Today Star Trek Into Darkness producer/director JJ Abrams invited the press (including TrekMovie) to visit Bad Robot HQ in Santa Monica, CA. While there the media could chat with folks behind and in front of the camera as well as get a closer look at elements of the movie. During the day TrekMovie picked up on a number of new character and story tidbits. Find out what’s new below but beware of spoilers.

8 SPOILERS REVEALED AT BAD ROBOT STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS DAY

1. Alice Eve is playing Carol Marcus

It is confirmed that Alice Eve is playing Carol Marcus. TrekMovie was first to report that (contrary to reporting from Variety) Eve would be playing a character from canon, and that character was Kirk’s former love (and mother to his son) from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, played by Bibi Besch. In Wrath of Khan Marcus was a civilian scientist, but TrekMovie has confirmed that in Into Darkness she is a member of Starfleet and a science officer assigned to the USS Enterprise with the rank of lieutenant.



Alice Eve (L) steps into the role played by Bibi Besch in Star Trek II (R)

2. Benedict Cumberbatch Really is ‘John Harrison’

As reported earlier today, Paramount released a new image of featuring Benedict Cumberbatch from Into Darkness and the official caption provided identified his character as "John Harrison." After all the debate many fans have been scratching their heads over this name asking, who is John Harrison? Some have suggested that this name could just be a placeholder used for marketing purposes, however TrekMovie can confirm that Cumberbatch’s character is called Harrison in the film.



Meet John Harrison – Into Darkness’ Villain

One of the reasons fans are scratching their heads is because producer/co-writer Roberto Orci had previously stated that Cumberbatch was playing a character from Star Trek’s canon. Clearly ‘John Harrison’ is not a well known character from Star Trek’s canon. Tune in tomorrow to find out what both Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci had to say about this discrepancy.

3. Joseph Gatt Plays Character Named ‘GATT2000’

11 months ago TrekMovie reported that British actor Joseph Gatt was cast in the Star Trek film. During the event TrekMovie learned Gatt appears in the film with the character name "GATT2000." (unsure on the spelling) The character will be seen as a bald humanoid but with some kind of technology built into his head. It wasn’t entirely clear, but it is possible that he could be an android or possibly a human with technological enhancements.



Imagine this guy but with a sort of blue flashing gizmo built into back of his head

4. Pike (probably) gets out of his chair

This one isn’t certain, but pretty certain. When we last saw Bruce Greenwood in the 2009 Star Trek movie he was in a wheelchair due to his injuries sustained under Nero’s torture. This chair was an homage to the original Pike who was seen in a beeping chair in the original series. While Pike was not seen in the 9-minute preview or the upcoming domestic teaser trailer, if you looked closely at a display of props at the Bad Robot event you could spot a cane featuring the Starfleet logo. TrekMovie tried to get Greenwood to spill the beans but all he would offer is joke "maybe I use the cane to hit people from my chair." However, in this case I am going out on a limb and saying Greenwood gets out of his chair, something the actor had previously said he hoped would be the case for this movie.



Pike last seen in chair in Star Trek (2009)…probably upgrades to cane in ‘Into Darkness’

5. Klingons faces (and foreheads) will be revealed.

In the deleted scenes for the 2009 Star Trek film, no Klingons ever removed their helmets. However that will change for Star Trek Into Darkness. It was revealed that two of the actors playing Klingons will remove their helmets. The Klingon makeup designs were on display and they were very much in line with post Star Trek: The Motion Picture ridged forehead Klingon look with some minor differences. Probably the biggest new feature was how these Klingons adorned their ridges with ring piercings. There was also a subtle homage to original series design Klingons with devilish goateees. It was also revealed that there were twelve additional actors playing Klingons, but they keep their helmet/masks on.



Klingon helmet/mask style from 2009 Star Trek also used in ‘Into Darkness’ but this time we will see what’s underneath

6. It’s Qu’noS

In TrekMovie’s shot-by-shot analysis of the announcement trailer released last week a planet was identified to have Klingon buildings (where Cumberbatch’s character beats up some Klingons). At the event today it was revealed that scene takes place on Qu’noS, the home world of the Klingon Empire.



Qu’noS is lovely this time of year

7. Chekov will wear both gold and red tunics

In the 9-minute IMAX preview (shown to the press last night) Anton Yelchin’s Chekov was seen at his traditional bridge station wearing his regular gold tunic. However, in the upcoming teaser trailer (shown to the press today) Chekov can be spotted running down a hallway wearing a red tunic. Since the 9-minutes was from the beginning of the film, it could be that at some point Chekov gets reassigned.



Chekov as seen in 2009 Star Trek (w/ gold shirt) returns to his post for ‘Into Darkness’ but will also be seen in red shirt

8. Keenser is back

And one last new detail…Star Trek Into Darkness will feature the return of Scotty’s loyal diminutive alien side-kick Keenser. Deep Roy has returned to play the part he first inhabited in the 2009 Star Trek film.



Deep Roy as Keenser from 2009’s Star Trek – and he’s back for ‘Into Darkness’

More to come from Bad Robot visit

These tidbits are just part of what was learned at the Bad Robot event. Over the next day or two TrekMovie will report more on what was shown, along with quotes and comments from actors, producers and some of the other crew who are making this film,