Star Trek and Star Wars are American media franchises that represent alternative scenarios of space adventure. The two franchises proliferate in this setting of storytelling, and each has offered various forms of media productions for decades.
Background
Star Trek was introduced on September 8, 1966 as a live-action television series. It was originally billed for a five-year run, but only lasted three years until 1969. After 79 episodes, the show ended abruptly due to low television ratings. However, the quality of the production and storytelling led to a cult classic following, which later resulted in a resurgence of interest in the franchise. Star Trek: The Animated Series premiered in 1973 and lasted two seasons with 22 episodes. With the subsequent publication of novels, comics, animated series, toys, and feature films which are still produced today, Star Trek grew into a popular media franchise and continues to draw large crowds.
Star Wars was introduced on May 25, 1977, as a feature film, Star Wars (1977). A novelization titled Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, based on the original script, was published about six months earlier. Upon the release of the first film, Star Wars grew into a popular media franchise. As of today, the Star Wars franchise includes twelve films, nine television series, books, comics, toys, and more. Each franchise comprises billions of dollars of intellectual property, employment for thousands, and entertainment for many more.
Differences Star Trek debuted on television. The franchise was conceived in the style of the television Western Wagon Train and the adventure stories of Horatio Hornblower, but evolved into a utopian prospect of future human society. Inspired by Gulliver's Travels, Star Treks main focus is on space exploration and a galactic society consisting of multiple planets and species, where conflict occasionally occurs. Most of Star Trek occurs in the relatively distant future, specifically the 22nd through 24th centuries, with occasional time travel and interdimensional travel. The Earth of the Star Trek universe shares much of its history with the real world.
Star Wars debuted on film, despite the novel based on the film's original script having been published a year before the film itself. Star Wars belongs to the space opera subgenre of science fiction that follows The Hero's Journey,Williams, Clive, The Hero’s Journey: A Mudmap for Change, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, (002216781770549), (2017). Crossref which stands for the proposition that personal change occurs and is necessary when confronting significant problems, and was inspired by works such as Beowulf, King ArthurEmpire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy. Star Wars Trilogy Box Set DVD documentary. and other mythologies, world religions, as well as ancient and medieval history. Star Wars depicts a galactic society in constant conflict. Though there are periods of peace, these are only documented in novels, comics, video games, non-feature films, and other spin-off media. Star Wars is set "a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away," although many characters are human, occasionally use Earth metaphors, and exhibit human character traits.
Similarities and commonalities Aside from both having the word star in their titles, the two franchises have much in common, with both having their origins in the space Western subgenre.
Furthermore, both depict societies consisting of multiple planets and species. Star Trek's main protagonist group, the United Federation of Planets, consists of various planets, each inhabited by different species, which operates much like the United Nations. Star Wars depicts a galaxy that is mostly part of a single federation known as the Republic, inhabited by humans and countless other species, which later become the Galactic Empire and was again later reformed into a new society called the New Republic after a series of wars.
Both franchises promote philosophical and political messages.
The primary philosophies of Star Trek convey the morals of exploration and interference and how to properly confront and ethically resolve numerous new challenges. Creator Gene Roddenberry was inspired by morality tales such as Gulliver's Travels with the basic dramatic format inspired by the science fiction film Forbidden Planet.
The primary philosophical messages of Star Wars are the ethics of good against evil and how to distinguish them from one another. Star Wars preaches against totalitarian systems and favors societies that offer equality. In an interview on the Star Wars 20th Anniversary UK Program which aired in 1997, referring to the mythology of the original Star Wars trilogy, Patrick Stewart stated, "A belief in one's own powers, especially one's own powers to do good because the underlying morality of Star Wars is a very, very positive one."
Actors from both franchises have appeared on common television series such as The Outer Limits and SeaQuest DSV.
Both franchises also draw from history and ancient mythology, including Greco-Roman mythology. For example, many planets and alien species in Star Trek are named after ancient Roman deities. Several episodes from various Star Trek television series, such as "Who Mourns for Adonais," are directly based on ancient Phoenician-Greek themes and settings. The series also makes references to Ancient Babylon and its mythic folklore. The Klingons and their warrior culture is a representation of the 12th-century Mongols and 11th-century Vikings.
Similarly, many of Star Wars plots and character developments are based on ancient history, including classical Greece and Rome, such as the fall of the Republic in Star Wars followed by the rise of the Galactic Empire, which parallels the civil war and subsequent fall of the ancient Roman Republic followed by the rise of the Roman Empire.
A 1983 documentary on the making of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi was hosted by Leonard Nimoy, who mentioned creator George Lucas' original plan to do two other trilogies preceding and subsequent to the original trilogy.
Abrams era
J. J. Abrams has been heavily involved in both franchises, as director and producer of Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), producer of Star Trek Beyond (2016), and director and producer of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Star Trek (2009) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) are each the first entries in expected trilogies. These films received favorable critical and commercial responses and revived interest in both franchises. In addition to Abrams, actors such as Simon Pegg starred in both series. The newer films of the two franchises filmed major scenes in the United Arab Emirates. The desert scenes on the planet Jakku in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) were filmed in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, while scenes for cities in the film Star Trek Beyond (2016) were filmed in the Emirate of Dubai.
Despite Abrams' Star Trek and Star Wars entries being financial and critical successes, the original filmmakers behind both franchises criticized Abrams for recycling storylines. For instance, Star Trek Into Darkness was considered by some to be less original than its Abrams-directed predecessor, and more of a loose remake of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. The director of Wrath of Khan, Nicholas Meyer, from which Star Trek Into Darkness borrowed lines and plot elements, revealed in 2018 that he was disappointed with the film, saying: "In my sort of artistic worldview, if you're going to do an homage, you have to add something. You have to put another layer on it, and they didn't. Just by putting the same words in different characters' mouths didn't add up to anything, and if you have someone dying in one scene and sort of being resurrected immediately after there's no real drama going on. It just becomes a gimmick or gimmicky, and that's what I found it to be ultimately."
Star Wars creator George Lucas shared a similar disappointment towards Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, finding himself agreeing with the critics who found it too derivative of his own original Star Wars trilogy, particularly his original film. During an interview with talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose that aired on December 24, 2015, Lucas likened his decision to sell Lucasfilm to Disney to a divorce, and outlined the creative differences between him and the producers of The Force Awakens. He described the previous six Star Wars films as his "children" and defended his vision for them, while criticizing The Force Awakens for having a "retro feel", saying: "I worked very hard to make them completely different, with different planets, with different spaceships – you know, to make it new." Lucas also likened Disney to "white slavers," which drew some criticism for which he later apologized. Of the batch of new Star Wars films, the Abrams written and directed films received the worst reception from Lucas. In 2017, Lucas described Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi as "beautifully made." The comment was interpreted as Lucas liking the Rian Johnson written and directed sequel more than The Force Awakens. The previous year, the Disney-produced Star Wars anthology film Rogue One had been released. Its production did not involve Abrams, and it was reported that Lucas also liked it more than The Force Awakens.
Years later, some critics agreed with Lucas' and Meyer's criticisms relative to Abrams written and directed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The website The Ringer noted the reception to the film was negative enough that the film (and its tie-ins) kept generating negative or controversial headlines in regards to the film's production for almost 10 months after its release. This film was the one where Abrams had the most creative control. Abrams was criticized for doubling down on Meyer's criticism of Star Trek Into Darkness by killing and instantly resurrecting almost every character in the film. Force powers to revive others were a central plot of the film, but they lost all meaning due to most resurrections not having anything having to do with such powers, including those of major characters in the film like Palpatine, Chewbacca, C-3PO and even minor cameo characters Zorry Bliss and Babu Frik. The Rise of Skywalker was also criticized for being another derivative remake of a previous film in the franchise, this time of the Lucas-written Return of the Jedi. Certain websites have defended Johnson's The Last Jedi, and blamed Abrams and Disney for the failure of Rise of Skywalker, while criticizing Abrams's usage of his "mystery box" storytelling, a reference to leaving some aspects or history of the characters unanswered and forcing the audience and followers to speculate.
Abrams has faced criticism from fans for decisions made in the Star Trek franchise as well. For instance, Abrams was criticized for casting the classic Star Trek character of Khan Noonien Singh, who was Sikh and a former ruler of much of Eastern Eurasia in the original series, to a non-Sikh character in Star Trek Into Darkness. In Star Trek Into Darkness, Khan is played by Londoner Benedict Cumberbatch, whom some perceived as replacing an explicitly non-white character in the Star Trek canon with a light-skinned European actor, something that had been termed whitewashing by some. American Sikhs, who were hoping for an actor from their community to be cast in such a feature role, villain or not. Star Trek: Voyager actor Garrett Wang stated, "The casting of Cumberbatch was a mistake on the part of the producers. I am not being critical of the actor or his talent, just the casting". George Takei, the original Hikaru Sulu, was also disappointed with the casting, as he thought it would have been better to cast Cumberbatch not as an established villain like Khan but as a new character.