In our ravenous content-craving future, everything old is relentlessly new again. Were you in an old show or movie that still carries cultural currency? At some point you’ll probably be asked to suit up again for some revival, reboot or sequel. One person who’s been able to resist the siren’s song of more money for old content is William Shatner, who’s long resisted calls for him to return to his most famous character, James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise on Star Trek.
But times, they are a-changin’. With many colleagues of his generation returning to work — among them Patrick Stewart, who recently resurrected his Star Trek: The Next Generation Captain for the new show Picard — a fan on Twitter asked Shatner the question anew, as caught by Deadline. And Shatner’s response was blunt: “No. I think Kirk’s story is pretty well played out at this point.”
No. I think Kirk’s story is pretty well played out at this point. https://t.co/30qVk9uxKN
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 2, 2020
Shatner — who is well-known as having a sometimes contentious relationship with his fans, even parodying his frustration with them on a semi-infamous 1986 SNL sketch, in which he told a convention room of Trekkies to “Get a life,” in a manner that only partially seemed like a joke — elaborated in a later tweet, which was filled with annoyed emoticons and barely-veiled frustration.
“What was different about my statement on Kirk that I haven’t said before?” he wrote. “I don’t do cameos (that one stretches back to 2008 & J.J) Kirk’s story is well told out of any other captain’s story. Kirk died in Generations. What is really left? Adventures in the ribbon?”
🙄 What was any different about my statement on Kirk that I haven’t said before? 🤷🏼♂️ I don’t do cameos (that one stretches back to 2008 & JJ) Kirk’s story is well told out of any other captain’s story. Kirk died in Generations. What is really left? Adventures in the ribbon?
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) March 2, 2020
Shatner was, of course, referring to 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, in which Kirk died not once but twice. (The ribbon refers to a plot device, an allusion tailor-made for the real Trek obsessive.) Generations was his last filmic appearance as Kirk, though he has done voice work for Trek video games and for cartoons, including Family Guy and a classic Futurama that wrangled (nearly) the entire then-living main cast. The last time he’s appeared in person in the guise of Kirk was on the 2013 Academy Awards telecast.
So there you have it: Captain Kirk is dead, and long live Captain Kirk. But mind you, the actor and Tekwar author only singled out his Trek character as one he will not essay again forever. You know what Statner character is not played out? T.J. Hooker.
(Via Deadline)
