For 46 years, there have been debates around the world about which science fiction series is better, Star Wars or Star Trek. The Falcon Flyer conducted a poll among juniors and seniors in a Briar Woods physics class who were asked the ultimate question: Star Wars or Star Trek? Students unanimously voted for the former. 

The majority of students said their reason for not selecting Star Trek was due to the lack of awareness of the franchise, despite its complex history and expanding timeline. Stars Wars was more successful in reaching larger audiences because of the range of merchandise offered. This drew audiences to connect deeper with Star Wars creating a sense of nostalgia associated with the franchise. The common responses to the poll state, “I haven’t watched Star Trek,” and “I chose Star Wars because I have never seen Star Trek.” 

As a person who was raised on both Star Wars and Star Trek, I feel Star Trek is better than Star Wars. To draw a common comparison: Star Trek is comparable to TOPGUN: Maverick, while Star Wars is similar to Jurassic World: Dominion. Star Trek relies on its individual plots while making homages to its past, and Star Wars relies solely on nostalgia, which completely throws away the complexity of cinema and television. 

Additionally, the characters in Star Trek are more complex and well developed than those in Star Wars. In Star Trek, a character’s moral and ethical compass is often challenged, making it more engaging. The first time we see this is when Captain Kirk has to decide whether or not to return a captured pilot to the past or take him to the future.

There are, however, other moments where we see more difficult decisions being made. For example in the sixth season of Deep Space 9, Sisko, who is an honorable Starfleet Captain with a strong moral compass, is forced to poison a planet’s atmosphere to capture a traitor. Additionally, Picard had to deal with the repercussions of the battle of Wolf 359 numerous times throughout the franchise. Also, Star Trek’s timeline doesn’t have as many gaps as Star Wars, with the exception between Enterprise and Discovery and the third season of the latter. 

Another reason why Star Trek is better is because “Star Trek is more science fiction, while Star Wars is more science fantasy,” said Nicholas Hurtado, a physics teacher at Briar Woods.

Another way to put it is “We don’t know how the Millennium Falcon works because it is Star Wars, we don’t need to know how it works. With Star Trek, we know they use warp theory because of the way the franchise is set as more in line with science and technology,” said choir instructor Nigel Tangredi.

In addition to the new sequel trilogy and Disney+ shows (Star Wars) and the new Paramount+ Content (Star Trek), that sense of nostalgia is more prevalent than ever. It makes absolutely no sense that Palpatine is still alive except in order to reference the original and prequel trilogies. However, the new season of Star Trek: Picard manages to refer to the relationship between Picard and Crusher while maintaining the integrity of the season’s plot.

Overall as a franchise, Star Trek is more complex, yet more entertaining than all of Star Wars because Star Wars is just a nostalgic fantasy movie set in a universe divided by a singular concept and Star Trek is a complex tapestry of plotlines and characters that blend well together in a universe that is our own. At this point Star Wars is so reliant on its merchandise that if Hasbro Shut Down, Star Wars would be forgotten to the ages in a matter of 20 years. Due to these plot points, Star Trek is better than Star Wars.