William Shatner teases motorcycle documentary The Ride at C2E2 2020

William Shatner has been living long and prospering, so it makes sense to check in with the legendary Star Trek actor to see what Captain Kirk has been up to -- whether that means his exploits voicing Batman villains in Batman vs. Two-Face or hosting nonfiction History Channel show The UnXplained. Shatner stopped by C2E2 2020 to host a panel talking about his varied genre career.

Shatner recently said that, when Quentin Tarantino was briefly involved in the next Star Trek movie, he'd been interested in picking up the old mantle of Kirk, but now that the famed director has steered away from the project, it seems that Shatner's Trek days may once again be complete and finished. But that doesn't mean he doesn't have new projects coming down the pike.

"55 years later," Shatner said to a standing ovation, "and here I am." The actor said that the last time he was in Chicago, he made a deal with a fan to ride a motorcycle from the Windy City all the way back to Los Angeles. "In trying to sell the documentary of driving from Chicago to Los Angeles, I went to ESPN," Shatner said. "They said, 'What is it about?'" Shatner didn't have a good answer outside of the premise, so ESPN said for him to come back when he knew and they'd buy it.

Before kicking off the tour, there'd been plenty of storms -- but when the bike finally arrived the skies were clear. The only problem? The motorcycle, built specifically for him, didn't work. So they had to rent a Harley to undertake their epic journey. Problem solved, roadblocks overcome. Upon his triumphant return to Chicago, his documentary, called The Ride, is complete -- all about motoring down Route 66 -- and Shatner is getting ready to sell it to a distributor.

The wide-ranging conversation also saw Shatner touch on the wonders of medical marijuana, faking an injury in paintball (in the context of his film Spplat Attack), dealing with tinnitus, and the origins of Boston Legal gags (showrunner "David E. Kelley's imagination"). Shatner was even confronted by perhaps the only fan who had seen his vocal performance during The True Story of Puss 'N Boots, which Shatner admitted he'd never seen. "How was it?" Shatner asked, only to good-naturedly bluster when the fan called it "interesting."

Looking forward, the iconic genre figure also mentioned that the second season of The UnXplained debuted yesterday, all about visions, oddities, and semi-mystical happenings that took place in the real world. New episodes of The UnXplained hit History on Saturdays.

Fans can read all of SYFY WIRE's C2E2 2020's coverage here.