There's been a lot written about all the ways the newest Star Trek show is deviating from the franchise's longtime norms. And as far as I know, Star Trek: Discovery now has another first, as there's never been a public feud between two actors who play captains in any instalment's Starfleet ship. Jason Isaacs, who plays Captain Lorca on the new CBS All Access series, appears to be in a tiff with with William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise (as if you didn't know), after some comments he made in an interview.
A U.K. tabloid ran a story with the headline "Jason Isaacs hopes William Shatner won't appear in Star Trek: Discovery." In the interview, Isaacs doesn't technically say that, but he does talk about Shatner:
"Kirk doesn't come along for 10 years and when we meet him, he's 26, so it would be a weird timeline if [Isaacs' character met Kirk]. Someone asked which cast members from the existing series would you like to guest star. I think people watch good drama shows and they completely suspend their disbelief, they feel like they're looking through the keyhole at another world, if you do it well enough. If you have stunt celebrity cameo casting, it completely pulls them out of it. They feel like they're watching a Saturday Night Live sketch. So I just hope people believe our stories, are engaged with them, and I'm happy to meet Will Shatner in real life in a restaurant."
Which, honestly, isn't that bad, but Shatner blocked Isaacs on Twitter shortly afterward anyway.
It's unclear if Shatner blocked Isaacs because of this comment, but it does appear that all is not well in Starfleet. For what it's worth, Isaacs did tell me earlier this year how fond he was of the original Star Trek, which he said taught him how to be a man.
