Merrick here...

Earlier this week we got our first good look at J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK movie via images that were to accompany a cover article in Entertainment Weekly.

That article, by Jeff Jensen, is now online, including a few images we haven't seen yet. HERE is a nice shot of Karl Urbones, HERE is a hero shot of PineKirk, and a different angle of Harold Sulu is HERE.

The article also reveals many details of the film's storyline and production, a few of which are shared below.

SPOILER DETAILS AHOY!!!

** No longer are their signature Trek weapons boxy plastic toys, but sleek silver gizmos with spring-triggered barrels that revolve and glow in the transition from ''stun'' to ''kill.''

** ''In a world where a movie as incredibly produced as The Dark Knight is raking in gazillions of dollars, Star Trek stands in stark contrast,'' Abrams says. ''It was important to me that optimism be cool again.''

** Star Trek's time-travel plot is set in motion when a Federation starship, the USS Kelvin, is attacked by a vicious Romulan (Eric Bana) desperately seeking one of the film's heroes. From there, the film then brings Kirk and Spock center stage and tracks the origins of their friendship and how they became officers aboard the Enterprise.

** The storytelling is newbie-friendly, but it slyly assimilates a wide range of Trek arcana, from doomed Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to Sulu's swordsmanship to classic lines like, ''I have been, and always shall be, your friend.''

** The opening sequence, for example, is an emotionally wrenching passage that culminates with a mythic climax sure to leave zealots howling ''Heresy!'' But revisionism anxiety is the point. ''The movie,'' Lindelof says, ''is about the act of changing what you know.''

** ...One other essential element in Team Abrams' conception of the new Trek: getting the old Spock. Abrams felt Nimoy's Obi-Wan-ish presence was so crucial, he told the studio he wouldn't move forward without him.

** Kirk spends much of Star Trek dressed in respectable black — space-cadet colors in Abrams' Trekverse

** Moviegoers will get a sneak peek when the first full trailer is released with the new James Bond flick on Nov. 14

There's much more to be gleaned from the article, and you can find it all...

HERE!!!