William Shatner Reveals If He'd Appear On 'Star Trek: Discovery'

As a prequel starring Spock's adopted sister, Star Trek: Discovery already has some strong ties to Star Trek: The Original Series, but one way to bring the two series even closer together would be an appearance by Original Series star William Shatner.

Executive producer Alex Kurtzman has said that he has several stars on the line who'd like to appear in Discovery, and Shatner doesn't necessarily hate the idea, but it would take some creative thinking on the part of Discovery's writers to give him a role he could justify.

"Well, it would depend on what the participation was," Shatner tells Trek Movie. "I wouldn't want to do something that was a throwaway sort of gratuitous place in the plotline. They would really have to exercise their imaginations to have a fifty-years-older captain in there – if it was the character. They would have to do something remarkable."

They would have to do something truly remarkable since Discovery takes place ten years before The Original Series did, meaning James Kirk would actually be a decade younger than he was when Shatner first played the character. However, Shatner was a pretty simple solution for that.

"So, then I get to play my father," Shatner suggests.

Shatner also admits that he knows very little about the details of Discovery, though he does seem to have an idea about what CBS is attempting to do with the series.

"All I know is that it is streaming," he says. "I have been playing in front of some large audiences recently and asking them what they thought and will they pay money for it and about half the audience doesn't want to pay each month to get it. It looks like what they are doing is making it a beacon for joining [CBS All Access]. So, in the same way, Paramount used The Next Generation to promote their syndication organization, they are doing the same thing with the streaming of Star Trek, which is an interesting ploy."

There's not much longer until tell if CBS's plan works. Star Trek: Discovery will debut on CBS All Access on Sept. 24.