Shatner Suggests That Moderns Feel Threatened by Capt. Kirk

I’m an actor, not an activist! That’s a line that a lot of modern entertainment gurus apparently need to hear. According to actor William Shatner, Paramount will not be bringing back his iconic character of Captain Kirk and will continue to sideline Kirk because people “feel threatened” by the heroic starship officer.

A strong male leader who defies the odds — and sometimes the rules — to be the main hero? That’s almost as offensive as misgendering a hulking dude in a dress! Some of us might be okay with Captain Kirk not being resurrected again from the standpoint that Shatner played the role best, but it does seem mystifying that so many recent Star Trek ads or graphics excluded Kirk. Fans might love all the supporting characters of the original cast, and all the newer characters that came after, but Captain Kirk was essential in making Star Trek the hugely popular franchise it is.

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According to Shatner, however, the erasure of Kirk is deliberate, not an accident. 

“It’s not the first time it’s been going on for years,” Shatner tweeted on Jan. 7. “It makes no difference to me that a group who think they are ‘enlightened’ (or whatever they think they are) obviously feels threatened by the Kirk character. It’s a character from a 1960’s TV show- get over it.” And since most conservatives aren’t likely to find Kirk “threatening,” I’m guessing Kirk is a victim of lefty cancel culture.