Shatner and Nimoy have confirmed that they have been contacted by Abrams to appear in ST11. It is still conjecture as to the size of their roles and even if they will be reprising their characters, though it would be a major surprise if they did not.
I wonder if Abrams is going to use them to reminisce about an previously "untold' tale or bring in some time travel a la Guardian of Forever or parallel universes/dimensions where the future of the original crew is unknown territory for the fans.
There must be some way of rebooting the franchise, preserving the established history, and wiping the slate clean. I have no way of knowing how Abrams is approaching this but if I were him, that would be my goal. If he could pull that off, that would be very exciting.
Imagine! Preserving the already tattered continuity of what has transpired over the last 40 years and wiping the slate clean at the same time!!!
That would be a major coup!!!!!!!!!!!
