Star Trek Into Darkness 2013 Trailer

[Danel Potvin]

Themysterious villain of the new Trek film (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is the most likely cause of the problems the Enterprise faces in the trailer, though director J.J. Abrams has kept mum on the details and motivations behind the latest adversary to threaten Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk and his crew.

Not since the 1984 film "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" has a Kirk-led USS Enterprise seen such hard times. In that film, Kirk and his crew decide to destroy the Enterprise using its auto-destruct program to prevent it from falling into Klingon hands. The starship explodes in space and then crashes down onto the planet Genesis, where the Kirk and his crew beam to safety.

The newest Star Trek incarnation is set for release on May 17, but fans of the movies can use the newly released "Star Trek Into Darkness" app to play games and unlock content related to the film. The app is available for free through iTunes and Google Play.

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The Sherlock star is the villain in the new film, the sequel to the 2009 Star Trek reboot. Once again written and directed by JJ Abrams and starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg, Star Trek Into Darkness tells the continuing adventures of the crew of the Starship Enterprise as they boldly go in 3D and on IMAX screens.

There's a Japanese version of the trailer with an intriguing moment added to the end -- press play below to energise the Japanese trailer and see Cumberbatch aiming his best gravell-y trailer voice at Kirk and crew, including another Brit, Alice Eve.

The first Dark Knight Rises-style poster shows Cumberbatch standing over a ravaged London -- you can see the Gherkin and St Paul's as well as various future-y skyscrapers. But the burning question among fans is the identity of Cumberbadguy: rumours linger that he plays Khan, the genetically engineered dictator who troubled William Shatner in the original series and Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan.

But with his icy eyes, Starfleet uniform and apparent city-toppling power, we could be looking at a big-screen outing for Gary Mitchell. Mitchell was an old friend of Captain Kirk who acquired telekinetic powers in the second pilot episode of the original series, Where No Man Has Gone Before (the first pilot episode was titled The Cage and featured Spock but not Kirk, trivia fans).

Star Trek Into Darkness is released in May. If you can't wait to get your darkness on, you can start trekkin' with the first nine minutes of the film playing on IMAX screens before screenings of the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, released on 13 December.

The first official teaser for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness has gone online and gives Trekkies their first good glimpse of the villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch who's plotting some sort of revenge against Kirk, Spock and the rest of the starship gang.

1. Boldly Going Dark: "You think your world is safe. It is an illusion. A comforting lie told to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance."

Those words spoken by a brooding voice, presumably Cumberbatch's fiendish character, kick off this action-packed minute-long clip and are accompanied by images of our heroes apparently back on Earth. But the mood is dark and foreboding and a Sept. 11 vibe hangs in the air, as do fighter jets that zoom over a terrified city.

2. We Have Met the Enemy and He Is...: After a series of quick shots including Chris Pine's Kirk running through an alien-looking field of red plants, at last we are introduced to the Enterprise's new foe, who appears with a pretty big gun. Initially Cumberbatch was rumored to be playing a new take on Khan Noonien Singh, the superhuman tyrant from the original TV series that terrorized Kirk and crew in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But word lately is that he's actually Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell, a former friend of Kirk's dating back to his cadet days who also appeared on the original Star Trek TV series and acquired telekinetic powers after crossing a galactic barrier.

3. The Gang's All Here: After Cumberbatch is done talking, an Inception-esque score kicks into gear and we see that all the regulars from 2009's Star Trek reboot are back. Among the most prominent to flash by in the trailer are John Cho's Sulu and Zachary Quinto's Spock, the latter shown brandishing his own gun and running through a city. No doubt they have their work cut out for them on this adventure, which also features some pretty high-octane CGI thrills including a fiery volcano-like landscape, a guy in a space suit flying down from the heavens, and an explosion aboard the deck of a starship.

4. She's Beaming! Another moment features Zoe Saldana, reprising her role as Uhura and looking sexier than ever, as she and Kirk confront the enemy that awaits them. No word if she and Spock will continue their flirtation in this go-round.

For fanboys who can't stand the wait, Paramount is beaming the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness into IMAX 3-D theaters ahead of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Dec. 14. The sequel is set to hit theaters in both 3-D and 2-D on May 17, 2013.

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