Actor William Shatner has directly addressed rumors that he could be reprising his role as James T. Kirk in Star Trek Beyond while answering an audience member’s question at San Diego’s Comic-Con.
Shatner discussed the topic while taking part in a panel to promote The Autobiography of James T. Kirk , a soon-to-be released tome by Star Trek scribe David A. Goodman, according to IGN . During the panel, a person in the audience directly asked Shatner whether there was any truth to rumors that he could be appearing in the third rebooted Star Trek film, which was recently revealed to be titled Star Trek Beyond , as the Inquisitr previously reported.
He’s here! @WilliamShatner reads Captain Kirk’s autobiography at #SDCC http://t.co/WeiuB6Tn0V pic.twitter.com/AMKtUffbDn
— Star Trek (@StarTrek) July 10, 2015
The audience member pointed out to Shatner that Star Trek Beyond has reportedly been rewritten, an action that many fans have interpreted as a possible indication that the prime universe’s Captain Kirk had been added to the story, just as Leonard Nimoy’s Spock had been in past installments.
“Well, I tell you — how do you know it’s been rewritten?” Shatner inquired. “What you’ve asked has implications, O.K.? We need to further examine this because you may have an answer I don’t have. When they were developing the first of J.J. Abrams’ movies, he called and said, ‘Would you like to be in the movies?’ And I said, ‘Oh God, yeah.’ He said don’t tell anyone!”
#SDCC : William Shatner Addresses ‘Star Trek 3’ Rumors http://t.co/yPL8iuQrY0 pic.twitter.com/wehaf1qGXR
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 9, 2015
Shatner went on to relate that shortly after speaking with Abrams, he had been approached by a reporter who asserted that the actor would appear in the then-new Star Trek reboot. As the Hollywood Reporter points out, Abrams was quick to call Shatner after word leaked, assuming that he had let the possible role slip. Shatner, meanwhile, noted that the reporter had claimed that the director of the film had let the detail leak.
“This reporter knew more about it than I did,” Shatner recalled, before turning the question back around on the audience member. “So back to you my friend! What do you know? Am I in the next movie? Tell me!”
Shatner’s appearance also included the actor reading passages from the upcoming autobiography, which profiles the fictional life of James Kirk. He further reflected that Paramount had let him continue writing with the character, even after Kirk had been killed off in the films, leading to a number of “Shatnerverse” Star Trek novels. For Shatner, that process became increasingly autobiographical, as he was able to examine the aging process through Star Trek and the character of James T. Kirk.
[Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images]
