Star Trek Into Darkness is the 12th film in the Star Trek franchise.
Released in 2013, Into Darkness is the direct sequel to J. J. Abrams’s 2009 Star Trek reboot and the second film in the alternate-timeline series. Its franchise-wide count includes the ten earlier films from the original continuity, followed by the 2009 film as number eleven and Into Darkness as number twelve.
The story follows Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise as they pursue John Harrison, a terrorist whose identity connects the film to Star Trek history. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Harrison, while Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin reprise their roles.
The next film, Star Trek Beyond, became the 13th franchise movie when it arrived in 2016. That numbering is separate from the reboot timeline: Into Darkness remains the twelfth Star Trek feature film overall, not the twelfth story in a single uninterrupted continuity.