Star Trek Beyond trailer is low on laughs, high on evil Idris Elba

"It's easy to get lost in the vastness of space"

The second trailer for Star Trek Beyond has been released and, fortunately, it makes up for the initial misfire that was last December's teaser.

Venturing down the 'silly' route, fans - and the film's writer-star Simon Pegg - criticised the first trailer for seeming to crib Guardians of the Galaxy-style laughs in favour of divulging much, if any, of the film's plot.

This second trailer, however, is wedged firmly in the serious with the stakes actually pretty high for Captain Kirk, Spock and co; when the Enterprise comes under attack from alien forces, our heroes must abandon ship leaving their safety even more at risk.

All this has something to do with the film's chief villain Krall - Idris Elba in heavy prosthetic - who somehow gets his mitts on Uhura (Zoe Saldana).

Returning for the intergalactic escapades are Karl Urban's Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy, John Cho's Sulu and, of course, Pegg as Scotty. Also heard in the trailer is Shohreh Aghdashloo whose character, High Command, was added into the film months after shooting wrapped.

Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) replaces JJ Abrams as director, with the Star Wars filmmaker remaining on board as producer.

This isn't the first Star Trek trailer that was released this week; a clip previewing Bryan Fuller's new TV series was unveiled hinting that it'll be an anthology centring on multiple sets of characters.

Star Trek Beyond will be released 22 July.