Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the twelfth installment in the Star Trek franchise and the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek, as the second in a rebooted film series. It features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, and Leonard Nimoy reprising their roles from the previous film. Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, and Peter Weller are also in the film's principal cast. It was Nimoy's last film appearance before his death in 2015.

Set in the 23rd century, the film follows Kirk and the crew of USS Enterprise as they are sent to the Klingon homeworld seeking a former Starfleet member-turned-terrorist, John Harrison.

After the release of Star Trek, Abrams, Burk, Lindelof, Kurtzman, and Orci agreed to produce its sequel. Filming began in January 2012. Into Darkness's visual effects were primarily created by Industrial Light & Magic. The film was converted to 3D during its post-production stage. It premiered at Event Cinemas in Sydney, Australia, on April 23, 2013, and was released on May 9 in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe and Peru, with other countries following.

Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, commanding officer and former first officer of the starship Enterprise.
Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock, first officer and science officer. Leonard Nimoy has a cameo appearance as Spock Prime.
Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, chief medical officer.
Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, communications officer.
Simon Pegg as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, second officer and chief engineer.
John Cho as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, third officer and helmsman.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman given the false identity of Commander John Harrison.
Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov, navigator and Scott's temporary replacement as chief engineer.
Bruce Greenwood as Admiral Christopher Pike, Kirk's predecessor as captain of the Enterprise and mentor.
Peter Weller as Starfleet Fleet Admiral Alexander Marcus, Carol's father.
Alice Eve as Dr. Carol Marcus, a science officer who uses the pseudonym Carol Wallace to board the Enterprise.
Noel Clarke as Thomas Harewood, a Starfleet officer, working within Section 31 who is bribed by Khan into blowing up the facility.
Nazneen Contractor as Rima Harewood, Thomas's wife

Most of you trekkies will remember the original TOS episode with Ricardo Montalban as Khan, and then the 1982 movie Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan. Well Into Darkness on the kelvin timeline takes the original movie and twists it slightly, in a nice way.