William Shatner was open to a Kirk-Picard collaboration with Patrick Stewart if Star Trek didn’t repeat Leonard Nimoy’s mistake

William Shatner is known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise. Starring in the original series, the actor played the captivating captain for three seasons and a series of films before leaving the chair for a new leading man in The next generation.

While Patrick Stewart has since reprised his role as TNG In PicardShatner has yet to appear in a Next Generation series. The actor has said he would consider it if the creators avoided making it a gimmick like they did with Leonard Nimoy in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek to restart.

William Shatner envisioned a Kirk-Picard partnership in a new generation Star Trek To show

William Shatner became a household name after starring in the original film Star Trek Although the series only lasted three seasons, it developed a cult following, prompting Paramount to commission a revival, which came in the form of original films. Shatner’s career took off with a new series of successful films.

While the actor last appeared in the film Star Trek: Generationswhich also starred Sir Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard The next generationShatner has yet to be seen in a Next Generation series or film. Unlike his co-star Leonard Nimoy and his successor Stewart, Shatner has one condition to return to the franchise.

Shatner mentioned in an interview with THR that he would consider returning like Stewart did in Picard if it wasn’t a gimmick like Nimoy’s appearance in JJ Abrams Star Trek. He said,

Leonard (Nimoy) made his own decision to do a cameo. He’s there for a moment, and it’s more of a stunt than Spock appearing in the future. If they had written something that wasn’t a stunt involving Kirk, who’s 50 years older now, and it was something that really added to the Star Trek story, I would definitely consider it.

Leonard Nimoy played the role of the elder Spock in Star Trek and the rest Star Trek: Into Darknesswhile Zachary Quinto played a younger Spock. The actor made his final appearance as Spock in the sequel.

William Shatner regretted his Star Trek Director’s film

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are two of the most influential figures in science fiction and have had a significant impact on pop culture history. Shatner has been associated with the franchise for several decades and has even co-written some of the novels in the series.

Shatner became a director with the controversial Star Trek V: The Final FrontierThe film was reportedly a box office failure and nearly killed the franchise despite a strong start. Shatner has mentioned that he regrets a lot about the film and blames himself for its failure. He told THR:

I failed. In my mind, I failed miserably. When people ask me, “What do you regret most?” I regret that I wasn’t emotionally prepared to handle a feature film. So in the absence of my power, the power vacuum was filled with people who didn’t make the decisions that I would have made.

While the veteran actor has since directed several documentaries, including some based on Star TrekNone have been as successful as the fifth feature film in the original series.

Star Trek: The Original Series is available to stream on Paramount+.