Star Trek Into Darkness: New Image Officially Released

We've seen dozens of "new images" from Star Trek Into Darkness over the last little while, but in fact they were just screen captures from the announcement trailer that hit a few days ago. Today, though, Paramount has officially released a new image from the film, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch's anonymous villain locked away in a brig and seemingly engaging in a heated discussion with Spock and Kirk. The scene may well be the same one from the trailer, in which Spock gives the Vulcan salute to the man on the other side of the glass in in a shot reminiscent of Spock's death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It was briefly speculated, since Kirk wore the black outfit in much of Star Trek and does in a few shots during the announcement trailer, that it may have been Kirk but given the consistency with which Cumberbatch is seen in that top, it seemed more likely to be the villain. A nine-minute preview of Star Trek Into Darkness will be attached to select IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this weekend, and if reports are to be believed, Cumberbatch's villain will be heavily featured...but his identity will still not be revealed. There's a great deal of discussion among Star Trek fans as to who he might turn out to be, with most of the attention focused on Gary Mitchell or Khan Noonien Singh. Still other fans aren't convinced that it's either, and there are some other possibilities floating around which we'll be exploring later today.