The entertainment universe has only about two-and-a-half months until the release of "Star Trek Into Darkness," the latest in the Star Trek television-and movie-franchise and follow-up to the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot in 2009, and fans still aren't sure if the nemesis in this latest tale is an out-of-control Klingon, a vengeful, ultra-engineered super soldier named Khan, another brooding Romulan or something totally new.
Now that Abrams has been has been dubbed headmaster for both the Star Trek and Star Wars sagas, would it really be so strange for some galactic maniac from Emperor Palpatine's First Galactic Empire to to access a time-space rift between the Star Wars and Star Trek universes, somehow reach the Starship Enterprise and wreak the havoc Trek fans know and love?
But, we digress.
Abrams will be directing from a script by Damon Lindelof and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.
The crew of the Enterprise engages in an epic battle of good versus evil after returning home to Earth, to discover Starfleet obliterated. So, the Enterprise ventures into a war zone to find the villain (Benedict Cumberbatch) responsible for all the devastation and violence.
And did we mention the Enterprise may be destroyed?
In the newest trailer for the science fiction movie - premiered during the Super Bowl Feb. 3 - it certainly looks that way, as the enduring and highly popular ship is seen free-falling toward the surface of a planet, burning.
Back in the 1984 film "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock," Kirk and his crew decided to destroy their version of the Enterprise to keep it from the hands of Klingon Captain Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd. The starship exploded in space and crashed down into the planet Genesis.
The NCC 1701-D Enterprise, led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, was totaled in the film "Star Trek: Generations" after a battle with a Klingon Bird of Prey.
Completely new to Abrams' storytelling - but not new to true "Trek" fans - is Carol Marcus, the Starfleet scientist played by British actress Alice Eve in "Into Darkness." Marcus first appeared in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," where she was introduced as Kirk's old flame and mother to the captain's previously-unknown son, David --- who died in the following movie at the hands of, you guessed it, Klingons.
Abrams has revealed that Marcus plays a crucial role in the coming story --- which keeps stoking the embers of those who suspect the Cumberbatch character is, indeed, Khan.
Star Trek Into Darkness is due to be released May 17. Until then, fans of the movie can lose themselves in the newly-released "Star Trek Into Darkness" app --- where they can play film-based games and explore related content.
The app is free through iTunes and Google Play.