First Star Trek Teaser Asks More Questions Than It Answers

Well, J.J. Abrams is certainly swinging for the fences.  Either that, or he's pulling an INCREDIBLE bait and switch.

Possibly both.

Above is today's "Announcement Teaser" for Star Trek Into Darkness, which is really just "announcing" that there will be a longer teaser in theaters next weekend, not to mention the nine minute preview in front of IMAX screenings of The Hobbit.  This is essentially the same logic behind splitting up the last Twilight/Harry Potter/Hunger Games books into two separate movies each, which really just boils down to, "Why do something once, when we can do it twice and get twice the money/attention!"

I'll just say it: that's some fine looking footage.  Lots of action, a glimpse at some huge moments, (is that the Enterprise rising up out of the ocean?  THAT'S certainly a new trick.) and an overall sense that Abrams is really going for broke.  With that in mind, I have a saying when it comes to movie trailers: teasers are easy.  All you need are a few finished effects shots, some dramatic closeups, an explosion or two and a menacing voiceover.  As you'll recall, the teaser for X-Men 3 looked incredible.  As did all the Transformer teasers.  And Prometheus.

We all know how they turned out.

And when it comes to the maddeningly secret identity of Benedict Cumberbatch's villain, it certainly feels like Abrams has gone out of his way to make us all think it's Khan.  The voiceover line, "For I have returned...to have my vengeance" is fairly on the nose.  And then there's this Japanese version of the teaser, with just a tad more footage stuck onto the end...but man is that one image a doozy:



Every Star Trek fan knows exactly what those two hands on the glass means, and it's SUCH a distinct and iconic moment in Trek history that it has most people convinced that it must be a misdirect.  Surely Abrams doesn't have the balls to try and recreate that scene...right?  While J.J. certainly loves to keep us all guessing, I also wouldn't put it past him to really shoot the moon and just go for it...meaning it's actually a misdirect of a misdirect...

...my head hurts.

I expect we'll get more answers with the cavalcade of footage being released next weekend.  Honestly, I'd love it if we were ALL off base and Cumberbatch turned out to be another Trek character that came completely out of left field...but I doubt it.