If you squint really hard you might be able to see Star Trek inscribed above INTO DARKNESS!, but thankfully Paramount has the Federation symbol in there as well. I should love this poster. I don’t, but whatever. Don’t mind me. Thoughts below:
Like I say in the headline, this is a poster of mystery (who the hell is that guy?) and symbolism (thank you The Dark Knight Rises). Yes, we know it’s Benedict Cumberbatch and that he’s likely playing Gary Mitchell in the film, but we’re not supposed to know that (it’s in the mystery box) so that’s rendered moot when taking into account the poster. Also, Cumberbatch is standing in front of a gigantically blown to hell federation symbol. Did he make that? Probably not (symbolism) but anyone catching him standing there is now going to associate him with the federation. Which is probably the opposite of the motif a villain should be going for in a film. It’s like the CEO of Coke calling in his secretary so he/she can see him drinking a Pepsi while taking a shit on his mahogany desk.
Also, the film’s called Star Trek Into Darkness. “Star” should indicate space and “Darkness” should indicate not London.
Sorry, nerd spell. Happy Monday, everyone.
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Marketing departments these days have apparently grown a fetish for mass destruction, thanks in part to THE DARK KNIGHT. But whereas DARK KNIGHT was all about chaos and decimation, here the symbolism doesn’t make any sense.
STAR TREK should be an intrinsically optimistic franchise, basically telling us that regardless of all the bullshit Mankind will inflict upon itself, we’ll ultimately pull through. Post-9/11 cynicism might be appropriate for Batman’s world, but when shoehorned into the STAR TREK universe, it comes across as crass and shallow.
It’s not gonna be Gary Mitchell — he already appeared (and died) in the ongoing monthly comic book series (in the “Where No Man Has Gone Before” adaptation of issues #1-2), which is supervised by Abrams and Roberto Orci, and is leading straight into this next film (similar to 2009’s Countdown mini-series).
Going by that official Paramount synopsis, it’s far likelier a TOS character like Garth of Izar or Ronald Tracey — a renegade Starfleet captain who goes off the deep end, etc.
You might be right, but in Countdown, Spock and Nero had a pretty close relationship that flies in the face of Spock’s “He said his name was Nero,” line in the film. I enjoyed Countdown, but I didn’t put much stock into it as a canonical lead-in.
That’s awful.
I’ve been saying that phrase about Star Trek for 20 years. How am I still a Trekkie?
They will never again make a movie like what with the whales. Also gone is the upbeat humanism. For the rest of time, Star Trek will have a villain with a grudge and a superweapon who gets punched by the captain (or most popular non-human character) in the unsatisfying climax. And it’s all the will of the Force.
It’s considered fully canonical by Abrams, Kurtzman, and Orci (as is the new monthly series):
http://trekmovie.com/2012/07/17/exclusive-orci-says-star-trek-tv-talks-getting-real-declares-movie-tie-in-comics-game-as-canon/
On a personal level, I actually rather prefer the Countdown series’ version of Spock Prime and Nero’s relationship to the movie’s, and the ongoing book has done an excellent job of setting the stage for Into Darkness (Mike Johnson, the lead writer, has had full access to the new movie’s screenplay for over a year-and-a-half, or thereabouts).
There’s another “Countdown“-style mini-series coming in the spring, which presumably will give us more skinny on Cumberbatch’s character (whomever he ultimately ends up being), along with background on why he does what he does in the flick.
FTW, dude. Great observation.
Am I the only one getting a “Transformers:Dark of the Moon Vibe” off of the font on this poster? Also the whole aesthetic of the poster feels like some “Dark Knight Rises”/”Transformers” hybrid.
Aesthetically the poster is fine. As a Star Trek poster I think it’s horrible. But then, that’s how I feel about Abram’s reboot in general – it’s horrible and it’s not Star Trek. So I guess the poster is appropriate.
Yay, Star Trek is now like everything else, way to fucking go!
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