William Shatner shan’t play Captain Kirk again

William Shatner will forever be known as the man who played Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek, kickstarting a franchise that’s still going strong even to this day. And he has put in his time, no doubt, appearing as Kirk in TV and movies from the 1960s right up until 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, where the character died.

But in a series full of aliens and lifelike robots and incredibly advanced technology, why should death keep a character from appearing onscreen again? And we’re definitely living in an age when old series and characters are revived and rebooted at a furious rate, with Exhibit #1 for this series being Star Trek: Picard, a series revolving around Patrick Stewart’s character from Star Trek: The Next Generation and featuring cameos by pretty much everyone in the cast. It’s only natural for fans to wonder something similar might be in the card for Shatner and Kirk, but no such luck, as the actor stated bluntly on Twitter:

“No. I think Kirk’s story is pretty well played out at this point.” Fair enough. Still, he clarified his thoughts further in another tweet:

It’s true: Shatner hasn’t made a lot of cameos as Kirk, and you know he absolutely could have in today’s movie marketplace, which is all about revivals. I can easily picture J.J. Abrams, who we all know loves an homage, asking if he wanted to play Kirk’s grandfather or something in the 2009 Star Trek movie and Shatner turning him down.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 1: William Shatner speaks on stage during C2E2 Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo at McCormick Place on March 1, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images)

I also sense some sarcasm in there, with the eyeroll emojis and such — apparently the reference to “the ribbon” is a Star Trek deep cut that honestly I don’t get. Shatner has sometimes grown frustrated with his status as a Trek icon, famously telling a roomful of Star Trek fans to “get a life” in a Saturday Night Live sketch from 1986. It seems he still doesn’t have much time for it.

The guy is 88 years old. I’m fine with him doing — or not doing — whatever he wants. He certainly makes Twitter a little more interesting.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t Uproxx