The return trip had to follow a strict rule from William Shatner

Trekkies have long known about William Shatner’s selfish behavior on set and how he always saw himself as the only true protagonist of “Star Trek.” Going by this claim, Nimoy and DeForest Kelley were his co-leads, while the other actors were merely alternate ensemble members. Because he felt like the star, Shatner was known for being brusque and dismissive towards other actors, and often hogged the spotlight, tried to steal other actors’ lines for himself, and generally behaved like a big old jerk. . It won’t be years before Shatner and some of his co-stars — but only a few of them — reconcile and, in some cases, become close friends.

In 1986, Paramount seemed ready to pander to Shatner’s ego and demanded that Kirk be brought to the forefront in “Star Trek IV,” even though it wasn’t Kirk’s story. Meerson recalled the instructions clearly:

“The approach we were told to take is that Kirk really had to be the one leading everyone. (…) Not necessarily that he had to actually have the idea to do something, but he had to give the impression that he had the power.”

Krikes recalled how illogical the mandate was and how, when you watch the film, you can see how Kirk was arbitrarily inserted into various scenes where he didn’t belong. For example, there is a scene near the end of the film in which Spock (Nimoy) has a conversation with his father Sarek (Mark Lenard). Kirk is present in the background watching the conversation. There’s no reason for him to be there. But damn, that’s what Paramount wanted.