The producers of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have revealed that they spent many years trying to get William Shatner to reprise his role as James T. Kirk.
According to the series' showrunner Akiva Goldsman and executive producer Alex Kurtzman, they discussed various ways to incorporate Shatner into the series, even though Kirk was already portrayed by Paul Wesley in the current timeline.
The plan was to introduce an alternate version of the character, inspired by the classic episodes, specifically The City on the Edge of Forever. But despite a great deal of work, the idea never came to fruition, and we haven't been given a specific explanation as to why.
Polygon reports that:
"Goldsman's biggest regret was not being able to bring William Shatner back to play a version of Kirk who decided to stay in Depression-era New York with Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), a soup kitchen operator he fell in love with in the episode "The City on the Edge of Forever." The showrunners tried to make that happen every season and even worked on several scripts for an episode"
Shatner himself has also previously confirmed that discussions about a possible return to the role and the series have taken place.
Would you have liked to see Shatner reprise the role of Kirk again?