William Shatner has reportedly agreed to appear in Star Trek 3 - and will share a scene with the current Captain Kirk, Chris Pine.

According to Badass Digest, the 83-year-old will also be on-screen with Spocks of present and past played by Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy.

Shatner and Nimoy, of course, were the original Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock in the iconic 1960s' TV show created by Gene Roddenberry.

That show was initially cancelled, but ultimately spawned a franchise that created several TV spin-offs and a dozen films.

This will be big news for the many millions of Star Trek fans and is sure to generate much online debate.

Badass Digest further claims that the Shatner and Nimoy characters will be future alt-timeline Kirk and Spock, and the scene involves Pine's Kirk and Quinto's Spock interacting with their future selves.

Production on Star Trek 3 is due to commence soon, with a scheduled cinema release of 2016.

Here are Shatner and Nimoy in the old days, with tribbles: