The brief family scene with the BC villain doesn't tell us much. Still not clear who BC character is. But it's interesting that he's apparently trying to help save a girl. It may hint at just how his motivations might be very understandable. Or he could be just trying to goad/? the parents to give him something in exchange for helping their daughter. What would he need? And how does he have medical abilities that exceed that of a london hospital?
Still not sure if he's Gary Mitchell (not-quite-all-powerful-but-still-fairly-powerful) or Garth of Izar (with cellular metamorphosis abilities) or Section 31 agent (with stolen advanced medical knowledge [like from the Fabrini or something]), or John Harrison (random Starfleet flunkie from 27 episodes of TOS).
It's interesting that he's already on Earth. Gary Mitchell already returned from the coffin in space he was left in? Or Garth already out of the insane asylum? Or something else? Enemy from within, indeed.
Why are Kirk and McCoy stealing scrolls from the natives? How could that possibly help the situation? Or was it just a misunderstanding? Guess we'll find out in the prequel comics.
I do like how the movie is using the preferred--from my view--TOS interpretation of the Prime Directive. Not the TNG/VOY version where "we must stand by while the pre-warp aliens are horribly killed".
There has been a point made in the comics that Spock has been risking his life more and more. Uhura has talked to him about it. [See issue #6.] She thinks he's still grieving the loss of his mother and world and that that is impairing his judgement. He's making choices that "ignore all sense of self-preservation." Maybe trying too hard to save others at the expense of himself. To this, all Spock would say is that he would try to change . . . "as circumstances require." Now he's volunteered to go into a volcano? [Hey, a Vulcan in a volcano.] What does that say about Spock's reasoning? Couldn't they have gotten a drone to do it, or something?
In the TOS episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday," the Enterprise was shown operating in Earth's atmosphere only a few thousand feet above ground and slowly enough for a jet fighter to briefly keep up with it. It has been established that the Enterprise will not actually collapse under its own weight in planetary gravity, and that it can achieve orbit without being built there and so forth.
So, no issue with Enterprise being ABLE to go under water on a planet. But that still begs the question as to WHY she would. (Really, I don't care too much, any little excuse will be worth seeing the cool shot of Enterprise rise out of water, as long as it's not completely stupid.) Maybe she needs to be down there to do whatever it is they are doing to quiet the volcano.