Sorry Internet, William Shatner Did NOT Confirm A Star Trek 2016 Role Via Twitter

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Well the Shatner in Star Trek story hit a new high, or possibly low this afternoon as a two word tweet from the man launched a new wave of (completely wrong) news stories. Details below.

Shatner did not confirm he was in new Star Trek on Twitter

As we (and the man himself) has been reporting for the last few days, William Shatner was in London to attend Destination Star Trek 3. And early Monday evening Shatner sent out the following tweet:

I’m baaaaccckk!!!

William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) October 6, 2014

Anyone who had been following Shatner on Twitter (which is 1.97 million people) would know he was talking about returning home to Los Angeles. A cursory glance at his tweets reveals that the “baaaaccckk!!!” tweet came after an 11 hour gap and discussion of packing for his trip home. However, that didn’t stop the Internet from jumping to an entirely different conclusion.

Some took the “baaaaccckk” to mean Shatner was using Twitter to break last week’s promise to JJ Abrams to stop talking about the new Star Trek movie, and to actually confirm his return to the role of Kirk. For example, ComingSoon.net posted an article with the headline "William Shatner Confirms Star Trek Return." SuperHeroHype posted on titled "I’m baaaaccckk!!! William Shatner Confirms Star Trek Return." ComicBookMovie used a bit of caution and posted "William Shatner Seemingly Confirms Star Trek 3 Role." And The Wrap launched an article with the title "William Shatner to Return as Captain Kirk in ‘Star Trek 3’". And there are other examples, plus smaller sites and blogs, social media and TrekMovie even got a few tips about the tweet.

After seeing the confusion, Shatner returned to Twitter to post a follow-up, making it clear he was talking about how he was "baaaaccckk" in Los Angeles.

He then went on to post a number of tweets decrying "yellow journalism" and suggesting article writers should be fired.

I took to Twitter myself to comment on the whole affair and Shatner replied back with a joke about Star Wars fans (one of Bill’s hobbies on Twitter and Reddit is to troll Star Wars fans).

As of this writing some articles claiming Shatner had ‘confirmed’ his role are being updated, but others remain unchanged. Just to be sure, Shatner deleted his first tweet that started the whole thing, but that hasn’t stopped it. Even after he deleted the tweet AICN posted an article titled "Kirk In! Shatner is indeed appearing in Star Trek 3!" which actually quoted Shatner’s deleted tweet.

UPDATE: Even the venerable Hollywood Reporter jumped on the dubious bandwagon, much to the chagrin to Mr. Shatner, as he let them know in a tweet (see below).

Shatner and Nimoy Roles Being ‘Considered’ – Many Steps To ‘Confirmed’ Deals To Return

It is entirely possible that William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy will return in the 2016 Star Trek movie. TrekMovie has been able to confirm with sources that roles for both are being considered. However, it is way too early to talk about it being a done deal. In fact, neither Shatner nor Nimoy have even had any meetings with the Star Trek filmmakers about potential roles, so clearly it is too early to declare “Shatner is in” as so many did today. And if roles get agreed upon and deals are struck, the confirmation of this will likely not come in the form of a two word tweet from William Shatner.

Today shows that there is a lot of interest and some are even on a hair trigger. There is conflation of rumor and confirmation, and William Shatner himself has even been guilty of that with his comments about how Roberto Orci is the one that started the stories. So expect more ups and downs and false positives over the upcoming weeks and months. This isn’t over yet.

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Hopefully he’s just playing by the “no talking” rules to keep J.J. and Bob happy. And though I don’t blame him for being excited if he was asked to be in the movie, I understand and appreciate everyone keeping the details of the yet released film secret. Just me.

Gonna be a long wait…

Mr. Shatner is a very smart famous person and very smart famous people have a way of making people talk about them — without appearing to make people talk about them. They are endlessly the topic of conversation, for good reason.

damn interwebs! =P

Why can’t the JJ-verse be allowed to stand (or fail) on its own? Nimoy’s Spock is my favorite TOS-era character, yet there was NO need for him in the 2nd movie. There is NO need for Nimoy or Shatner in the next.

Star Trek 2016 –

A shameless repost, as I thought it went well with the photo above!

Star Date 2436

A Starfleet Deep Field (DF) research station peers into deep, deep space, past the great energy barrier and out past null-space, and deeper past the great deep between galaxies where there are no stars.

On the research station command deck, the commander, Captain Tom Hanks, is finishing his duty log, while also drinking some coffee with his morning cubes.

He looks down and switches on the newest sensor instument. And confidently anounces, “Ladies and gentlemen, with the flip of this switch, we will see into the very towns, and even perhaps faces, of worlds in another galaxy!… In this instance – the Andromeda galaxy. Perhaps, now, we will see beyond where there are no stars to trek!… Sensor systems activate!”

The science deck’s sensor panels activate, and readings begin to pour in over the colorful digital consoles. The crew begins to work the data and study the readings when one of the sensor scanners start pulsing wildly, a klaxon is heard!

“It’s a Starship Emergency Distress Beacon!” The captain procliams. “Condition Alert!” Captain Hanks dones into his tri-noculars sensor visor helmet. He works his visor-helms holographic controls to zoom his viewing angle to reveal an astonishing display.

In the visor the Captain sees a racing and derelict beaten starship appraching his sector but still hundreds of light years away.

A grimn faced Hanks raises the visor-helm. He looks at this bewildered crew and says… “It’s never what you expect looking in there.” The medaled Captain wipes his eyes and says loudly, above the klaxon, ” People we have just discovered… the long lost USS Enterprise!!!”

His crew is still a bit bewildered, but one purple-faced cadet steps forward and says, “The Enterprise? That one that saved Earth, over and over – last century?!

Hanks peers into the visor again, “Yes, cadet… and then, under the visor and with a bewildered expression, “YES! That, Enterprise!

Later, after the Enterprise is moored to the station, with the assistance of a certain Galaxy Class Federaton Starship – the only surviving crewmember of the long lost Starship Enterprise, a darkly scared and greatly aged James T. Kirk, attempts to tell the tale of how his brave, brave crew, fought against the menacing Kelvins. And, of how the Kelvan’s stole the Enterprise and crew on thier journey back to the Andromeda Galaxy. Kirks story continues and along the way the Kelvan’s true insect-like appearance was revealed.

The sobbing, misserable and bloodied Kirk is left to cry his desparate tale to the grimmacing Captain Hanks, who now clinkgs to Kirks very tunic, wanting each word not to be true, but ordering Kirk to tell – MORE!

Kirk tells more, “… of a fast dark bloody transwarp out of the Galaxy, of how HIS crew fought desparately against the “insect like” species on an endless battle that that lasted…how long?, how long?” He stopped.

“50 Years!” Hanks says, and then Hanks himself sits back and sobs and says, “50 years. Then, where is your crew, Captain Kirk?”
No response. “Your crew, captain? Where are they?! is there anyone?”

Kirk shakken, stammers and then says, “They died.” Haltingly, he says, “A long time ago?… I survived. And they died?”

Kirk slumps. and says, “How could I die. How could I die?” Kirk, starring into the very camera lens, somber and still. there is an erie silence, until the crew in the airlock begin to shift and look at each other, a bit. The Chief medic on duty looks sadly at her captain and shakes her head, motioning word, “Shock?”

Then we see Kirk beginning to shake as his eyes become more fixed and then quickly enraged!

He frustratingly shakes, and turns an almost blood red, and yells…

K H A N N N N N N N N N N N N N N !!!!!!!!

Happy ‘early’ Halloween, everyone!

Because the JJ-verse wouldn’t exist were it not for the contributions of people like Shatner and Nimoy, and many others unseen. I don’t begrudge the older generation their recognition merely because someone else has built upon the foundation they established.

Neither Pine nor Quinto have established themselves so thoroughly as Kirk or Spock that we can dispense with the older actors. And even had they done so, there will always be those who prefer the older interpretation of Kirk and Spock. Shatner, to some, will always be Connery to Pine’s Moore.

Mr. Shatner, if the role is not a resurrected Prime Kirk being united with Prime Spcok, then DON’T DO IT!

Playing Kirk Prime in a meaningful way would right the wringe of Generations and show that everything in Star Trek is ok and that the Prime Universe is ok, too. It would also be the nod to the Original Series which the 50th anniversary would need.

The internet is good for at least one thing. No, not THAT.
I’m talking about Star Trek parodies.

STAR TREK 13 1/3: THE NAKED PHASER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnwmeDPQXIc&feature=youtu.be

He should be in the new film

“there is a lot of interest and some are even on a hair trigger”

Hell yeh,,,

:oD

As a very old fan of Trek, I can positively say WE DO NOT NEED SHATNER OR NIMOY in the new franchise. It needs to stand on its own feet now. Does anyone actually care if they where NOT in it? Stop trying to please the fans with cameos and please the fans with a good solid morality story, something that feels Trek.

In any event, having both Messrs. Shatner and Nimoy appear in the next movie, it occurs to me, would be one, some, or all of the following:

1. An answer to the prayers of many fans.
2. A horrible abuse of our memories of the younger and more vigorous versions of said actors.
3. A nostalgic look at what could have been had Kirk not been ruthlessly killed off by: a. Soran or b. The Powers That Be or c. Both.
4. A waste of time.
5. A bridge across three generations: TOS, TNG, and now, NuTrek.
6. Don’t mention the words “Kirk” and “bridge” in the same paragraph as “ruthlessly killed off.”
7. An exercise in the latest in CGI as applied to human actors; viz., de-aging.
8. A symbolic… rejection… to the not-a-fan-of-Shatner statements of a certain actor who played a certain helmsman of a certain starship.
9. A challenge to the entire industry to develop the latest in undetectable toupee’s.
10. A clarion call to fans of Captain Picard (Sisko)(Janeway)(Archer)(Sulu)(Worf) to lobby for the inclusion of said Jean-Luc(Benjamin)(Kathry)(Jonathan)(Hikaru)(son of Mogh) within the JJ-verse; or,
11. None of the above.

As always, your mileage may vary.

Ugh. My fears are coming true.

I don’t blame Shatner for being cheesed off over this. He was probably aghast at the way his ‘I’m baaaaccckk!!!’ tweet was wrongly misinterpreted as confirming his casting…seeing as this latest round of breathless articles came so soon after he’d been asked to keep things low profile a second time recently.

On the other hand, those articles have certainly generated some interesting new responses and ideas for me to take in. Shatner’s *is-he-or-isn’t he?* involvement in the background of this 3rd reboot is certainly giving me plenty of lols already. :)

Is this really news?

The rumours are that Orci wants Shatner & Nimoy in his film – we know for a fact Shatner has leaked that he’s been contacted about a possible role; now rumoured to be time traveling older nuKirk and nuSpock.

The main issue now is will the deal be closed as it’s seemed to have been opened? They’re meant to start shooting in February which if you think about it is not long at all…

Hoping they can seal the deal and do this. The 50th anniversary of the original series deserves something of epic proportions, and bringing Shatner and Nimoy together again, as Kirk and Spock, would be just that. whether it’s “prime” universe or the alternate one is compeletely irrelevant.

About time this new Trek actually had the balls to let go of the past and plough its own field now, free of any of the original cast, villains, plot points etc. Otherwise, what was the point of this pseudo-reboot in the first place, other than Paramount wanting to milk the franchise again?!

I think they have an uphill struggle regaining respect after the dire & lazy (in terms of writing) fan-w**k that was Into Darkness. Shoe-horning Nimoy in (again! Why not have him on the Enterprise since you can’t seem to let him go?!) and now the possibility of Shatner is just silly. I’m all for bringing back Kirk one last time with Spock. Righting the wrongs of his terrible death in Generations, but do it in their own TV movie. Bring them back full circle to TV.

Leave nuTrek to do its own thing, or admit a reboot was a waste of time as youre gaving to continually rely on the original cast……

#18 ” think they have an uphill struggle regaining respect after the dire & lazy (in terms of writing) fan-w**k that was Into Darkness. ”

Sorry, you’re in dreamland. Into darkness is the most successful Trek movie. Period. That “disrespect” you speak of didn’t hurt it’s ratings with critics of movie goers. It was a best selling DVD long after bad word of mouth would have seriously hurt the home market and it has high rating by Netflix and amazon streamers. There are no “corrections” needed, this new take on the franchise is blazing new trails.

The very fact that you can’t grasp the importance of getting Shatner and Nimoy together again for the 50th anniversary speaks volumes. Your misunderstanding the original series and the relevance of its 50th anniversary, if nothing else, totally explains your discontent with the new movies.

No worries, your TNG DVDs aren’t going anywhere.

It would be much better if Shatner and Nimoy played future versions of Alternate Timeline Kirk & Spock.

if they wrap up this timeline and we see them 50 years later reminiscing about their adventures.

I don’t think it would work if the cast all meet up.

Yellow journalism. I like that.

I’m waiting……

re: point of pseudo-reboot: Paramount milking the franchise

re: dire & lazy (in terms of writing) fan-w**k

re: a [Bad Robot] reboot was a waste of time

sadly, I agree IN FULL =P

@ #20 David Oakes –

The fact that the ‘alternative timeline’ Kirk and Spock have such different personas to the ‘original timeline’ characters is what’s likely to make this idea seem odd to me if it happens.

I certainly agree that it might be better to keep the two sets of actors separate during their scenes, so that the pairing of Shatner and Nimoy might have a much better chance of coming across as Pine and Quinto’s future selves.

However, I certainly wouldn’t care to see elderly ‘altKirk’ and elderly ‘altSpock’ merely ‘swapping stories 50 years later’ at the end of the movie…as that would REALLY be a total waste of the potential that Shatner and Nimoy could add.

@22. ….in your opinion.

future nukirk and nuspock played by shatner and nimoy will be awesome, would br similair to xmen days of future past.

I do NOT want to see a fat Captain Kirk. Please slim down Jim if you’re going make an appearance.

I hope Shatner visited the Star Wars set

Wow, something on the internet taken completely out of context?

Say it isn’t so…

@25

Star Trek: Days of Future Past!

#26 “I do NOT want to see a fat Captain Kirk. Please slim down Jim if you’re going make an appearance”

Just a hunch, but I really don’t think Shatner cares one little bit about what you want. get used to it.

This notion that Nimoy was “shoe-horned” into either movies is not correct.

Nimoy, as prime Spock, was essential to the story of ST09, because it was his actions that lead to what happened in the new alternate universe. Nero had it in for prime Spock and his Vulcan race (irrespective of which universe Vulcan was in). Nimoy did not have a large part, but it was an important one.

In the second film, prime Spock’s presence was not essential, but it was an organic one. It was a likely response that Kirk or Spock would have in trying to find out who this Khan was. They were aware that prime Spock could have known of this man in his own time, hence alt. Spock’s communication with prime Spock. nuSpock sought information that he could not find through normal channels, given that Marcus most likely fudged, even destroyed, records concerning Khan and the Botany Bay.
Therefore, no real shoe-horning occurred here.

Unfortunately, the same would not said if William Shatner was introduced into the third film playing prime Kirk, who had died, into this alternate universe, meeting up with his old friend, prime Spock. This is really massive shoe-horning stuff and it is likely that, no matter how hard you might try, the shoe simply won’t fit.

It is the nature of Vulcans to be able to live twice as long as a healthy human being, which is why prime Spock could still be around, but none of his human colleagues, including Kirk.

If Trek fans truly understood and loved Star Trek and its canon, they would not argue with this “reality” of Star Trek as it was developed by its creator(s). Many blast BR for apparently disrespecting canon, yet this whole business of many wanting Shatner back playing prime Kirk is doing just that – disrespecting and dismissing legitimate canon, something which the BR team have not done.

Having Prime Spock around is going to be a constant crutch for the writers of these new movies (OK, there will probably only be one more). Whenever they get into a bind, they can call Prime Spock on his iPhone 300s and ask ‘what happened when…’ or ‘have you heard of this guy?’

I think squeezing Nimoy and Shatner into the next movie would be stunt casting and unnecessary. I appreciate the gravity of the 50th anniversary as much as anyone, but forcing it doesn’t do anyone any favors.

With Life of Pi cinematographer Claudio Miranda on board, perhaps Star Trek 3 / the Alternate Generation, will have a youthful CGI Shatner James T. Kirk.

This is getting old and boring already. Just saying.

#32 “I think squeezing Nimoy and Shatner into the next movie would be stunt casting and unnecessary. I appreciate the gravity of the 50th anniversary as much as anyone, but forcing it doesn’t do anyone any favors.”

It’s the 50th anniversary and you call it “stunt” casting??? Really? Go back to your Earl Grey, clearly, new Star Trek isnt’ for you.

If Mr. Orci and company decide to put in two roles for PrimeKirk and PrimeSpock in a meaningful way for the storyline and plot, why not?

I would like to see the movie first with those two actors playing their
old roles before I make a judgment either pro or con about the whole
affair. Movies are about taking risks and IMO this one just might be
the risk that may surprisingly pay off – or not.

Either way it would be fun to see those two back playing their old
roles in a meaningful way for the story being told.

Who knows? If this is indeed the last movie perhaps the story has to
do about the prime timeline being restored? Perhaps not.

I will wait for the movie.

JJ finally sat Shatner down and said very slowly “Mysteryyyy Boxxxxx” then Shatner finally got it.

While it’s great to see a movie that’s 2 years away get this kind of press coverage, I’m a little disappointed. A Trek cameo should be a surprise whenever possible. It’s more fun when we don’t know that a Christian Slater, or a Reg Barclay, or a Spock Prime is going to make an appearance. (As an example, I had no idea that Nimoy was going to be in ST:ID; seeing him, however briefly, was like a visit from a favourite grandfather.)

In an ideal world, Shatner would be spending a few secretive days on set, and we’d get a surprise at some point during the movie. Apparently, when George Clooney popped up in an uncredited, unannounced visit on an 2000 episode of ER, the head of NBC, watching with the rest of the world live on Thursday night, was furious that they hadn’t been hyping his appearance in advance. Sure, commercials would have upped the ratings a little, but it would have ruined a spontaneous. special moment for viewers.

The Doctor Who 50th special last year managed the same feat with several well-placed cameos, including one that ranks as Shatner-worthy; what an amazing treat it would be if we had something as surprising in Trek 13.

14.What are your fears?

Just have Shatner do the opening “these are the voyages of the star ship…”
He is in the movie and everyone is happy. No trying to work it into the plt.

40. sueellen from Savannah

A worthy idea!

@ #40 sueellen from Savannah –

I’d definitely want to hear Shatner doing an *end* voice-over of some sort this time around…but I have to say that a non-appearance of him in this 50th Anniversary movie would not make me happy in the least.