Space… the final frontier. And for William Shatner, it seems there may be one last mission left to complete. More than 30 years after his last appearance as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Generations, William Shatner has revealed that he’s in talks to return. And let’s be honest—death has never been much of an obstacle in the Star Trek universe.

While appearing at Fan Expo Vancouver, Shatner let slip that a writer from one of Paramount’s upcoming Star Trek series reached out with an intriguing idea. Now, if this were just another request for a cameo, Kirk would have set phasers to “No, thank you.” But this time? He was impressed! “If Kirk is going to come back, it has to mean something,” he told the audience. And so, after his convention duties wrapped up, he agreed to hear the pitch.

Over the decades, Starfleet has tried to bring Kirk back before—offering him a role in Star Trek: Enterprise, and even in the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot, but he always declined unless the story was worthy. Now, with Star Trek’s 60th anniversary on the horizon in 2026, could it finally be time for the return of the greatest captain in Federation history?

The final season of Picard teased a classified Starfleet operation called “Project Phoenix” that involved Kirk’s body—could this be the setup for his resurrection? Meanwhile, the short film 765874 – Unification recently reimagined Kirk’s return, and the response was warp-speed enthusiastic.

So what’s next? Will we get a Star Trek: Kirk series, chronicling one last grand adventure? Or will he beam into another existing show for a storyline so legendary it bends time itself? One thing’s for sure—if Captain Kirk is coming back, he won’t settle for anything less than the best.

Stay tuned, cadets. The final frontier may not be so final after all.

[Via Slashfilm]