Star Trek Into Darkness Plot Details Surface, but Villain Remains a Mystery

Synopsis of the highly anticipated sequel offers little in the way of clues

By Peter Gicas Nov 28, 2012 3:37 PMTags
Benedict Cumberbatch, Zachary Quinto, Star TrekEric Ford/On Location News

The storyline for Star Trek Into Darkness is now a little less in the dark.

Paramount has released a plot synopsis of J.J. Abrams' highly anticipated sequel to Star Trek, thereby giving fans a lot more to mull over than that three-frame clip did. In particular, which villainous character Benedict Cumberbatch might be playing.

"When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis," reads the synopsis. "With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

"As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew."

As for who the "one-man weapon of mass destruction" might be, speculation has been running rampant that Cumberbatch is playing popular baddie Khan.

Hopefully, more clues to the villain's identity will be revealed when the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness are shown as an extended trailer before The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in IMAX 3-D theaters on Dec. 14.

If not, then we'll just have to wait for when the film itself actually hits theaters on May 17, 2013.