The issue of Empire Magazine beams onto newstands on December 27th and as a late Christmas treat, it’s packed with Star Trek Into Darkness goodness. Not one but two covers on the February issue of the magazine are given over to JJ Abrams’ intergalactic epic.

Check out the textless cover exclusively for subscribers under the cut!

The next Enterprise adventure will go where the cast and director have never gone before.

Access Hollywood’s Scott “Movie” Mantz (“Star Trek” super fan) sat down with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and director J.J. Abrams at the preview junket for the highly anticipated sequel, “Star Trek Into Darkness.”

“It’s so much bigger than the first one and you can tell that in the first nine minutes,” Zachary, who plays Spock, said. “It doesn’t get any more subdued after that… It’s so absorbing.”

Co-star Chris Pine, who plays James T. Kirk, agreed.

“It is this nonstop speeding train of destruction,” he said of the sequel.

The film’s new villain, John Harrison – played by Benedict Cumberbatch – will be a formidable foe for Kirk and his crew.

“Benedict is a much colder, cleaner bad guy. His primary weapon is the ability to manipulate and his ability to use psychological warfare on the crew,” Chris said of the character, whom he dubbed a “terrorist.” “[Kirk is] brought to his knees and has to face his own vulnerability and his own feelings of self-doubt about whether or not he is capable of leading his crew in the battle.”

Director J.J. Abrams – who doesn’t exactly make small movies – said the “Star Trek” sequel is his biggest project yet.

“This movie is infinitely bigger than anything I’ve done before,” he explained. “The challenge was making it feel real and believable and this is a huge action adventure, but nobody cares about a spaceship flying through space unless you love the characters on the ship. We had to make sure you had grounded, believable characters.”

“Star Trek Into Darkness” blasts into theaters on May 17, 2013.

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Check out the first still in high resolution the gallery!

This is the first of what I’m sure will be many teasers leading up to the May 17th premiere next year.