Star Trek into Darkness will feature more redshirt deaths, its co-writer has promised.

Damon Lindelof said that the death of extras dressed in red Starfleet uniforms has become an essential part of any Star Trek film.

He refused to confirm that the filmmakers will be aiming to top the death toll from the first film.

"Look, redshirts have become so proliferate in popular culture that it's one of those things where it's almost like in a Bond movie you know that Q is going to show up with gadgets, so now there is a reasonable expectation that redshirts are going to die and that's the nature of it," he told Collider.

"But if you're too cutesy about it, it penetrates the reality of the movie. So all I can say is you're asking a very insightful question and much discussion was had about it."

It is something of a joke among fans that newly introduced characters in red will die, dating back to the first Star Trek series in the '60s.

Star Trek into Darkness will open in UK and US cinemas on May 17, 2013. Watch the trailer below:

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