Star Trek Into Darkness Easter Eggs – Blu-ray edition

Star Trek Into Darkness - Spock and Kirk

Star Trek Into Darkness is now on home video, so we’re updating or original Easter eggs article with the appropriate screenshots. With repeat viewings, and the ability to pause your copy, there are opportunities for you to spot some fun ‘Easter egg’ tidbits put into the movie. See below for our selection of Into Darkness Easter eggs.

 

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS EASTER EGGS – Blu-ray Edition

Of course Star Trek Into Darkness includes some big homages and reverences to Star Trek history including Khan, Section 31 and beyond which are key parts of the film. But there are also some more subtle ‘Easter egg’ references to Star Trek history and beyond included in the film. Some of which you may have already spotted and maybe some you didn’t.

 

Kirk’s Menage a Caitian

Kirk is seen in bed with two Caitains (according to STID scribe Roberto Orci) – a feline species first introduced in Star Trek: The Animated Series with the character M’Ress.

catgirls

tff_cat_lady

 

Daystrom

Pike and Kirk are called to a meeting with admiralty in the Daystrom Conference Room at Starfleet HQ. A reference to Dr. Richard Daystrom the inventor of the duotronic computers used in TOS (TOS: “The Ultimate Computer”).

daystrom_conference_room

daystrom

 

Spacefight future history

In Admiral Markus’ office among other historical space flight vehicles, such as a Saturn V rocket and a Space Shuttle, there are also models from Star Trek’s future history, including the U.S.S Kelvin (from Star Trek 2009) NX-01 (Star Trek: Enterprise), the NX-Alpha (warp 2 test ship from the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “First Flight”), Cochrane’s Warp ship (Star Trek: First Contact), and the Enterprise XCV 330 “ring ship” (as seen on the wall of the rec deck in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , in a painting on the wall of the 602 Club in Star Trek: Enterprise, and rendered in the 2011 “Ships of the Line” calendar).

The models were made by Quantum Mechanix for the movie, see our article for more.

marcus_spaceflight

 

Mudd Incident

Sulu says over the comm system to ready the impounded trade ship from “the Mudd incident.” This is a reference to the prequel comic “Countdown into Darkness” and that story’s involvement with Harry Mudd’s half-Bajoran daughter.

mudd_ship

 

Mr. Hendorf

“Cupcake” gets a proper name: Hendorf. Which is an homage to another red shirt with the name from TOS “The Apple”.

stid_hendorf

tos_hendorf

 

Ketha Province

The region of Qo’noS the team go to is the Ketha Province, which is where General Martok (Star Trek: Deep Space 9) will come from in the Prime timeline’s future.

stid_ketha

martok

 

McCoy’s Tribble

Doctor McCoy has a Tribble in sickbay, used for testing in the movie. McCoy already has this Tribble when the movie opens thanks to the adventures of the ongoing comic book series where they faced the Tribbles in “The Truth About Tribbles”.

stid_tribble

The Truth About Tribbles

 

Nurse Chapel

Carol Marcus mentions her friend Christine Chapel who had told her of Kirk’s “reputation.” Chapel is of course a recurring character from the original Star Trek (played by Majel Barrett Roddenberry in TOS). The character was also mentioned in the 2009 Star Trek film and was part of the USS Enterprise medical staff at that time, before leaving for a deep space assignment (apparently chased off by Kirk’s womanizing ways). She may be the blond nurse seen very briefly in this ST 2009 screencap.

st09_maybe_chapel

 

The Gorn Babies

While McCoy boasts about his “legendary hands” during torpedo surgery he mentions that he had given a cesarean section to a pregnant Gorn and that the eight live-birth babies bit him as they came out (Star Trek The Video Game).

mccoy_famous_hands

 

Dr. Boyce

The attending physician’s name on the biobed monitor by Kirk when he wakes up in the hospital in San Francisco is Dr. Boyce, a reference to the ship’s doctor in the first Star Trek TV pilot “The Cage”, which is also where we first met the Prime timeline version of Pike.

boyce

boyce

 

MUSICAL EGGS

Amok Time Sting

As mentioned in an interview from April with Michael Giacchino, he was compelled by a fan on Twitter to include something from TOS at the last minute. That homage is the classic “Amok Time” fight music sting, which is heard very briefly after Spock beams down in a foot chase after Harrison through San Francisco. It starts at approximately the 1:54:20 mark, it’s just a couple of notes lasting only 2 seconds.

spock_amok

amok_time

 

Beastie Boys

Kirk is listening to an antique record of the Beastie Boys “Body Movin’ (Fat Boy Slim Remix)” while ‘entertaining’ twin cat-like ladies. This is a callback to young Kirk joyriding to “Sabotage” in Star Trek 2009, Kirk’s general interest in antiques in the Prime timeline, and thirdly, the Beastie Boys is a personal favorite of director of J.J. Abrams.

kirk_record_player_beastie_boys

 

ABRAMSVERSE EGGS:

Kelvin

The archive blown up in London is the called “Kelvin Memorial Archive”, named for George Kirk’s ship destroyed by Nero in Star Trek (2009). The name of the U.S.S. Kelvin itself is from J.J. Abrams own family, it was his grandfather’s last name. This is of course in addition to the more apparent homage to Lord Kelvin of the eponymous temperature scale.

kelvin_memorial_archive

 

Alcatraz

Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay is taken out by the USS Vengeance, a possible nod by the producers to the quickly canceled Abrams show on FOX named Alcatraz.

 

Slusho

In the bar by the Port of San Francisco where Scotty and Keenser are blowing off steam about resigning from the Klingon mission, the bar tables have a rotating light-up “Slusho!” orb in the middle. Slusho is from Abrams’ Cloverfield.

stid_slusho

 

ILM’s R2-D2 EGG

As with Star Trek (2009) and many other ILM productions, there is a hidden R2-D2 in STID. Blink and you’ll miss him during the Vengeance firing on the Enterprise and ripping a hole in the hull while at warp.

stid_r2d2

That little droid sure gets around…

 

POSSIBLE EASTER EGGS

Praxis?

As the team approaches Qo’noS, there is a hulk of a dead moon, implying that the Klingon moon of Praxis was already over-mined in this timeline (Star Trek VI). As usual the writers are being coy and won’t say for sure that it’s Praxis.

stid_praxis

tuc_praxis

This seeming early destruction of Praxis may be related to a Section 31 operation that John Harrison carried out before the events of the movie. There is a reference to a “Praxxis Project” barely visible in the redacted text of the “leaked” Starfleet Memorandum document about Harrison found on AreYouThe1701.com [they appear to have misspelled the name, if it is indeed supposed to be in reference to the Klingon moon]. To see the memo for yourself read our article.

 

Bay Stadium?

It may be that the floating/hovering Bay Stadium that was seen in the Star Trek Enterprise episode “Home” is in SITD. The version in the film is a circular stadium/coliseum instead of the rectangular in shape seen in ENT.

stid_stadium

bay_stadium_2

 

Carol “Wallace”

Carol Marcus’ mother’s maiden name was Wallace, which is assumed to be an homage to Janet Wallace (TOS “The Deadly Years”).

wallace

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I absolutely LOVED seeing Praxis all torn up! ST:VI is my favorite of the original 6 films (sue me) and it made me squeal in theaters :)

“That little droid sure gets around…”

Apparently, he does… :-)

R2D2: Droid Trek!

Great stuff. Great movie. Also, the atmospheric ambiance of the Klingon homeoworld was very “otherworldly” like that sounds of Talos 4, if not the same effect. it was music to my Trekkie ears! These guys know their TOS!

hmmm. Cool stuff. Thanks.

Fun stuff!

Daystrom was also used in the Star Trek Armada PC games, and I could have sworn I’ve heard it in an episode of one of the series as well.

Nice article, Matt. Nice screenshots.

I still can’t believe they did a tribble-human blood transfusion…

most of it i already picked up however a few,sweet

So… are the Klingons in big trouble with Praxis again? Wasn’t it supposed to mess up their atmosphere or something? “They are dying,” yes? Peace talks? Federation outreach?

Kind of a big deal….

Nice, Been doing your homework. I only caught 1/2 them in the theatre.

I dont like how “human” the caitians looked. google image them….
some of those are a little much, but i think more of a feline look would have looked better.

If Orci is saying those are Caitians, then he’s on drugs. Clearly, they are NOT Caitians, as Caitians are fur-covered.

And Hendorf was named in the comic long before STID.

And Slusho long predates Cloverfield.

GREAT movie and fun stuff! I caught them all except R2D2. Not surprised about that little guy, though. I am guessing JJ will put something Star Trek into his Star Wars movie???

I love the shots of Qo’noS. While I am not totally happy with the production designs on the new movie, especially the bridge and engineering, I absolutely LOVE the designs of the Klingons. That shot of Qo’noS just oozes with coolness.

I’m so hoping for more Klingons in the next one, and maybe some more Klingon easter eggs….

‘Star Trek’s’ Alex Kurtzman Talks Khan, Kirk’s Journey & Carol Marcus’ Underwear

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2013/09/10/star-treks-alex-kurtzman-talks-khan-kirks-journey-carol-marcus-underwear/

OK. Now I am waiting to see the Enterprise, or at least a shuttlecraft in Star Wars 7.

Are there any hidden easter eggs on the discs themselves? Like, secret menus somewhere?

Slusho was in Alias already was it not,

Anyhow, excellent article, made me smile

Satisfying to actually know all the references. I am also rewatching every trek incarnation in chronological order before finally watching STID (Again) he he he – It’s so wonderful to revisit the universe, prime or jjverse.

In Australia we don’t call them “Easter Eggs” we usually only call the hidden special features on discs “Easter Eggs” so when I saw this article I got excited & thought there were some hidden featurettes on the disc :(

Some bloody deleted scenes would’ve been better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The best Easter Egg would have been discovering the hidden story…

@23 – aaaand we have our first threadcrap.

@22 – yes, I thought the article would be about hidden special features on the newly released BD/DVDs. Not subtle references to things known since it was released theatrically.

Slusho usually makes an appearance in every Abrams production, all the way back to Alias. It was also in the 2009 Trek, as Uhura orders ‘the Slusho mix’ at the bar.

Also, callbacks like the Ketha Province and Dr Boyce are pretty deep catalog stuff, so it always surprises me when people cry that Orci or the production crew in general aren’t Trek fans. Only Trek fans would even bother to make those kinds of references.

I spotted most of them, except Boyce, the stadium & R2D2

Why no deleted scenes????? There has to be some, right?
There had beeter be some TREK eggs in the next STAR WARS movie, right J.J.???

For that matter – it’s not an easter egg, but if you read the text on the monitor at the London Archive/Secret Weapons facility, at approximately 18:56 into the movie it reads:

WEAPONS SUMMARY: STEALTH FUNCTION SUCCESSFULLY ACTIVATED VIA REMOTE CAPABILITY AFTER LAUNCH. TORPEDOES THEREFORE FALL WITHIN TREATY SPECIFICATIONS BANNING CLOAKED OR PRE-EMPTIVE WEAPONS. REMOTE STEALTH CAPABILITY TO BE DISCLOSED SOLELY AT THE DISCRETION OF THE THEATER COMMANDER/ADMIRAL AND ONLY TO THE CAPTAIN OR FIRST OFFICER OF PARTICIPATING VESSEL. THOUGH CHIEF ENGINEER WOULD TYPICALLY REQUIRE AND BE ENTITLED TO DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS OF ANY CARGO ON BOARD, SECTION 31 HAS BEEN GRANTED SPECIAL ACCESS PRIVILEGES PERMITTING DISCLOSURE ONLY AT THE DISCRETION OF THE THEATER COMMANDER/ADMIRAL.

This basically teases out the whole “Scotty says no” scene later.

Also – re my post above, you have to love the idea of Starfleet bending the rules, which apparently prohibit the launch of cloaked weapons.

“Oh, these cloak AFTER they launch, so we’re not launching cloaked weapons, strictly speaking.”

Star Trek is broken and STID flopped and the next film should be scrapped in favour of a new tv series with new characters written by the very best SF writers around (not by the writers of big blockbuster films like Transformers) and be all about exploring the unknown so who cares about all these so called homages in the worst Trek film ever made!!

@ 1. Eric. I agree, to see Praxis was a great nod, and ST VI is still my favourite movie by far. ST II is a little over rated, it does have the layers and depth an interspecies conspiracy does.

I loved Into Darkness, it is fantastic. I’ve watched it twice since I purchased it yesterday (yea I love Star Trek and I have a problem lol) I love not only the obvious reasons this movie is Star Trek but all the subtle things they put into this movie as indicated in this article. I can’t wait to see what they come up with for the next (and expected final) movie in this series.

Would have been cool to see those Klingon ships uncloaking when they surrounded Kirk and crew on Mudd’s ship but technically Klingons have not obtained the cloak tech from the Romulans yet. But with Narada Romulan/Borg tech, who know what kind of ships the Klingons will have if indeed there is a Klingon conflict in the next movie.

Early in the film when the sick child is given Khan’s blood the sound effects t used as her vital signs improve is the same effect used during the Genesis demonstration TWOK.

The moment Kirk says..”oh be damned” about the cryo-tubes and the Enterprise’s warp core shuts down – there is a music cue reminiscent of Khan’s pets in Star Trek II : TWOK..!

I watched the film last night and I hate to say that I like it less on repeated viewings. I very much enjoyed it the first time I saw it.

I think now I pay more attention to the logic holes especially when a little bit more creativity would explain them. For writers that claim they spent a lot of time discussing cannon, there seemed far too many examples where they said “shhhh, no one will notice.”

I watched with my gf who is not a Trek fan but did enjoy the 2009 movie. She had “heard” Khan was the bad guy and as soon as BC appeared she said “is that the guy that’s supposed to be Ricardo Montalban?” She wasnt buying it.

Reading the story where Oric explains that they wrote the movie with an original character and then made him Khan just because they could really disappointed me. That’s not at all in keeping with writers who truly care about that character. They shoehorned him in. As soon as they cast BC, that should have been the hit over the head they needed to change the story.

In theatre, I loved the death scene homage to WOK. It gave me chills. I wanted them to go even further with the dialogue. In watching it at home, I can see why some fans felt it took them out of the movie, almost like it was a parody.

However, I still maintain they ended the movie on a wholly unsatisfying line from Kirk. Ofcourse his final line should have been “Second star to the right. Straight on til morning.” Even in theatre I expected that line to come. It was set up perfectly. Not sure how the writers missed that one.

what about some of the costumes which were highly reministant of previous ones:

-TMP style uniforms at certain points (Admiral Pike/Marcus, McCoys white medical tunic)

-McCoys medical T shirt (straight out of TOS)

-Kirks leather coat in the QonoS scenes (reminiscent of Shatners Trek III coat)

-the cloak/coat Khan was wearing on QonoS recalled Khans costume from TWOK (the way he was wrapped up at the start – like Khan on Ceti Alpha V and also the ribbed collar of his jacket, being highly reminiscent of Khans TWOK brown outfit)
http://scifanatic.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/itskhan-collar.jpg

-Spocks volcano spacesuit looked abit like his TMP/VGer excursion one. It was even orange

plus also:
-the Klingon ships (the way they landed was very similar to end of Trek III)

-the exterior of the dock holding the Vengeance resembles the Epsilon IX Station (TMP)

-The safety belts that Spock, Sulu, et al wear (NEMESIS – deleted end scene)

-like the Amok Time thing, im pretty sure there were TWOK Horner cues are used in the score (e.g. in opening, in the ‘My Name is Khan’ scene)

Has anyone noticed the music from when the ships land on Kronos is VERY reminiscent of the ‘Ruk’ music from TOS ‘What Are Little Girls Made Of’?

#32

“However, I still maintain they ended the movie on a wholly unsatisfying line from Kirk. Ofcourse his final line should have been “Second star to the right. Straight on til morning.” Even in theatre I expected that line to come. It was set up perfectly. Not sure how the writers missed that one.”

I don’t think that would have worked at all. It fit in TUC because that was their final mission together. It was Kirk’s last act of defiance. It would have seemed very out of place in STID.

Yeah, if one wanted to lift a line, it would have better with “Thataway.”
.
(As in the script, throw that away? ;) )

It would have worked because they were flying into the unknown. What actually struck me was Kirk and Spock seemingly having no plan as to where they were going. Do they not have to file a flight plan? Ofcourse they could have been joking (which Kirk telling Sulu to take it out would imply he had a course entered already).

But Kirk asking Spock where he wanted to go, Spock replying it was up to Kirk and it being the beginning of Starfleet’s first five year mission into unknown space, I think the line would have worked perfectly to convey that sense of adventure and unknown.

Space, We’ve seen it all before.
These are the repeated voyages of the starship Enterprise.
Sent out on an all expensed paid five year mission.
To avoid new life forms and pass by new civilizations.
To boldly go needlessly where we don’t need to go again.

The gray coat and slacks uniform (without) the hat really looks like an early version of the TMP film uniforms. If they were re-colored red, had the belt, with a few other minor tweaks… It works as a precursor. In my mind at least. Have watched the movie 3 times since buying it and I still like it. I feel the same way about it as I did Mass Effect 3, great fun, really enjoyed it, was great up until the ending (in Star Trek’s case, it was the whole realignment sequence and San Fran dash but got good again from the hospital scene to the final warp). And like replaying Mass Effect 3 with the extended ending, after rewatching ITD, I’m okay with it all. The 3rd installment can and should be better but this was a solid film.

12 Steve-O and 13 Batleth, Agreed.

I retcon it by saying there are a number of Caitian sub-groups : )

There’s M’Ress, the lion-like group, the Caitians from the TOS movies [STVI?] also? the lion-like group, and there’s this group of ??? Caitians who look human except for the thingies on their necks and their earlobs, whut. Haha, Kirk “got some tail” [rolly eyes]. Were they afraid of grossing people out with what MIGHT have appeared to be bestiality?

19, yep, I want to see a Constitution class starship at some spaceport : ) Only a “Connie” will do.

22 Trekboi, one could only wish, I suppose, MAYBE someday if they ever do a “complete” DVD release ….

28 & 29 bmar, holy crap, good catch. I have a prob with the wording, though: THEATRE Commander? For the most part [except for “Cadet” which would be “Midshipman”] Starfleet uses Naval terminology and this sounds ground-related. Would be “Area Commander” in the USCG anyways. On the “weaselly” wording re: cloaked, yup, nesty politik has entered the Starfleet : (

33 Khan2.0, yep! Though McCoy’s “medical T-shirt” was not an EXACT copy. It was silver, for one; TOS McCoy’s was blue. But I loved the tribute. Urban wore it well.

39 – I thought the San Fran chase was one of the best chase sequences I’ve ever seen. It was very well directed and acted, showing a lot of emotion and intensity. Spock’s psi-attach was a very nice touch.

When they said ‘easter eggs’ I was kind of hoping that there were more hidden bonus features on the otherwise paltry blu-ray release, and not things I mostly noticed already when I saw the film in the theatrical release.

There is a post over at Trekweb.com about a deleted scene in Marcus’s office that shows a TOS Constitution-class model hanging from the ceiling. Does anyone know if this is genuine?

40. Marja – Pretty sure that “THEATER” is used in Navy too. Know there are some more military types who hang out here, I think they could confirm. I remember hearing in my history classes about the “PACIFIC THEATER” during WW2 and that meant land, sea, air – the whole shebang.

#31: “oh be damned?” I’m quite sure Kirk never says that, since that phrase makes no sense.

#38: Please try again, but with humor. Thanks.