William Shatner Addresses If He Would Return for a ‘Star Trek’ Series

Star Trek has been having a bit of a cultural resurgence in recent months, and it sounds like one of the franchise’s icons wants to play a very particular role in that.

In a recent interview with The Star, William Shatner was asked if he would be interested in returning as Captain James Kirk for a new Star Trek series, similarly to Patrick Stewart’s upcoming comeback. As he revealed, he wouldn’t be interested in taking on all of the work of a new series, mainly for the sake of time.

“Right now I’m happy doing what I’m doing.” Shatner explained. “I’ve been offered many series over the years. But I haven’t done them because of the commitment of time. And at this stage of my life that’s more valuable than anything else.”

But as Shatner explained, he wouldn’t be opposed to taking on a guest star appearance in some sort of future Trek endeavor.

“It will have to pass through enormous hurdles including permission from Paramount,” Shatner revealed, “and then they’ll have to get back to me and see where things are at.”

Shatner has made a similar sort of sentiment in the past, particularly with regards to Star Trek 4, which is expected to focus heavily on the family and legacy of young Kirk (Chris Pine). Granted, that film has essentially fallen through the cracks because of contract negotiations, but Shatner did hint that he could return in some form or fashion if the project did get off the ground.

“JJ [Abrams] has never indicated bringing Captain Kirk back and I don’t know how you would do that fifty years later,” Shatner said in an interview earlier this year. “How do you rationalize my present appearance with what I was like fifty years ago? On the other hand, I have recently connected with a virtual reality company – Ziva – and they virtual realized me [with] 240 cameras all around shooting me. So, they now can produce my body and my face in any way, shape or form, including what I was like 50 years ago.”

In the meantime, Star Trek fans can soon be entertained by Shatner in an entirely new way, as the iconic actor is set to release a Christmas album later this year.

Would you want to see Shatner return to the Star Trek franchise in some fashion? Let us know what you think in the comments below.