[dropcap size=small]W[/dropcap]illiam Shatner may finally be getting beamed back aboard the USS Enterprise for Star Trek 3, reports say.
According to Badass Digest, the script for Star Trek 3 includes a scene that would reteam William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as the older versions of Captain Kirk and Spock.
The scene is said to be integral to the film’s plot, and would be less likely to end up on the cutting room floor.
A cameo for Shatner had originally been written into J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, but it was ultimately cut from the picture. Instead, only Nimoy was featured in Star Trek and its sequel, Star Trek: Into Darkness.
Shatner has been vocal in the past about wanting to appear in the new Star Trek films, and with a new director taking over the series from Abrams, perhaps the time is right for him to don his iconic yellow shirt once again.
The speculation on Shatner’s inclusion in Star Trek 3 has sent Trekkers (apparently the preferred nomenclature over the depreciative term “Trekkies”) into an absolute fervor. So much so, that the film’s director and co-screenwriter Robert Orci, as well as William Shatner himself, spoke on the rumors.
Orci tells trekmovie.com:
[dropcap size=small]“[/dropcap]Not in my interest to confirm or deny anything because it limits my options while maintaining my integrity as a truth teller. The movie is not the movie till it is in the theater. Until then, everything is a rumor.”
Later, Shatner took to Twitter with the following message.
Let’s talk ST. I don’t know anything about the current gossip. Nobody has contacted me. Right now it’s just rhetoric to cause hype.
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) September 23, 2014
While Orci and Shatner have done everything short of dismissing the rumors, it sounds like it is likely that Shatner would be included in at least the current draft of the film. Whether he makes it into the final film or not, we’ll just have to wait and see.
