Why William Shatner WON'T Ever Return To Star Trek

After the success of Star Trek: Picard recently, it seemed many fans were hoping for the Enterprise's original captain to return to the franchise. Unfortunately it seems very unlikely as William Shatner himself has suggested he's done with the franchise for good.

Recently answering fan's questions on Twitter, the actor was asked if he would consider a sequel series for Kirk following the success of Picard. This was his response:

"No. I think Kirk's story is pretty well played out at this point."

It is what it says on the tin really, although it is sad to think we won't see Shatner grace our screens as the beloved character again. After all, it had been reported as far back as 2009 that we could see him reprise the role, even if just for a cameo in J.J. Abram's reboot. That said though, it does also make a lot of sense.

Shatner is now 88 years old (nine years older than Patrick Stewart) and it would likely be a struggle for him to take on a significant role with the gruelling production schedules today. It would almost be a shame for him to do a cameo of some sort and not see more of him in the role.

Also, Kirk's story effectively ended in Star Trek: Generations with his death, after three seasons and seven films in the captain's chair. Unless there was a strong story to bring him back, it wouldn't honour the character properly, only undo the impact of his demise.

There's also the sad fact that Shatner is now the only one still alive of the original three stars of the show (Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley passing away). It's very likely it wouldn't be a good Kirk story without Spock and Bones by his side.

Of course, we still have Chris Pine's iteration of the character. Let's hope the delayed Star Trek 4 eventually gets the green light.