There’s a tenuous rumour just starting to circulate that Daniel Craig could be involved with J.J. Abrams rebirth of the Star Trek franchise.

Certainly, Craig has expressed an interest: “I would love a stint in the TV show or in a film,” Craig has said of Star Trek. “It’s been a secret ambition of mine for years.”

Given his apparent talent for re-igniting movie series that had run out of fuel, it wouldn’t be a bad idea. But would it be compatible with his secret agent work? Intermittently great though Star Trek is, there’s a definite nerd factor at work there. So appearing on board a starship in one of those unflattering unitard thingies might negate the Steve McQueen tough guy points Craig earned with Casino Royale.

Even more bizarre, there are better substantiated rumours that old hands William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy will be involved in some way, but not as their original characters and – according to Shatner anyway – not as cameos. Read on for a brief excerpt from IGN’s interview with William Shatner:

IGN: JJ Abrams is working on the new Star Trek film, which is reportedly about a young Kirk and Spock. How do you feel about possibly watching someone else play that character?

Shatner: Well, it’s going to happen. It’s not so much the character. You know, it’s that old adage about, “Get me a young Shatner.” I’m at the “Get me a young Shatner” moment.

IGN: Have you spoken to JJ Abrams about the project?

Shatner: Actually, I did, and they’re working very hard on a story. They seem to be going in the direction of putting in [Leonard] Nimoy and myself. But in order to do that, it’s a difficult story to write. So they’re in the midst of wrestling with all of that.

IGN: So they’re looking to put the two of you in, in a framing device, or in some way?

Shatner: I’m not sure what they’re going to do. But in order to entice Leonard and myself into the movie, it has to be meaningful in some way, so I don’t know what they’re gonna do.

Full IGN Shatner interview here.