Could the “dark” turn of genre films have ended with the release of The Dark Knight Rises? It seems like prior to The Avengers, every genre film that Hollywood put out had to take a dark and edgy take on the material in an attempt to pander to audiences who Hollywood didn’t think would like something normal or even positive. Thankfully, it sounds like the Star Trek sequel won’t be taking the dark path.

Chris Pine confirmed this in an interview with Total Film:

“We’re not making Batman. That’s not our deal,” Pine told us.

“There’s comedy, which I think J.J. does a great job of, but, like the first one, there’s some serious issues being dealt with. And I’d say the threat is even greater in this one.”

“The force [the Enterprise crew] are met with is much more frightening. It’s relentlessly action-packed and in terms of character development it goes places you’d never expect. The arc is huge for all the characters. It’s a really big story – I can’t hype it enough!”

That’s good news, as Star Trek was never meant to really go dark. The Ambramsverse may be a bit gritty and filled with lens flare, but it’s still the positive outlook on the future that Roddenberry pioneered.