Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966. Roddenberry’s vision for TOS was a space travel exploration in the 23rd Century for a society of planets seeking utopian ideals of the United Federation of Planets. UFP was founded on the principles of peace, unity, diversity, and evolutionary autonomy expressed in a prime directive.
George Lucas created the original Star Wars movies which premiered in 1977. Lucas' vision for Star Wars was based on a classic good versus evil premise that he found intriguing, similar to the 1950s Flash Gordon series, Spaghetti Westerns (such as "A Fistful of Dollars"), and Akira Kurosawa's iconic Samurai sagas.
Although there is an 11-year difference between when TOS aired and when Star Wars premiered -both are sci-fi/fantasy adventures set in a fictional future timeline where space travel, aliens, and inhabited planets are commonplace in the galaxy. However, Trekkies and Star Wars fans alike claim their favorite respective franchises as the best - which may just surpass and outlast any Swiftie/Beehive rivalry.
Both franchises have a rich history of legendary movies, live-action and animated series. Despite TOS cancelation only after three seasons (1966-1969), Star Trek creators have crafted an indelible canon that lives on today in a variety of movies and series to expand the lore such as the upcoming “Star Trek 4” movie and “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” series.
Similarly, since Luke, Leia, and Han captured our imagination with the first Star Wars movie in 1977, visionaries have pushed the boundaries of intergalactic storytelling through to today. With upcoming projects such as “The Mandalorian and Grogu” and the rumored “Star Wars: New Jedi Order” fans are excited for The Force to continue in a “galaxy, far, far, away.”
To settle this debate for once and for all, here’s why Star Trek is better than Star Wars – based on each franchise’s depiction of respective source material in categories of Structure and Setting; Character Development; Philosophical Ideals and Politics; and Cultural Influence.