek Beyond being released during the year of Star Trek‘s 50th anniversary, there’s been speculation about the original Kirk’s return. Early rumors suggested Kirk would be seen side-by-side with Leonard Nimoy as the original Spock, prior to Nimoy’s death in 2015. Shatner himself even confirmed that the studio had contacted him about the idea, but now says that he has no involvement at all.

“There was never a conversation,” he tells SFX Magazine.

Nimoy’s Spock appeared in the 2009 Star Trek reboot, crossing into the reboot series timeline from his own original series timeline. Kirk presumably would have made a similar journey, though Shatner admits he would be curious to see how the writers would explain him looking 20 years older than when he last played the character in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, in which Kirk was killed.

“It would have been interesting to see what their fertile imaginations could have done with somebody who is 20 years older than when Captain Kirk died [in Star Trek Generations] and how they would have explained the difference in appearance. But that never came up. I’m sure they must have thought of it one time or another but I never had a substantial conversation about replaying the role.”

The original Kirk’s return is said to have featured prominently in the script written by Star Trek Beyond‘s original director, Roberto Orci, but that script has since been heavily rewritten.

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