Star Wars and Star Trek are often portrayed as rivals, but Lucasfilm need to learn key lessons from Star Trek's golden age. The last few years have seen Lucasfilm transform Star Wars into a bold transmedia franchise, but not everything has been successful. What's more, the latest reports suggest behind-the-scenes drama continues to plague the studio, even as Lucasfilm struggle to prioritize ramping up movies again at the same time as continuing their Disney+ TV shows. If reports are accurate, there's currently no real sense of direction.
To be fair, transmedia is difficult - and may well be even harder for Lucasfilm. It's worth remembering that, when Disney purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012, there was no real development pipeline bar "George Lucas likes this idea" (according to Bob Iger's auobiography The Ride of a Lifetime, this is why Lucas didn't get the "Pixar deal" he coveted). Now, Lucasfilm is trying to manage multiple workstreams in many different formats. All that means the studio may be wise to look at others who have succeeded - including Star Trek's golden age.
There needs to be a strong sense of direction
For this purpose, we'll define the 1990s as the golden age of Star Trek. This was a time when the franchise prospered in multiple mediums at the same time, and characters and events rippled on between movies and TV shows. This was the age of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager - three shows in the space of a decade, all of which left a lasting impact on the franchise's history and lore. There were four movies at the same time, with three featuring the TNG crew. It's an impressive era.
How did Star Trek pull this off? A large part of the answer lies in the fact the franchise was shepherded by one (admittedly controversial) figure, Rick Berman. Something of a protégé to Gene Roddenberry, Berman held the reins tightly, but allowed others a good degree of leeway. "My job... includes monitoring the 'degree of bend'… letting the shows and the films evolve, but keeping Gene's vision true to course," Berman famously explained, illustrating the careful balance he felt he had to strike. Under Berman's leadership, TNG was the first syndicated series nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series.
There needs to be a singular vision.
Berman was far from perfect, and the quality of his work is generally seen as declining in later years. But his influence on Star Trek's golden age illustrates an important point about transmedia; there needs to be a singular vision. It's a lesson Marvel Studios learned when creaive conflict forced an entire corporate restructure, with Kevin Feige placed in charge and the Marvel Creative Committee disbanded. It's a lesson Lucasfilm is yet to learn; right now, there are countless projects in the works, and the overall direction will be decided by which is made first.
Take, for example, recent reports Daisy Ridley's Rey is returning in multiple movies - not just in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's New Jedi Order film. The core problem is that the movie that comes out first will effectively define the era for Rey, and require dramatic rewrites (or the complete abandoning) of all other projects. That's no way to run a development pipeline, and a more singular vision - like Berman's - is required. Rey is considered Lucasfilm's biggest cinematic asset, and she can't be handled this way.
The Mandalorian Era Can Learn From The Star Trek Transition
The Mandalorian is boldly going where Star Trek has gone before
The Mandalorian and Grogu is the next Star Wars movie, set to bring the franchise back to the big screen in 2026. It will make history for another reason, though; it's the first time a Star Wars TV show has transitioned into blockbuster movies. But Star Wars is boldly going where Star Trek has gone before, in the case of TNG. In this case, Trek stumbled, and Wars can learn from those mistakes. The core problem was the concern to return characters to archetype status, which affected character growth and progression.
The Mandalorian season 3's ending reset Din Djarin's status quo; although he returned to his original role as a bounty hunter, he was now working only for the Republic. Although he'd been reunited with his delightful ward Grogu, the ambiguity of their relationship had been resolved at last, and he'd now officially adopted Grogu as his apprentice. These subtle changes should allow The Mandalorian & Grogu to blaze its own trail, but it's important that the movie serves to boldly evolve its stars.
Other Star Wars Shows Can Learn From Deep Space Nine
Other shows can be given room to breathe
That brings us to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, my personal favorite of the '90s Star Trek shows. DS9 was less of a corporate priority, with lower viewership, and Berman focused on TNG and Voyager; this meant the production team had more room to be creative, and were given more flexibility to add depth and texture to the galaxy. This is important because it points to a subtle truth that is so easily forgotten; not everything is equally essential when it comes to defining the brand. TNG and Voyager were rightly Berman's focus, and DS9 prospered as a result.
If Lucasfilm want to run an efficient transmedia initiative, then there needs to be a strong sense of corporate priorities. Some movies or TV shows will serve as the focus for development, while other shows are allowed to do their own thing, operating in the shadows of the stories already being told. To be fair to Lucasfilm, this may well already be the approach Lucasfilm is taken; as exciting as Star Wars: Skeleton Crew may be, it doesn't look set to be as impactful as Ahsoka.
Transmedia is not easy. Right now, all reports suggest nobody at Lucasfilm quite knows what creative direction should be pursued - at least beyond The Mandalorian era, which is clearly setting up a major story involving the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn. But Star Wars is not the first franchise to try to figure out the balance when it comes to transmedia, and the example of Star Trek is an important one when it comes to working out the best approach.
