J.J. Abrams is keeping a tight lid on the identity of the villain in the upcoming “Star Trek” movie, which is due to be released on May 17th, 2013. A couple of trailers have surfaced over these past few months giving us some clues, but the overall plot remains a mystery. I should probably say right off the bat that the below may border spoiler territory, so continue at your own risk.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Here’s what we know so far:
Plot Description
“When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.” – Paramount Pictures
Cast
The cast from the last movie in 2009 will make a return, plus:
Benedict Cumberbatch – Unknown Villain / John Harrison
“John Harrison is a fictional character in the rebooted Star Trek Universe and is the main antagonist of J.J. Abrams’ sequel, “Star Trek Into Darkness”.Little is known of the villain, but he is described as one of Starfleet’s “top agents” by Admiral Marcus. The actor portraying Harrison, Benedict Cumberbatch, describes the character as a terrorist with an ideology, as well as physically imposing and a brilliant strategist and master manipulator, akin to Hannibal Lecter or The Joker.” – IMDB
Alice Eve – Carol Marcus
She played Kirk’s love interest in “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan”. Kirk and Marcus had a son, one David Marcus, who was killed in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock”. Her role in this movie is unknown, though I suspect it has something to do with the next entry.
Peter Weller – Admiral Marcus
Presumably the father of Carol Marcus, who is also presumably tied in with the villain somehow.
Christopher Doohan – Transporter Officer
Christopher is the son to James Doohan (Scotty). While not relevent to the plot, I thought it was a great easter egg worth sharing.
You can see the full list on IMDB here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1408101/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast
Trailers:
Thoughts:
There’s been a lot of hubbub floating around that suggests Cumberbatch is playing Khan, but I’m not convinced of this. Though, I do have a few theories:
1) The title, “Into Darkness”, may suggest a look at the mirror universe. The third trailer shows a part (1:17) where the Enterprise seems to come face to face with a much larger, darker version of itself. Some of the “Star Trek” episodes and books include the word “Dark” in their title when they deal with the mirror universe. I’m thinking that maybe Cumberbatch is the captain of the Enterprise from the mirror universe. What’s more, he may be someone of importance, like Robert April or maybe even Kirk himself. I can hope, right? It’s also possible that the ship mentioned above is of the larger “Excelsior” class, featured in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock”.
2) The descriptions of the movie note Cumberbatch as a terrorist, so perhaps he’s some sort of rogue agent that ties in somehow with the new character, Admiral Marcus. “Section 31”, a secret organization in Starfleet that was created to safeguard the Federation through any means necessary, was introduced in “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and has grown in popularity as a plot tool over the years. Perhaps Cumberbatch is playing a totally new character not of the “Star Trek” universe? The above IMDB entry shows that Admiral Marcus and Cumberbatch are connected, so it’s possible that we may end up having more than one villain.
Whatever the case, I’m excited to see how this all plays out. I’ll more than likely be there opening night…will you?
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