PARANOID SHATNER RAISES HIS SHIELDS!
Insists rivals are out to erase Kirk
ACTING legend William Shatner is accusing Paramount+ of “erasing” his beloved Star Trek character of Capt. James T. Kirk as it plans and promotes new installments of the iconic sci-fi franchise.
During a back-and-forth with fans on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, the 92-year-old star was asked: “Will we ever see Captain Kirk again?”
The former boss of the Starship Enterprise in the original ’60s series and a string of hit movie sequels answered, “All you have to do is look at the Paramount+ graphics to answer that question.”
He was pointing to the network’s recent promotional material that featured many of Star Trek’s current and past characters, even Leonard Nimoy’s pointy-eared character Mr. Spock — but his portrayal of Kirk was glaringly missing.
In the recent series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, actor Paul Wesley plays a younger version of Kirk, but his character is nothing like Shatner’s heroic captain. The veteran star furiously claims some at the studio feel “threatened” by his iconic performances, but he did not name names.
“A bunch of self-righteous strangers thinking they are sending a message by erasing the past?” he says, demanding to know “who is going to forget” how he brought Kirk to life?
But Shatner insists efforts to make him — and his character — disappear are doomed to fail. His Kirk is “everywhere” and is “so indoctrinated” in pop culture “it will take many generations to be forgotten no matter what they do,” the actor bloviates. “It doesn’t bother me in the least.”