Paramount’s campaign for Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t so much a trail of quadrotriticale bread crumbs as it is the PR equivalent of one of Khan’s ear-crawling Ceti eels: relatively content-free slugs of information that nonetheless burrow their way into our brains and induce total Trek-related obsession. Just who is Benedict Cumberbatch’s starfleet officer-turned-villain John Harrison? Why does he still wear the uniform yet wage war against everything it represents? Why does he seem to have superhuman powers yet can be contained in a transparent holding cell? And where in space is Peter Weller? Well, Paramount’s not scratching our itch for more information, but they are adding to our heap of questions. They’ve just released 11 new photos from the movie (out May 13), most of which are just new angles on shots we’ve previously seen in the trailers. Let’s take a closer look.
First, we’ve got a shot of Kirk (Chris Pine, really looking more and more like William Shatner) standing with Alice Eve’s Carol Marcus. Now, J.J. Abrams has said that Star Trek Into Darkness is set just six months after the events of 2009’s Star Trek. That film was set in 2258. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the only other film featuring Carol Marcus, is set in 2282, when her son with Kirk, David, is about…24 years old! That means we can very much expect Marcus to be Kirk’s romantic interest in the new movie. I’m still holding out hope, however, that Abrams will decree that the alterations to the timeline from his first film will mean that whiny David never exists.
That circular pattern to Kirk’s right looks just like the giant circle (A window? The Guardian of Forever?) a hooded John Harrison takes a towering leap in front of in the first Star Trek Into Darkness trailer Paramount released..
We know from the IMAX preview that part of the movie’s opening sequence shows Spock (Zachary Quinto) leading a rescue mission from inside a volcano. Very Revenge of the Sith-esque.
The thing that puzzled me from that first trailer was how Harrison made a towering leap that hinted at superhuman ability, yet he was still firing at his foes with a phaser. That would suggest that he’s not imbued with godlike powers, even though we all know that developing godlike powers is a common hazard associated with being a Starfleet officer. So what explains the leap? Is he just genetically enhanced?
First of all, I love how similar these uniforms are to the ones Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise crew wear in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Second, we’ve got our first real glimpse of Bruce Greenwood‘s Christopher Pike! And he’s not in a wheelchair! Clearly, Pike is still playing the role of mentor in the new movie.
Anyone else think these phasers are starting to look more and more like the phase pistols from Star Trek: Enterprise?
I suppose post-Bourne, it’s de rigueur for characters in action movies to take a running leap through plate glass. I’m still inclined, though, to chalk this up to some superhuman ability John Harrison possesses that hasn’t been revealed yet.
One of the few times in any of the clips from the movie we’ve seen so far where Kirk is actually wearing his mustard uniform, though I’m sad Shatner’s original series velour has been replaced with some kind of vinyl mesh.
Going where Hannibal Lecter, Silva, and Loki have gone before him: inside a glass jail cell.
Why does a communications officer need to pack heat? I’m pretty sure that isn’t a phaser she’s clutching, though. Maybe a Klingon disruptor?
Maybe Scotty will explain to us in this movie why flip phones experience a mid-23rd century revival.
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
[Photo Credit: Paramount (11)]
More:
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Trailer Deep Dive: There Be Klingons Here!
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’: Alice Eve’s Character Revealed!
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Trailer: Khan We Tell Who the Villain Is?
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