In current ‘Star Trek’ canon, we have two Spocks, Leonard Nimoy’s original version, displaced via time travel and Zachary Quinto’s new younger version, which was established as a parallel reality take.  Rumor has it that a role was scripted for William Shatner to reprise the role of Captain Kirk in the first ‘Star Trek’ but it never happened and the reasons behind that vary on who you ask.  Screenwriter Roberto Orci states “We didn’t want it to be a gimmick; we wanted to really bring him back in the right way.”  On the other hand, director J.J. Abrams says that Shatner didn’t want to do the cameo because Shatner wanted the entire movie to “focus on him significantly.”

But Abrams had to leave the franchise when he landed the gig to direct the new ‘Star Wars’ franchise from Disney, opening the door for Orci to step up and take over ‘Trek,’ and he has set into motion plans to bring Shatner into the story.  Reportedly, Shatner will reunite with Nimoy as older versions of Kirk and Spock, which would mark the first time they have appeared together since 1994’s ‘Star Trek: Generations’ in which they essentially passed the torch onto the cast of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation.’  And reportedly, his part is “plot-driven and integral.”

Orci recently pulled out of directing the ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ movie due to scheduling conflicts, which seems to indicate that ‘Star Trek 3’ will be going into production soon.  (I’m not sure how soon, as actress Zoe Saldana, who plays Uhura is pregnant.)  The plan is to get the movie into theaters in 2016, which marks the 50th anniversary of the franchise.

Would you be excited to see Shatner return to the role of an older Captain Kirk?

Source: Screen Rant