It’s only been eight months since J.J. Abrams launched the critically acclaimed and audience praised reboot of the legendary Star Trek franchise, and while there are many hardcore fans who have cried fowl, there’s still a vast majority of us who simply cannot wait for Star Trek 2. And if anything, the anticipation is even higher now that Paramount has set a release date of June 29th, 2012. Luckily writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci sat down with Coventry Telegraph’s Geek Files and gave them another update with a hint of the various directions they might take the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the villains they may encounter.

First and foremost, it seems like Kurtzman and Orci are going back and forth on where they want to pick up the story. Orci explains: “We would never do a remake… it will be some time in the five-year mission. But that is a question. Should we pick them up immediately the next day or should it be later, we are still discussing that.” So while speculation of immediately following Star Trek with a return to The Wrath of Kahn seemed like a logical conclusion, it doesn’t sound like they’re eager to remake any of the original films. But they know that they’re going to need to tread the same path that Kahn did as far as providing a worthy adversary for Kirk and his crew. Kurtzman says the sequel gives them free reign for a challenging villain:

“I think our idea on this is that the first of any series is about them coming together or the formation. I couldn’t really tell you what Jeff Bridges was doing in Iron Man, but it doesn’t matter at all because it is all about Iron Man becoming Iron Man. Whereas I think sequels are very much about the villain. Because while [in the first one] the villain serves to bring the crew together, the second one I think has to be a true challenging of what that family is about. That is why Wrath of Khan was so amazing. Khan tested each one of them and ultimately asked for the [ultimate] sacrifice, and that is why that movie held up so well.”

Just because they have a successful beginning under their belt doesn’t mean they’ve breathed a sigh of relief. This is where the real game begins. Orci states: “Frankly I feel more pressure because we were so confident when we came up with the idea of how to bridge canon, and yet free ourselves from canon. Now we have no excuses for anything, now we are free. Now we don’t have the benefit of low expectations.” In fact, these expectations are nothing short of massive, and it’ll take a lot to follow up the equally massive success of the first one. But it sounds like Kurtzman/Orci are up to the task. As soon as we hear more, we’ll let you know.

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