Though it was ruled out months ago on whether William Shatner has a shot of getting a part in Star Trek, the idea has been re-opened to discussion.
Star Trek Not Shatnerless Just Yet
Robert Orci has popped up over at SciFi Wire claiming that Shatner involvement might still be possible. There are some major stepping stones, however.
"There are two things," Orci said in an interview in November. "One, from our point of view, we are still hoping to find a way. Secondly, one of the difficulties that was brought up and discussed with Shatner when we all met him and pitched him ideas is that Trek fans are sticklers for their canon. [And,] unfortunately, Shatner's Capt. Kirk was killed in Star Trek VII [1994's Generations]."
"The difficulty there is not just ignoring that or explaining it in an unsatisfactory way merely to get him back in," Orci said. "So that is the struggle: the rigors of canon and not phoning it in just to have a cameo." Still, it could happen, he said. "From my point of view, it's a very long shoot, and things change. It's just whether we can figure it out." Another possible problem: The ongoing writers' strike prohibits members of the Writers Guild of America--which includes Orci, Kurtzman and Abrams--from making any changes to the script until the strike is settled.
My problem with the idea is the entire shock effect of seeing Shatner in a reimagining of the franchise. The story will either have to take a sharp turn to include Shatner, or he'll have to somehow pop in and not steal attention.
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