While many are thinking about a time long ago in a galaxy far, far away, another franchise among the stars has popped out of the darkness. This morning, Paramount has released their first trailer for Star Trek Beyond, the third entry of the rebooted film franchise. Only this time it is Justin Lin (Fast Five; Fast and Furious 6) who has taking the reins to direct from J.J. Abrams while he sits back as a producer.

Other than the lack of lens flares, I think just about anything will be a step above Star Trek Into Darkness and its wacky agenda to hide the fact that it is a remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The Star Trek Beyond teaser is sleek, fast, and furious, something Lin knows how to manage quite well. However, this doesn’t exactly feel like a Star Trek movie. It could be that the marketing team just wants to get butts in seats by throwing shiny, fast paced action scenes at our faces, but that’s not what the franchise is entirely about. Though fun space battles have always been present, compared to the epic space opera that is Star Wars, Star Trek has been more about the discovery and science of space.

Now that doesn’t mean exploring the final frontier isn’t the goal in this film, but it makes me wonder what exactly Star Trek Beyond is about since there is a lack of plot synopsis and no real explanation as to what’s going on in this teaser. They treat this next adventure as just that, while teasing new aliens played by Sofia Boutella and Idris Elba. I’m assuming one could be Kirk’s next conquest while the other the main villain against the Enterprise crew.

Speaking of the Enterprise, it’s nice to see all of the cast return — including Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, Karl Urban as Bones, and Anton Yelchin as Chekov — because I rather like this crew. They’ve always been very charismatic bunch and have had great on-screen chemistry, though then can’t seem to keep a ship in tact.

What do you think of the Star Trek Beyond teaser? Tell us in the comments below and let us know if you’re excited for the next voyage of the Starship Enterprise.

Extended commentary:

• Beastie Boys is a nice call back to the first film, but is that all Kirk listens to?
• The planets they explore look vast and detailed, it’s a shame that a lot of it looks CGI.
• Why is the frontier pushing back? Did the Enterprise stumble upon a star system that does not want to become a part of the Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets?

(Click on any thumbnail below to open the image gallery)

Directed by Justin Lin, Star Trek Beyond stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, and Lydia Wilson. This film is set to arrive in theaters on July 22, 2016.

Source: Paramount Pictures