By now all Trekkies know that 9 minutes of IMAX footage from the new film, Star Trek Into Darkness, will be shown at select theaters on December 14.
The big running joke? Maybe by then we’ll know have an idea who the villain is, because we still don’t know for sure.
Initially there was speculation that Khan would be back. Then Benedict Cumberbatch, who is actually playing the bad guy this time around, said it’s Gary Mitchell, who was the villain in the very first episode of the series.
There’s still no official word, JJ Abrams is nothing if not secretive, but now the site GiantFreakinRobot tells us there’s some clues in the official studio synopsis released by Paramount. Here’s the basic story according to the studio, which reads in part:
“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.”
Certainly vague enough that it could be any number of bad guys, but perhaps when the nine minutes of footage is finally unveiled we’ll finally know for sure on May 17, 2013, when Star Trek Into Darkness reaches theaters.
In the meantime, William Shatner has been touring relentlessly with his one man show, Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It, and as we also reported on TG, there’s also the new Shatner iOS app, where you can program Captain Kirk to say whatever you like in your iPhone.
During a break in his hectic schedule, Shatner was asked about the new Trek films and he said, “I think it’s wonderful. It’s a great ride, a great opening up to Star Trek to modern audiences.”
Yet Shatner also felt, “It doesn’t have the story heart that the best of my Star Trek had, but it’s a glorious motion picture.” When asked if he would be involved in a future Trek film, like how Nimoy made a cameo, Shatner replied, “I can’t imagine how. I have to do some face work before I apply.”
