Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' staff attempted to get William Shatner back as Captain Kirk, but they weren't able to make it happen before filming the final season. Now, as the series prepares for Season 4's debut on the 2026 TV schedule, we're hearing about the massive cameo they tried and failed to get.
Co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman and EP Alex Kurtzman talked to Polygon about the idea and how they quietly worked for years to try and get Shatner to return to Star Trek. With the series wrapped and Shatner revealing elsewhere he'd been in contact with the show about appearing, they pulled back the curtain on the plan they had to bring the 95-year-old actor back as Captain Kirk. I love the idea, and am a little upset we didn't get to see this happen.
William Shatner Would've Reprised His Role As James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, But As An Alternate Version
Bringing back William Shatner as James T. Kirk, especially at the actor's current age, presented a challenge. Akiva Goldsman had a pitch, however, and wanted to do an episode centered around an alternate version of Kirk that would be linked to the classic Star Trek episode, "The City On The Edge Of Forever."
In the original story, McCoy inadvertently destroys the timeline whilst visiting the past under the influence of a drug. Kirk and Spock follow McCoy back to the past, trying to figure out what he did that forever altered the course of history. Whilst there, he falls in love with Keeler (played by Joan Collins), only to learn that McCoy's saving her from a deadly accident is what ruined their timeline. Kirk is forced to allow the accident to happen, thus restoring the timeline.
In this new potential story, rather than return to his adventures, this version of Captain Kirk would stay behind in Depression-era New York to live out his days with the new love of his life, Edith Keeler. Obviously, the details are thin because the idea never fully came together, but I'm sure it would've been great had they gotten a chance to work on it fully.
What Alex Kurtzman Had To Say About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Missing Out On Including William Shatner
It's a cool pitch, but I imagine the logistics of pulling a script together in a way that didn't rebreak the Star Trek timeline were too hard to navigate. Alex Kurtzman seemed to agree it was sad that bringing back William Shatner and other scrapped ideas didn't happen, but believed it was ultimately inevitable:
I think if you get to the end and there's nothing left for you to want to do, then that's more of a disappointment.
As psyched as I am to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 4 and 5 with my Paramount+ subscription, I can't help but be a bit bummed by what Kurtzman said. If there are tons of ideas that were left on the table, it makes me more eager to see more adventures. In fairness, that may be the point, considering Akiva Goldsman has petitioned for a spinoff of Strange New Worlds prior to this.
Unfortunately, we've known for a while that the days of hundred-episode Star Trek shows are over. Five seasons for a streaming series is considered an impressive metric, and with ten-episode orders becoming more commonplace, it's inevitable that ideas will be left on the table in the writers' room.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 premieres over on Paramount+ on July 23rd. William Shatner may not be in it, but with all the incoming crew members joining Kirk's Enterprise during the final two seasons, I'm still plenty excited about what's to come.
