Going to space in real life is bringing out a lot of feelings for Captain Kirk.
“Star Trek” icon William Shatner is extremely excited — but also very scared — to become the oldest man launched into space, the 90-year-old revealed to fans during a delightfully rambling New York Comic Con panel Thursday night.
The Shat strutted onto a moderator-less stage and took a seat before launching into a story about a good friend who has been stealing from him for 30 years, SyFy Wire reported. The Captain Kirk actor then began pontificating on the beauty of the unknown — “You’ve gotta be dazzled by everything. Trees! They keep discovering things” — and his new spoken-word album, “Bill.”
A Post insider at the event also reported that he ranted about not understanding “a lot of stuff,” including the venue where he was holding court. “I don’t understand anything — what even is a Comic Con?!” he asked the enthusiastic crowd while also getting oddly philosophical.
“In life, you are always going over a bridge … and there’s always an 18-wheeler coming at you,” he offered.
Amidst his meandering, he asked the audience to “just stay with me” before talking about his upcoming space mission.
“I’m going up in space,” he told listeners to applause, before once again discussing how awestruck he is at beauty, generally. “Everything is magical, what kind of a world?” he asked. “We’ve got to focus on that. The end is coming, I’ll be gone. Take care of it!”
Then, without any transition, he returned to the topic of his Oct. 12 voyage to the final frontier in Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard NS-18.
“I’m going up. I’m scared. Captain Kirk going . . . where? Where am I going?” he asked the crowd.
“Space!” an audience member screamed.
“They said, ‘All right, how would you like to go up? You’ll be the oldest guy in space,’ ” Shatner recounted about being asked to take the trip, according to The Post’s insider. “I don’t want to be known as the oldest guy. I’m bloody Captain Kirk!”
Besides feeling fear, he also is experiencing great anticipation for the moment he smushes his face against the window. He has been practicing “little speeches” in preparation for the moment, he noted.
He closed with a brief outburst on how we’re treating the planet.
“We’re vomiting and puking on [the Earth], and s – – tting on it. We’ve got to stop folks, we’ve really got to stop,” he said before offering his closing line: “I really am scared.”
