For decades, there has been a rivalry in geek culture epitomizes the fanbase of the Comic Con crowd: which is better, Star Wars or Star Trek? To outsiders, it's the perfect go-to example to have a stereotypical nerd have the argument, but to those that are fans of one or the other, they're ready to back up their favorite at a moment's notice.
Personally, I've always been a Star Wars fan but I've never been able to get into the Star Trek series. With the 2009 film, it captured my interest enough for me to go see it and not only enjoy it, but I'm very excited for the sequel this year. It seems that that film has affected many other pro-Wars, anti-Trek fans in the same way.
Now that Star Trek director J.J. Abrams has signed on to direct the next installment of the Star Wars saga, what ramifications does it have for this great debate?
Right off the bat, it appears as though Abrams has been met with a positive reaction. For the most part, I see people excited for the new film more so than before, as if a weight has been lifted because they know they can trust Abrams to not screw it up. There doesn't seem to be much hesitation from what I've noticed of people looking at things in a black and white way that "the Star Trek guy can't direct Star Wars!"
This is good news, naturally. That means Star Wars fans are going into it open-minded. This also means that Star Trek fans aren't being defensive and feeling like he's abandoning the Trek series (think Bryan Singer for X3 going to Superman Returns).
One factor that comes into play - and could possibly be the primary reason why there's such a positive reaction to this announcement/choice - is the level of similarity that Abrams's 2009 Star Trek film has in comparison to the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. To simply write them out would to a disservice to this popular CollegeHumor video embedded below:
While the two franchises have some very big differences between each other, J.J. Abrams could be the guy to bridge those gaps and unite fans in a theoretical sense to lay down their arms and admit that each series is its own animal that appeals to some different likes and dislikes probably at the same intensity. After all, isn't that why this feud exists in the first place, because of the devotion that the fans have to the series?
Come Episode VII, will we see a calming of the Civil War of Star franchises, with the North and the South finally joining as one, or is the struggle between the Jedi Order and the Starfleet Academy going to rage on even more?
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