Star Trek's William Shatner Reveals How He Would Want Second Space Trip to be Different (Exclusive)

In 2022, Star Trek legend William Shatner became the oldest person to fly in space when he, along with three other crew members, took to the sky aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-18. However, while the flight was historic and one that Shatner has described as "unbelievable", he's also reflected on the experience as being something that felt less like a celebration and more like a funeral as it prompted for him "among the strongest feelings of grief" that he had ever encountered. Now, in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com ahead of his appearance at Mega-Con in Orlando February 3-4, Shatner reveals how he would want a second trip to space to be different.

"The opportunity may be presented to me, and I thought, I don't want to repeat what happened to me emotionally going up there with Blue Origin, but If I went up again… I don't want to say too much," he said. "When I came down from the Blue Origin trip, I was filled with despair about the earth and what we've done and about what's happening and the extinction of so many species. But there is a rising campaign by numerous people, many of them scientists, to try and rectify that. But if I were to go up again, my thought is I would come down armed with the knowledge of many of those entities that are trying to stop the destruction that's going on, and I would celebrate that."

What Did Shatner Say About His Blue Origin Space Trip?

In his book Boldly Go: Reflections of a Life of Awe and Wonder, Shatner explained that when he went into space, it made his connection to Earth all the more profound and gave him a different perspective on the issues facing the planet.

"I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things — that being up there would be the next beautiful step in understanding the harmony of the universe,' Shater wrote. "In the film Contact, when Jodie Foster's character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, 'They should've sent a poet.' I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn't out there, it's down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound."

He continued, "It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna … things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral."

Shatner is Open to AI Being Used for His Captain Kirk

Shatner also told ComicBook.com that he is open to AI being used for his iteration of Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk returning, though he did have a very specific set of circumstances for it to happen.

"It's an interesting question," Shatner said. "The strike was all about getting permission to do that. And so, if I'm alive, I don't want AI to do that, but if I'm dead and they ask my family and they're going to pay my family very well to sound like me, I would advise them to say yes."

As mentioned above, William Shatner will be appearing at Mega-Con in Orlando on February 3rd and February 4th.