So we've had the first poster and teaser for JJ Abrams' second Star Trek sequel dropped on us. And yes, it is called Star Trek Into Darkness without a colon. As stupid as that is.
Anyway the poster. It's okay. Nice and ominous, with Benedict Cumberbatch's villain standing amidst wreckage and a big Starfleet insignia hole. Not very revealing plotwise, which is what everybody's really interested in because Abrams and Co. just won't fricking tell us anything. And like I joked in the title, this poster totally rips off The Dark Knight's poster. Big recognizable symbol hole, and the bad guy with his back turned and coat billowing much like the Joker in the other Dark Knight poster. But whatever, it's a teaser poster. Those are mostly just to remind audiences the movie is still coming out and get them interested.
Teaser and speculation after the break
Again, not very revealing plotwise. All we can really gleam is that Benedict Cumberbatch has some sort of grudge, though whether it's against one of the main characters or the Federation as a whole is unclear, and has come back to wreck shit up. It also does that annoying hard cut/fade to black and Inception BWAAAAMMMMM!!!!!! noise too many trailers these days do.
Because the production crew has told us basically nothing except that Benedict Cumberbatch is the villain, most of the speculation has surrounded him. Early stills showed him wearing a black Starfleet uniform, so it has been assumed he's a traitor of some sort. One idea that seemed plausible is that he was Gary Mitchell from the original Star Trek TV series' second pilot. Mitchell was an old buddy of Kirk's who became a godlike mutant after being hit with space rays. The trailer may actually confirm some relation to him as the unidentified blonde woman in a blue Starfleet medical uniform resembles Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, a character from the same episode as Mitchell who also gained godlike powers.
Unfortunately, the writers have stated publicly that Mitchell is not the villain but that he is an established character. This fact combined with Cumberbatch's villainous voiceover has led to another theory. That Cumberbatch is actually Garth of Izar. Originally appearing in the episode Whom Gods Destroy, Garth was a highly decorated Starfleet commander who won several major battles in the early days of the Federation. He was severely wounded but nursed to health by some nice aliens. The aliens also taught him "cellular metamorphosis" which allowed him to take on anyone else's appearance. Learning this trick drove him mad though and he exterminated the aliens when they refused his gratitude. When the Federation learned this, he was exiled to an insane asylum on a distant planet.
Examining the evidence, I support this theory. What little we know of Cumberbatch is that he's associated with Starfleet and wants revenge for something. This would fit into Garth's MO, in the episode he expresses contempt for the Federation, calling them infantilizing sheeple, and has vowed revenge on his mutinous crew for tattling about his genocide. In addition, he's built up a cult of personality among his fellow inmates and even crowns himself "master of the universe". He also resembles Cumberbatch a bit, wearing a modified Starfleet uniform and big coat. It was a fur coat, which worked in the 60s, whereas Cumberbatch is wearing a more contemporary leather longcoat.
Of course, a screenshot from the Japanese teaser has led to a whole other theory...
That is (assumed) to be Spock doing the Vulcan salute on the other side of a glass barrier from someone, presumably Kirk. This, of course, brought to mind the end of Wrath of Khan where SPOILERS Spock sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise in a scene where he gave Kirk the Vulcan salute on the other side of glass END SPOILERS. So now people are speculating that Cumberbatch is Khan. This was actually the first theory for the villain but was dismissed because A) it's too fucking obvious and B) we assume the writers are smart enough to know that whatever they do will not be as good as Wrath of Khan. But this screenshot brought the idea roaring back.
Personally, I really hope Cumberbatch isn't Khan. Wrath of Khan is a goddamn masterpiece and Ricardo Montalban made the character iconic. Cumberbatch is a good actor, don't get me wrong, but there is no way his Khan could measure up or not feel rehashed. Plus, it's the laziest option. Khan as the bad guy is the most obvious route the filmmakers could take and it would just confirm this new Star Trek is just a warmed over, gussied up rehash of the old Star Trek. All the new creative energy and possibilities they created with altering the timeline and destroying Vulcan would just be sucked out if Khan is the villain.
But, I'm not convinced that's what's going in that screenshot. In fact, this could be more evidence for Garth. See, we don't actually know who the two characters in this shot are. We assume one is Spock because they are wearing blue and giving the Vulcan salute. But, like I said, Garth can take on other people's appearance. Indeed, in Whom Gods Destroy he plans to take over the Enterprise by pretending to be Kirk. So how do we know that he hasn't taken Spock's appearance and is trying to manipulate one of our heroes? Or tricking us the audience by homaging a well-known moment in the franchise? Just an idea...
So to sum up, we really still don't know anything. More pieces to the puzzle, but nothing concrete. Maybe the next trailer will actually have some answers.
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