So was William Shatner’s omission from the upcoming Star Trek movie a choice J.J. Abrams made…or was it ultimately Shatner’s decision? Well, the answer differs depending on who you ask.

Last year, the actor admitted he was bothered by his exclusion from the highly-anticipated prequel.

“I couldn’t believe it. I’m not in the movie at all. Leonard [Nimoy], God bless his heart, is in, but not me. I thought, what a decision to make, since it obviously is a decision not to make use of the popularity I have to ensure the movie has good box office. It didn’t seem to be a wise business decision.”

While it’s possible Abrams may regret leaving the original Captain Kirk out (I’m sure the movie will succeed either way), the director recently told AMC that it was difficult finding a way to fit Shatner in.

“It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn’t quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn’t want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It’s funny—a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that.”

Curious to know how William reacted to J.J.‘s comment? Well, you’re in luck. You can hear his response from an informal interview below:

Star Trek will journey into theaters on May 8, 2009.