We just saw a great first poster for J.J. Abrams‘ upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness, the sequel to his blockbuster 2009 reboot of the classic sci-fi franchise. Now comes a first trailer from Paramount Pictures, an announcement teaser trailer.

Usually an “announcement” trailer is very short, and usually consists of very little, maybe some voice over and a shot of the title. Not here. This is much more along the lines of a teaser trailer, with some insane footage and our first good look at just how freakin’ awesome Benedict Cumberbatch is going to be as the film’s villain.

And if this isn’t enough footage to sate your appetite, the Japanese version…for some inexplicable reason…runs 14 seconds longer than the rest of them and has a little bit more content. You can watch both versions and read a synopsis below.

The movie also stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, and Peter Weller, and will hit theaters on May 17, 2013.

SYNOPSIS

In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes Star Trek Into Darkness.

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 death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Announcement Trailers

[Source: Apple, Ryan Gallagher via /Film]