Chris Pine may be the face of Captain James T. Kirk today in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot but before him there was William Shatner, who is willing to come back as an older version of the character.

There were rumors that Shatner would be joining "Star Trek Beyond" but the actor has denied any involvement in the movie, although he did say that he is open to reprising his role as captain of the USS Enterprise, albeit an older one.

After the six "Star Trek" movies he made, Shatner went on to write a series of novels for the franchise, allowing him to tell his story of Captain Kirk. And he did, taking from his own experiences about love and loss, life and death to fill the pages of those books.

The actor admits to meeting with Abrams to talk about appearing in the 2009 reboot but things didn't go as planned.

Shatner's Kirk had died in "Star Trek: Generations," which came out in 1994. Aside from a simple matter of aging then, the issue of his resurrection would have to be addressed.

"How would they handle it, in science-fiction terms? I'm older, I'm heavier ... So what did Captain Kirk do? Die and age? Doesn't sound science-fictiony enough," he said. The problem seemed to have bogged down Abrams' imagination, as the appearance of an older Kirk has not been featured in any of the "Star Trek" movies since the franchise was rebooted.

But if someone does figure out how to make it possible for an older Captain Kirk to make an appearance, Shatner will definitely be on board.

The first episode of "Star Trek" aired on Sept. 8, 1966. The franchise will mark its 50th anniversary this year with a three-day convention in New York on Sept. 2-4. 

Before that, "Star Trek Beyond" will be hitting theaters July 22 in the United States.

"Star Trek Beyond" is written by Simon Pegg (taking over for Roberto Orci with Doug Jung) and directed by Justin Lin of the "Fast and Furious" franchise. It will star Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella, Lydia Wilson, Joe Taslim and Idris Elba.