Alice Eve and Benedict Cumberbatch discuss Star Trek Into Darkness at the IMAX preview

As excitement mounts for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness, The Fan Carpet's Marc Jason Ali had the thrill of being in attendance at the Odeon BFI IMAX for a special presentation of footage from the eagerly anticipated sequel.

In attendance at the special preview of the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness were J.J Abrams' long time producing partner Brian Berg and two of the stars of the film Alice Eve who portrays Dr. Carol Marcus and Benedict Cumberbatch who portrays the villainous John Harrison.

I won't go into too much detail with the footage, but it was extraordinary and for those of you who will be venturing to the IMAX this weekend for The Hobbit, you will be treated to seeing the footage too!

What I will do is briefly tell you what you will see in the first nine minutes, it opens with Noel Clarke's undisclosed character being awoken by his alarm clock and he and his wife travel to a Children's Hospital where they see their daughter in a hospital bed.

He is then approached by Benedict Cumberbatch's Harrison with the promise that he can save her, that scene ends and opens to an M Class planet where who hooded figures are running from the indigenous people of the planet.

Queue a daring attempt to stabilise an active volcano by Zachary Quinto's Spock, and the dilemma that Chris Pine's Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew are faced with when they attempt a rescue.

That's only a brief summary, but it is incredible!

Here's an excert from the Q+A which opened immediately with a question about Khan when one audience member asked

When did the idea first surface of bringing back Khan made for this movie?

Brian Berg: I keep reading online that we are bringing back Khan which is awesome, however our villain is John Harrison.

Are you able to reveal anything more about Alice's character and Benedict's character?

Alice Eve: I'll speak for myself through fear of getting shot; I play Dr. Carol Marcus, who as you know was in the original series and the second film, Wrath of Khan, and from that you can see that I wear a blue costume. I'm a doctor as you know, a PhD, smarter than John Harrison.

Benedict Cumberbatch: I play John Harrison, in brief he is a terrorist, he's a home grown terrorist. He's someone who does despicable things but for a noble cause, and at some point in the film hopefully entices your sympathies as an audience.

He's a phenomenal, one man weapon of mass destruction, both at close hand to hand combat and at weaponry and also psychological warfare; he can get you to do his bidding even though he may not seemingly be in a position of power or control. It's a great ride, the character's journey in this one.

How did it feel to join an already established cast?

Alice Eve: We were very lucky actually in all honesty, that we had such a welcoming group of people because as you say; it was already an established class, but they were all very kind and generous.

It was a very happy experience, and if it's not you tend to say less.

Benedict Cumberbatch: It was fantastic, I was playing an antagonist so to a certain degree it was quite hard to to resist joining in on the fun. Nerve racking yes because they had obviously gelled together so spectacularly from the first film and are the Enterprise crew.

They're a really great bunch, we are all kindred spirits, there's not really a movie star, obviously they've become stars since the first movie, but they are all actors and very grown up on set and very game and giggly and just great sense of humour.

JJ is extraordinary, the whole thing about him is that it is all to do with family, from him as a person to him as an artist, what he creates with the film and the peril in the first nine minutes you've kind of got that surmised. Whatever the thrills are, the spectacles with this film, you actually care about what happens to the characters.

That goes with the atmosphere on set as well, he demands a lot from you, but god you go there willingly, he's an incredible person to work with.

Star Trek Into Darkness Film Page

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS COMES TO CINEMAS AND IMAX ON MAY 17