J.J. Abrams says Star Trek Into Darkness had too many Wrath of Khan nods

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS may have received mostly high marks from critics and earned over $460 million worldwide, but many fans of the sci-fi franchise weren't too pleased with the sequel to the 2009 reboot. Director J.J. Abrams has already admitted that they should have been upfront about the real identity of Benedict Cumberbatch's character, and during a "celebrity nerd-off" with Stephen Colbert at the Montclair Film Festival, Abrams said he knows he kind of overdid it with the STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN nods.

We got in trouble on the second Star Trek film with some of the fans. There were too many nods to The Wrath of Khan. I'll cop to that.

Even with its flaws, constant lens flares and THE WRATH OF KHAN nods, I still really enjoyed STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, and it definitely wasn't as bad as STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER or STAR TREK: INSURRECTION. But hopefully Abrams has learned from his mistakes, and STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS won't have too many nods to the original trilogy.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS is out on December 18th, while STAR TREK BEYOND has been set to open on July 22, 2016.