William Shatner Reveals Why New Generations Still Love Classic Star Trek
Captain Kirk himself gives his thoughts on The Sixty-Year Mission.
While Star Trek’s official birthday is on September 8, the celebration of the 60th anniversary of this incredible and venerable sci-fi franchise will basically continue all year. And with a big milestone like this come various retrospectives, and that means one thing: Star Trek documentaries.
Since Star Trek started seriously self-assessing its legacy, there have been various behind-the-scenes looks at the franchise, from books to TV specials to streaming docs. And this year, one new documentary feels a little bit different from previous films or miniseries that have gone boldly into the past of this multimedia juggernaut. Released in theaters on October 9, the new documentary, The Sixty-Year Mission, is unique insofar as it mostly focuses on how The Original Series was made and doesn’t really go beyond the 1960s. Which, in a way, makes sense: the celebration right now is about TOS, and TOS is still very popular, even with younger fans.
For longtime fans of the franchise who think they know it all, part of what makes this documentary so compelling is the fact that William Shatner is a producer on the film. Speaking to Inverse at New York Comic-Con 2026, Shatner explained how he got involved in the documentary and why he felt that TOS, specifically, continues to attract new viewers.
“Well, the guys doing it are really talented,” Shatner tells Inverse, referencing filmmaker and Trek expert Mark A. Altman, who is the writer and director of the film, as well as producers Daren Dochterman and Ashley E. Miller, who, along with Altman, host the mega-popular podcast, Inglorious Treksperts. “I've known them a long while. And if a talented guy wants to do a documentary on a show that I was part of, I better do it!”
William Shatner at the LA premiere of The Sixty-Year Mission.
Shatner also revealed that upon the New York release of The Sixty-Year Mission, he was feeling introspective about his own mortality, partly because of the recent passing of a friend of his, a radio personality who passed away at the age of 74. “A good friend of mine, Mike Horn, died yesterday,” Shatner told me, with genuine tears in his eyes. “His death reminded me of the briefness of our existence, how quickly it transpires, and how everything we do is measured against the brief time we're here. So, this thing about Star Trek — which is part of my life — dramatically arises today on this film and maybe it disappears tomorrow. If the film is well received, it lasts a little bit longer; but essentially there is this moment in time that I should take advantage of because I'm part of it.”
While in conversation with Ben Stiller at Comic-Con the next day, October 10, Shatner echoed his sentiments about living in the moment, reiterating his long-held assertion that he rarely rewatches his own performances. “You don’t tend to want to look back,” Stiller said, to which Shatner replied, “I do that very consciously — I think you should stay in the moment and be aware of — the moment.”
When confronted with a classic scene from the TOS episode “The Enemy Within” — in which Kirk’s good and evil sides confront one another — Shatner told Stiller that he felt that his performances as Kirk were always full tilt, and “extreme,” but that “the danger is, wondering, are they going to laugh me off the stage?”
Ben Stiller and William Shatner on stage at New York Comic-Con on October 10, 2026.
When Stiller needled him about what Shatner remembered about filming “The Enemy Within,” and whether he recalled details, Shatner replied: “Ben! That’s like 65 years ago...no...I have no recollection whatsoever...I look at it now, and I think, I could do it so much better now!”
While Shatner’s memories of specifics of filming episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series might be spotty — he joked about not remembering wearing eye makeup on TOS — he did reveal to Inverse that he felt the timeless quality of the classic 1960s show is hard to fully explain, despite great documentaries like The Sixty-Year Mission illuminating the beginnings of the phenomenon.
“I don’t know,” Shatner says, when I ask him directly why he thinks young children today still like The Original Series. “But I will tell you, I was acting from the time I was 6 years old. Children are seeing the much younger version of me, but there was a younger version of me that began acting before that. Maybe that’s connected. I was a child when I began acting, so I was well-prepared to play Captain Kirk when it happened.”
The Sixty-Year Mission is out in theaters now.
