A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, where no man has gone before…
...two distinct fandoms just blew up in outrage.
The first half of that sentence, of course, belongs to Star Wars , the poster child of science fiction fantasy. The latter half, however, is from Star Trek— the space exploration saga that turned 50 years old this September 8.
Star Trek started out as a television show, with its first episode airing on September 8, 1966. Captain James T. Kirk and his crew took off into a five-year voyage on their ship, the U.S.S. Enterprise. But six television series and 13 films—especially after the newest 2009 reboot—later, their story still continues.
Both Star Wars and Star Trek are set in space, they both have spaceships and both stories involve our heroes visiting alien planets—something that has confused fans of either for ages.
But as any outraged fan would tell you, they’re nothing like the other. Or as Spock would put it, even that notion would be highly illogical.
Two sides of… two different coins?
At its heart, Star Wars is a family saga—albeit one that spans several generations. The story pits its family members against each other again and again, and we’re left wondering if Anakin Skywalker’s family would ever have a happily ever after. It also makes for fantastic storytelling on screen.
Star Trek on the other hand, isn’t so much about a family in the familial sense. It’s about adventure, the unknown and the excitement of discovering corners of the universe. There’s none of that delicious angst and tragedy, but there’s a lot more travelling and exploring.
The series kicks off with starship Enterprise starting out on her maiden voyage in the 23rd century. The ship is part of a fleet belonging to the United Federation of Planets, which obviously, Earth is a part of. Captain Kirk is aided by his second in command Commander Spock (who is a Vulcan) and his Chief Medical Officer, Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. Also accompanying them is linguistics and communications expert Nyota Uhura, who serves as a love interest for Spock.
Interestingly, Uhura was one of the first African-American characters on mainstream television who was not in a minor role. For 1966, that was a coup.
The crew of the Enterprise set out on a five-year voyage and the adventures that they encounter on the way basically makes up the entire story.
“Beam me up, Scotty!”
Has any other popular science fiction fantasy series lived up to its ‘Science’ tag as much as Star Trek has? Star Wars is a fantasy novel set in space. It’s a series made for Hollywood that masquerades as science fiction, but the science, if any, is inconsequential.
Star Trek is more connected with technology. It is a vision of how we the human race could very well be in the coming years. There’s actually a long list of things that made an appearance on Star Trek before being invented for realz—tablet computers, video calling, portable memory, flip phones—all prime examples of life imitating art.
Fun fact: NASA has an entire webpage dedicated to the science of Star Trek , explaining what else is in the realm of possibility.
While Star Wars was in a easy package to absorb—three movies (let’s not even talk about the prequels)— Star Trek ’s multi-arc television series was reportedly harder to keep track of. So far, television alone has 726 episodes in total, across 30 seasons.
Being two of just a handful of series in the very niche science fiction fantasy category, fans have long hoped for a crossover film between the two. With J.J. Abrams, who directed two of the new Star Trek films, also helming Star Wars: Force Awakens , rumours flew thick and fast—ultimately culminating in elaborate April Fool’s pranks that geeks apparently fell for every year.
The potential box office earnings from such a crossover would boldly go where no box office had gone before. And if we could ‘make it so’ we would. But unfortunately, fans will have to be satisfied with the new Star Wars trilogy and the now-alive-and-kicking Star Trek franchise—much to the horror of millennials like this author who grew up with Harry Potter and still gets confused between Star Wars and Star Trek from time to time.
Looks like resistance is futile.
So, may the force.. Sorry. Live long and prosper!
