Akiva Goldsman has teased his desire to use deep fake to retcon some big Star Trek moments, here's how it could bring back William Shatner as Kirk.
William Shatner as Kirk, and the deepfake Leonard Nimoy from Regeneration
Although Star Trek has no current plans to deep fake legacy actors, the technology could be used to retcon the controversial death of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek Generations. Kirk was shot in the back by the villainous Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) while attempting to save the Veridian system from the scientist's attempt to return to the Nexus. Kirk's body was recently revealed to be stored in Star Trek: Picard's Daystrom Station, setting up his potential return. William Shatner is still going strong well into his 90s, so Star Trek could use deepfake technology to make him look like he did prior to his death on Veridian III.
In an interview with SFX Magazine, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner Akiva Goldsman spoke about the potential for using deep fake to retcon controversial Star Trek plot points. The Roddenberry Archive has already been working with deep fake technology, producing a short film entitled "Regeneration", in which Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) visited Kirk's grave on Veridian III. The incredibly well-made short creates the possibility of future adventures of Kirk and Spock that use the likenesses of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Although the ethical and legal ramifications of deep fake technology are a hotly contested issue right now, its use to de-age a consenting 92-year-old Shatner for a Star Trek return could retcon Kirk's controversial death.
Star Trek Can Resurrect Kirk With Deep Fake
Star Trek: Picard season 3 has already established that the USS Enterprise-D's saucer section and the body of Captain Kirk were taken from Veridian III by Starfleet. Ostensibly this was to protect a pre-warp civilization from gaining Starfleet technology. However, the reference to Project Phoenix and the sounds of a Star Trek: The Original Series medical scanner suggests that there was another reason for Kirk's body being removed. As one of Starfleet's most legendary figures, it's possible that Section 31 is attempting to resurrect Kirk for some unknown purpose.
Whatever the reason for storing Kirk's body in Star Trek: Picard's Daystrom Station, deep fake could be deployed to make William Shatner look just like he did in 1994 or perhaps even earlier. This would allow the 23rd-century Kirk to interact with Starfleet's 25th-century officers. By bringing back the legendary James Tiberius Kirk for one final adventure in Star Trek: Legacy or a one-off streaming exclusive movie, the franchise could finally give him an ending befitting his stature. While it's a daunting prospect for any Star Trek writer to conceive of an appropriately heroic ending for Kirk, using deep fake to de-age Shatner would at least help sell this new Kirk story to a skeptical audience.
Captain Kirk Death Star Trek
Star Trek could go one step further, by going back to Veridian III to completely retcon Kirk's death. Arguably this would be a less taxing alternative, as the 92-year-old William Shatner could then resume the role of Kirk in the 25th century. This would mean that deep fake need only be used for the scene where Kirk emerges from his grave, perhaps resurrected by Spock. Alternatively, an echo of Kirk could have been stored in Star Trek Generations' Nexus, emerging after the Starfleet clean-up mission has departed.
Retconning Kirk's Star Trek Generations death would provide a larger headache within canon than a surprise 25th-century resurrection. Kirk surviving his death on Veridian III would have huge implications for Starfleet in the 24th century. Kirk's skills as a military tactician would have been of great value during the Dominion War, for example. If Star Trek was to retcon Kirk's death, there would have to be a very satisfying explanation for why it was kept a secret from the best and brightest of Starfleet in the 24th century.
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