Star Trek director J.J. Abrams recently spoke to The Associated Press about what we can expect when the franchise is relaunched on May 8, 2009.

Here's an excerpt from the interview:

"It was an opportunity to take what I think has been a maligned world â€" to sound crass, a franchise â€" and treat it in a way that made it something that I wanted to see.

"To take the characters, the thoughtfulness, the personalities, the sense of adventure, the idea of humanity working together, the sense of social commentary and innovation, all that stuff. To take it and apply it in a way that felt genuinely thrilling."