FILM · 2013 · USA
Star Trek Into Darkness
- Directed by
- J.J. Abrams
- Runtime
- 132 min
- Studio
- Bad Robot, Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media
69 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
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. 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…
Summary: TMDB
45 Interesting Facts About Star Trek Into Darkness
- #001
Leonard Nimoy's final film role (and consequently his last performance as Spock) before his death on February 27, 2015, at the age of 83. It is also the first role in the Star Trek franchise (film or TV series) after Majel Barrett's death.
- #002
One of Leonard Nimoy's conditions for playing Spock in this film was that J. J. Abrams would ensure Nimoy's much-loved coffee ice cream was always available on set.
- #003
An in-joke reference is made to Simon Pegg during Kirk and Khan's boarding attempt, when a security officer tells Scotty to "show his other hand." Star Trek fans commonly know that James Doohan deliberately never showed both hands in any of the original series because he lost one of his fingers (in combat while storming the beach during the D-Day invasion). Mr. Doohan's war wound is visible in several episodes, including "The Trouble with Tribbles," which contains the scene requiring Scotty to carry the tribbles with both arms.
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
Near the end of the film, when Khan sends the U. S. S. Vengeance on a collision course with San Francisco for revenge, it crushes Alcatraz on its way toward the city. According to J. J. Abrams, this was a sly nod to the fact that the television series Alcatraz (2012), on which he served as executive producer, was cancelled after only one season.
- #005
Karl Urban pays tribute to DeForest Kelley by wearing a pinky ring on his left hand, as Kelley did in Star Trek (1966) and the six feature films.
- #006
James Doohan, the son of the original Scotty, plays a small role as a transporter officer alongside the current Scotty, Simon Pegg, in the film.
- #007
There is an inside joke in Captain Kirk asking Chekov to wear a red shirt and Chekov's less than enthusiastic reaction. In an interview, Walter Koenig noted that it was great to be part of Star Trek for so many years as long as you didn't wear a red shirt, because most of those who wore red shirts in the original series were killed. This led to the notorious "Redshirt Curse" theory, which was somewhat debunked when an extensive study showed that only ten percent of red-shirted crew members died in the original series (though they still accounted for roughly seventy-three percent of all on-screen deaths). Unfortunately, Anton Yelchin, the actor who played Chekov, died in a horrific traffic accident a month before the premiere of Star Trek Beyond (2016).
- #010
Scotty refers to Doctor McCoy as "Bones." This is the only instance in Star Trek (1966) history of someone other than Captain Kirk addressing him by that nickname. In The Tholian Web (1968), when Doctor McCoy is annoyed, Spock tells him that Kirk would say: "Forget it, Bones."
- #011
Benedict Cumberbatch recorded his screen test using an iPhone in his best friend's kitchen.
- #012
The starship U. S. S. Bradbury is mentioned. This is in memory of the famous science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who died on June 5, 2012.
- #014
The warp core seen in the film is actually the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the world's largest and most energetic laser system. Real-life scientists there are trying to create nuclear fusion. NIF was used as a set for the first time in 2012 with Department of Energy approval, during the facility's normal maintenance period. All additional costs were fully covered by the film company so as not to affect NIF's experimental schedule.
- #016
Contains a major spoiler — show
The climactic fight between Khan and Spock on a hovering garbage cruiser was filmed over a four-day period. Because of the extremely physical nature of the fight between the two characters, much of the cruiser was actually made of rubber.
- #017
Writer Damon Lindelof apologized on Twitter for the much-criticized, seemingly gratuitous scene in which Alice Eve undresses down to her underwear. J. J. Abrams would later push back against the criticism when he appeared on Conan O'Brien's talk show and premiered a cut scene of Benedict Cumberbatch taking a shower. Eve, for her part, staunchly defended the scene and said she was very proud to show her body after intense work for the shoot. She argued that she was not forced to do the scene and that she in no way felt exploited by it.
- #018
Despite taking part in several major battles, the U. S. S. Enterprise never fires its weapons at any point in this film.
- #019
The seatbelts that deploy from the bridge crew chairs and the warp core control station first appeared in a deleted final scene of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).
- #020
Leonard Nimoy appears as Spock for the eighth time in the Star Trek film series, breaking the record for most appearances in the film series held by William Shatner, James Doohan, Walter Koenig and Majel Barrett.
- #022
The U. S. S. Vengeance's computer is voiced by Bill Hader, famous for Saturday Night Live (1975).
- #024
Contains a major spoiler — show
The scene in which Khan is put back into suspended animation was written with the possibility that Khan could return in a future installment, with Benedict Cumberbatch reprising the role.
- #025
One of the two "Starfleet Memorial Admirals" is Gerald W. Abrams, J. J. Abrams's father.
- #027
The torpedo that Dr. "Bones" McCoy and Dr. Carol Marcus try to disarm bears various markings of "CVN-65," the registry of the decommissioned U. S. S. Enterprise aircraft carrier.
- #029
This marks the first time a Star Trek film was shot outside the United States, with special-effects scenes filmed in Iceland.
- #030
J. J. Abrams presented the villain to Benedict Cumberbatch as a combination of the Joker, Hannibal Lecter and Jack Torrance.
- #032
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman explained that the dilemma for the sequel was between pitting the crew against another villain as in Star Trek (2009) or having an "exploration science fiction plot, where the unknown and nature itself is somehow an adversary," as in Star Trek (1966).
- #033
In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Uhura was not familiar with the Klingon language during the secret mission in Klingon territory, despite Nichelle Nichols's objections. In the alternate reality, however, Uhura speaks the language fluently and can use that skill while in Klingon space.
- #036
According to J. J. Abrams, the writers wanted a much more subtle and complex villain for the sequel. Because of the character's great popularity, they decided to bring Khan back for the sequel.
- #038
Chekov spends most of this film in engineering rather than on the bridge, so he does not interact with Khan. This is consistent with Space Seed (1967), which aired before Chekov was added to the main cast. Ironically, Chekov is the only Enterprise crew member Khan interacts with directly in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (all other contacts took place via a viewscreen). Khan's face-to-face interaction with the rest of the crew aboard the Enterprise is a first since Space Seed. This does not mean Khan did not interact with Chekov off-screen in the original episode. In The Wrath of Khan, when he first sees Chekov, he recognizes him and addresses him by name, saying: "I never forget a face."
- #040
He is known for using lens flares to heighten the action, and he apologized for "overusing" lens flares in the Star Trek films.
- #042
When Kirk returns to the bridge after recovering from radiation poisoning, Sulu gives him back the captain's chair and says, "'Captain' does have a nice ring to it." In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Sulu was the Captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior.
- #043
Zachary Quinto was genuinely crying when Captain Kirk's death scene was filmed.
- #049
The San Francisco memorial at the end of the film draws heavily on inspiration from the United States. The most significant change from the Arizona Memorial in Hawaii was that the structure was dark-colored rather than white.
- #050
The device on the back of Science Officer 0718's head is a microcomputer in constant communication with the ship's computer. The concept behind the character was that the human side would serve as a firewall to eliminate the possibility of piracy, so that if the ship's main computer were attacked, it could serve as the ship's backup computer for certain essential functions. The prop device was based on the design of the bridge ceiling.
- #051
When Carol Marcus joins the Enterprise, she gives her name as Wallace. In the first draft of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), the character Janet Wallace was to be used before they decided to create a new character: Carol Marcus. Janet Wallace first appeared in The Deadly Years (1967).
- #054
This is only the second time in the franchise's history that Scotty calls Captain Kirk "Jim" (during the loading of seventy-two torpedoes onto the Enterprise). The other is Mirror, Mirror (1967), in which James Doohan stayed behind and offered to run the transporter.
- #055
During Spock's fight with Khan, in a scene where Kirk and Spock fight to the death, a six-note musical cue can be heard that strongly recalls the score from Amok Time (1967).
- #056
Among all the names proposed for the film, including many joke titles, Damon Lindelof preferred "Star Trek: Transformers 4": "It's technically available; we can go there!"
- #057
Simon Pegg's friend Edgar Wright said that, although uncredited, he directed one shot in the scene featuring the Klingons on Kronos.
- #059
Two of J. J. Abrams' children appear in this film when Khan's Vengeance crashes into San Francisco. His son Henry Abrams is among the crowd that first notices the ship falling. Abrams' daughter Gracie Abrams appears a few minutes later as a Starfleet cadet.
- #060
Heather Langenkamp, Nancy Thompson in the original horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), has a small, uncredited role as an alien crew member of the Enterprise.
- #061
This film is dedicated to post-9/11 veterans. This is due to Abrams' connection with The Mission Continues, a nonprofit organization that serves as a framework for U.S. military veterans to do community service work when they return home from abroad. The organization's founder and CEO, Eric Greitens, has a small role alongside other veterans as one of the flag folders at the end of the film. A section of the film's official website is devoted to The Mission Continues.
- #062
The cursed London building blown up early in this film is the Kelvin Memorial Archive.
- #063
Contains a major spoiler — show
Khan's crew is hidden inside the torpedoes. At the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Spock's body is placed in a torpedo.
- #064
The video transmission of the older Spock was flipped horizontally. Leonard Nimoy has a double earlobe on his right ear; in the image, this feature appears on the left earlobe.
- #065
In an interview with The Telegraph, Alice Eve admitted that she ate nothing but spinach for five months to get in shape for the role of Dr. Carol Marcus.
- #066
The screenwriters studied science fiction novels by Arthur C. Clarke and Larry Niven for inspiration.
- #069
About 30 minutes of this film were shot with IMAX cameras.
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