Typical! You wait ages for a Star Trek Into Darkness trailer and two come along in quick succession. Today saw the second teaser trailer make its debut for the 12th Star Trek film and it pushed Kirk to the forefront. It begins with a voice over by Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) giving Kirk (Chris Pine) a verbal kick up the butt to take his responsibilities seriously and start acting like a leader, he says;
"There's greatness in you, but not an ounce of humility. But there's going to come a moment when you're wrong about that. And you're going to get yourself, and everyone under your command, killed"
Pike's tone is much more downbeat than when he convinced Kirk to join Starfleet in Star Trek 2009. He sounds almost disappointed as if it's a talk he's giving after Kirk's untamed ego has gotten him into trouble. If the first film got Kirk the Enterprise, Into Darkness is where he is going to have to prove that he deserves it. After a slow lingering shot of Cumberbatch looking pleased with himself in a brig, the rest of the trailer is made up off shots of intense action and explosions. They hammer home the theme that Kirk is going to be tested; and judging by the level of destruction and the looks on the crew's faces, Kirk is not in for an easy ride. There are a couple of noteworthy images presented in this teaser. Chekov is in a red uniform for some reason, I'm sure he isn't going to be moved from his post as the ship's navigator so it is intriguing as to why he would be wearing a red shirt. Also it looks like the space jump suits are going to make a return with Kirk using one to speed through a debris field in space.
Some shots from the first teaser are repeated like the ship crashing into the San Francisco Bay. A number of other sites are speculating that it's the Enterprise crashing into the water but it's not, the warp nacelles and struts are completely different, it's another Federation ship. You also see the ''homage'' to the scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan with Kirk and Spock touching hands that are separated by glass. Some think that this might be a hint that Spock is going to be killed off but I doubt that they would do that. With the rebooted franchise just beginning to take off, Spock is going to be needed for the foreseeable future. They really want us to link this film with The Wrath Of Khan. If it's because it has something to do with the story or it's a way to sell the film by linking it with what is still regarded as the best Star Trek film or if it's simply a red herring, whatever the reason, it's a marketing strategy that needs to be commended. With still six months to wait, more trailers will follow and in the world of the internet where it's hard to keep anything secret, I'm amazed that the villain still hasn't been confirmed. Star Trek Into Darkness opens in cinemas May 17, 2013