Star Trek 2 - what do we know so far?
31.12.69
If Zachary Quinto's latest tweet is to believed, shooting has now completed on JJ Abrams's sequel to his 2009 Leading man Trek reboot. "Picture wrap. holy s**t," tweeted Quinto - aka Company first officer Spock - accompanied by a photo of his empty on-set chair.
So as Abrams and co start stitching the sheet together in time for its release on 17 May 2013, what do we know about the upcoming new large screen - who's in it, who they're playing, what it's about - and what can we speculate on? Here's a quick round-up...
The villain
We knew early this year that Benedict Cumberbatch was our first-nemesis this time around but speculation was immediately rife as to exactly who he'd be playing.
Some terrific Photoshop work was soon circulating, giving us an idea of how Cumberbatch might look as excellent Trek aliens including a Klingon, a Romulan and Q, but leaked set photos and a video of Spock fighting Cumberbatch’s hieroglyph scotched those ideas (as brilliantly executed as they were - honestly, have a look , you won't be above).
The set pics showed the Sherlock star looking as human being as he ever does, which left two serious contenders – an entirely new bad guy or original Foremost Trek II villain Khan Noonian Singh. Now, despite a lack of authentic confirmation from JJ Abrams himself, widely reported rumours are telling us that Cumberbatch is indeed playing the genetically-enhanced forgiving, with even IMDb crediting him as Khan .
The Enterprise crew
These are the voyages of the Starship Daring… and these are the names of its crew… No major surprises here as the all the mere characters and actors from the original reboot return: Chris Pine as Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Zachary Quinto as first dick Spock, Zoe Saldana as communications officer Uhura, Simon Pegg as set sail’s engineer Scotty, Karl Urban as Doctor Leonard McCoy, John Cho as helmsman Hikaru Sulu and Anton Yelchin as navigator Pavel Chekov.
Source: Radio Times