Giant Freakin Robot

The sequel to Star Trek has been one of the most well guarded film productions this year. J.J. Abrams is notorious for secrecy as he presents audiences with his trademark “mystery box.” But it seems like Paramount Pictures doesn’t feel the same way about mystique as Abrams because they may have unwittingly divulged the secret title to Star Trek 2. So instead of calling it Star Trek 2 or the sequel to Star Trek, we may now call it Star Trek Into Darkness.

The sleuths at ComingSoon.net have found out Paramount Pictures recently bought the website domain names for www.startrekintodarkness.com and www.startrekintodarknessmovie.com, which naturally led them to believe the title for the sequel film is, in fact, Star Trek Into Darkness.

While there’s been no response from Paramount, several other sources have now confirmed that this is indeed the title and that yes, there is no semicolon involved. Apparently it really is supposed to read like a complete sentence “Star trek into darkness.”

It’s only eight months away but the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek will be four years in the making by the time it is released into theaters. Abrams and crew have taken their time to make Star Trek 2 something special and not your run-of-the-mill sequel film, we hope.

On Tuesday at The Wrap’s inaugural Short Film Festival in Los Angeles, actor Zachary Quinto divulged Abrams’ vision for the Star Trek sequel. He didn’t give away any of the closely guarded plot details, but instead took a cue from his Star Trek co-star Chris Pine and talked about the general tone of the film:

It was bigger… It was bolder, I think, than the first one, and that was pretty big and bold from my stand point. I feel very fulfilled, but I don’t feel particularly attached to what the outcome of that project will be because I have faith in the people that I was collaborating with to make it as good as it can be.

Quinto will return to Star Trek to play the new Spock. He discussed his role in the production and was eager to start doing promotion for Star Trek 2. Quinto stated the film is in good hands with J.J. Abrams:

I feel like, you know, my work is done on the movie right now and until we have to go and promote it, then my work remains done and I let J.J. and his incredible team of people get in there and do the work that they need to do now.

Lately we’ve seen some details spill out of the cast of Star Trek 2. Actor Chris Pine admitted the sequel would not follow in the footsteps of other summer blockbuster sequels, namely Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. A new addition to the cast, Benedict Cumberbatch also hinted the villain role he’ll play in the sequel. But still, the sequel to Star Trek is shrouded in mystery until the film will be released on May 17th 2013.

J.J. Abrams is notorious for his secrecy. He’s one of the few directors today that keeps a giant lid on his productions, his storylines, and his films. We don’t even know the official title of Star Trek 2. And although no one who worked on the sequel to Star Trek can say what the story is, they can certainly say what the story is not.

In an interview with the British magazine Total Film, actor Chris Pine stated, “We’re not making Batman. That’s not our deal.” This is a reference to Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight. The sequel film to Batman Begins took the dark tone of the first film and went to an even darker place. Apparently Star Trek 2 will not be a grim, gritty, and dark tale of justice in an imperfect world. Pine divulged:

Like the first one, there’s some serious issues being dealt with. And I’d say the threat is even greater in this one. The force [the Enterprise crew] are met with is much more frightening. It’s relentlessly action-packed and in terms of character development it goes places you’d never expect.

After Star Trek 2 is finally released on May 17, 2013, I have a feeling that Benedict Cumberbatch is going to be happy if he never hears the name “Khan” ever again. The rumors that Khan is the villain in Abrams’ second Trek outing have been floating around since before Cumberbatch landed the role, and despite repeated denials from people involved with the production, they just won’t die. Granted, if it is Khan, they probably wouldn’t tell us, so who knows. Either way, new Cumberbatch comments seem to add more fuel to the “It’s not Khan” argument, but they definitely raise some questions as well.

In an interview with Shortlist, Cumberbatch admits to being weary of fielding Khan questions, but naturally is keeping mum about who he’s actually playing. Well, mostly mum, anyway. Cumberbatch says, “I’ll tell you this, it’s iconic and it’s exciting. I’m bored of denying that it’s Khan now, because people keep saying it.”

So, he seems to yet again dismiss the undying Khan rumors, but his statement that the character he’s playing is “iconic” also raises some eyebrows. When you’re talking about the Original Series Trek characters, you can’t get any more iconic than Khan. But if it’s not Khan, who else would qualify as “iconic?” The nigh-omnipotent Gary Mitchell from “Where No Man Has Gone Before” seems the most likely candidate. His name was dropped by Trek actor Karl Urban last month, although the production quickly denied it. Still, given that he’s probably the second most iconic TOS Trek villain, and that Cumberbatch’s character seems to be wearing a variant of the Starfleet uniforms in some of the set photos, Mitchell still seems like a possible candidate.