William Shatner told The Hollywood Reporter that J.J. Abrams didn’t know what to do with him in new Star Trek movies.

Describing early discussions during the development of the 2009 Star Trek reboot, Shatner said, "How would they handle it, in science-fiction terms? I'm older, I'm heavier, I'm — all the problems of age. So what did Captain Kirk do? Die and age? Doesn't sound science-fiction-y enough. Or maybe you make him really old. I don't know. It seems to have beggared Abrams' imagination."

With Star Trek Beyond the rebooted Star Trek Enterprise will still have the same crew, but no longer under the direction of J.J. Abrams. Instead Fast 5 director Justin Lin is stepping in. And while there’s no planned cameo for Shatner in this summer’s Star Trek Beyond , he remains hopeful James Kirk will return to the deck of the Enterprise in a future movie or in the still untitled 2017 Star Trek series in development for streaming service CBS All Access.

Shatner specifically mentioned his own series of Star Trek novels, many of which are set in the Star Trek: The Next Generation time period and have come to be known as the "Shatnerverse.”

The series details the ongoing adventures of Jean-Luc Picard and Captain Kirk, with his “Totality” trilogy ( Star Trek: Captain’s Peril , Star Trek: Captain’s Blood , and Star Trek: Captain’s Glory ) carrying Kirk and Picard past the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"When we finished our movies — the six movies I made — we were putting Kirk into glasses, graying hair, a little old. I wrote a series of novels. They allowed me to tell my story of Captain Kirk. So in a series of Star Trek novels, half a dozen of them, I — taking from my own life, of life and death and love and loss — I created this whole world of Star Trek for Captain Kirk," he said. "I would have loved to have done them [as movies].”

While Shatner’s Captain Kirk seems unlikely to appear in the rebooted Star Trek universe or the upcoming Star Trek show—which promises all new characters and is likely to be set in the far future of the Star Trek galaxy—Shatner is right that there’s always a way to return the dead to life on Star Trek.

And who wouldn’t want to see Captain Kirk find a more fitting end than Star Trek: Generations shameful tumble off a gangway?

‘Star Trek: Generations’ - Death of Captain Kirk

"I would play an old Captain Kirk, absolutely," Shatner told THR. "You would have an interesting character, not a cameo, like, 'Here I am, aren't I interesting?' It's the ongoing world; it's the world within science-fiction. Yes, you age within the universe. Time goes on — but time bends, as well. There's so many things you could do."