Shatner had his time and place, I appreciate him there, and I don’t want his character perverted by cheap ploys, the only aim of which is to coddle the fanbase. If this movie had been conceived as a vehicle to save Kirk from the Nexus, I’d be wary but supportive. That is simply not the case.

So, now, that moment is over. Stop trying to bully and marginalize your opponents by using that despicable “Shatnerphobe” language. For your information, I enjoy TOS era TV and movies as much as just about anyone on here, so labeling me a “Shatnerphobe” is just plain false. Enough!

Because if he’s not in the first (2008) film, he WILL be in the next one…

(this of course assumes that the 2008 film will be a blowout success and there will be a demand for a follow-up)

You’re a class act. Don’t ever change.

Steer clear of that film, just like everyone else will.

Hardly.

Pine more than Shatner?

Pah.

Speak for yourself.

4 8 15 16 23 42, while I agree for the most part with your overall stance, I cannot agree with the other terms you are using. This is a movie, not world politics or social sciences.

I won’t be labeled as a phobe or a basher. I’ve not used a derogatory term to describe Shatner or his ardent fans. I do stand by what I said in #118.

4 8 15 16 23 42 and many others ( you know who you are) do not.

I honestly don’t know what the “Shatnerphobes” are afraid of. Apparently it doesn’t seem to pose a problem or threat to Abrahm’s. Or to Nimoy. I mean, are they dead set against Nimoy being in the film? He is in it, you know. But everyone is OK with that but NO SHatner!! Let the new cast shine they say. No SHat!! He’s old and fat!!

No Shat because it will hurt the script (that they’ve never read) or ruin Pine’s Kirk…supposing there are even scenes with the two together… in this script….they’ve never read.

Or, it will hurt the film to just drop him into this movie…writing him into it, just for the hell of it….will ruin the structure and pacing and drama of this script…that they have, umm…never read.

Hmm. Well, you know, Abrahms, Nimoy…Orci…they all HAVE read the script, and they would like Shatner in the film. It may not work out, but they do want it to happen.

That’s good enough for me.

I find pretty laughable the notion that there are strictly “Pro-Kirk/Shatner vs. Anti-Kirk/Shatner” factions in Trek fandom, or even on this site. Such pigeonholing of a diverse spectrum of opinions/feelings may be even dumber than designating someone as “pro-life” or “pro-choice”–which means it may very well be the dumbest designation that’s ever been. That said, I have to admit being genuinely amazed at some of the “Pro-Shat” postings which seem to imply that the decision of whether or not to include him outweighs all other creative considerations in this film. You get the distinct impression that such people would be much happier with a film which featured Shatner–squeezed into uniform for his last hurrah, staring into the camera and chanting “Om Mane Padre Hum” for two hours–to an well-written, thought-provoking SF-adventure film that didn’t. (Or, in the case of one notorious poster, a film which tossed out an anonymous subspace message stating that Kirk hadn’t died in the Nexus after all.) I’m not offended by such stuff, but truthfully, I do find it kind of sad.

Which brings me to the second issue: tossing words like “fascist” around with regards to honest disagreements on the revivial of a 40 year-old television franchise isn’t exactly helpfulm, either. There are, unfortunately, a good many actual fascists in this world, many of them close to home. Let’s keep some perspective and not dilute such words to the point where they don’t actually signify anything important, okay? :-)