Legend of stage, screen and bookshelves William Shatner appeared at SDCC 2022 to be feted on a panel -- and social media blew up reacting to a statement the 91-year-old made about Star Trek after The Original Series. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the original Captain Kirk claimed that franchise creator Gene Roddenberry wouldn't like modern Star Trek. Many fans were critical of his view; however, Shatner is probably right.
The question of Roddenberry's thoughts came immediately after the nonagenarian and host Kevin Smith engaged in a "curse off," in which the notoriously swear-happy director conceded his defeat. Shatner was certainly in a jovial and un-serious mood, and he seemed barely able to hold back laughter when he said that none of the Trek after his captured his imagination or heart. He then asserted that Gene Roddenberry "would be turning in his grave at some of the stuff" the shows have done since the 1960s. His statement was cut off, however, by groans from the audience -- whom he playfully chastised, saying "I know all."
The statement itself seems like it was meant to be the setup for a joke. Considering that one of Shatner's 13 directing credits is The Captains -- a documentary featuring all the Star Trek captains to that point -- it's safe to say that he doesn't truly believe none of the Star Trek shows that followed The Original Series impressed or moved him. Yet the idea that Roddenberry wouldn't like modern Star Trek is not a big shock. After he was forcibly ousted from control over the Trek movies and the new series, according to ScreenRant, he called everything that came after apocryphal. Yet the story Shatner told at SDCC 2022 might have reframed how people took Roddenberry's statement.
The first movie that Shatner directed was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which remains a controversial entry in canon. No one hated that movie more than Roddenberry. He was so upset with the film that ScreenRant also reports he tried to sue -- saying Shatner stole the idea for the movie from one of Roddenberry's unproduced scripts. The story had little to do with his objections, save for the fact he didn't like serialized storytelling. What really annoyed him -- and may annoy Shatner -- is that the franchise is continuing and improving without them.
Shatner also had playfully harsh words for Star Wars, after previously having criticized Star Wars fans. Yet his friend Mark Hamill is continuing to be included in the sequel films and shows like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett as Luke Skywalker lives on. While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has James T. Kirk, Shatner isn't getting a "thanks for originating the character" check like Hamill. Once participation in the Big Franchise becomes a thing of the past, naturally one thinks their version was the best. Call it ego or pride, but it all boils down to human nature.
Even if Roddenberry hadn't been ousted from Star Trek production and if he'd lived, he probably wouldn't like the new shows. Discovery and Picard are especially bold new directions for Star Trek in terms of the stories they tell. He also might dislike Star Trek: Lower Decks because as broad and accessible as the comedy is going into Season 3, the animated series is made for a different demographic and more reflective of today's science fiction landscape. For some who grew up with it -- or made it -- The Original Series is simply enough Star Trek for them.
Still, even considering all that, Shatner's comments about Roddenberry turning in his grave over new Star Trek weren't meant to be taken seriously. He playfully antagonized the SDCC crowd, hearkening back to the famous Saturday Night Live sketch in which he told Trek fans to "Get a life!" From Martin Scorsese's disdain for Marvel to Shatner's ambivalence toward modern Trek, perhaps it's time fans stop being surprised when artists from a different creative period don't immediately embrace modern pop culture. They might joke about it, they might criticize it, but they don't have to like it.