The fascinating ways Star Wars and Star Trek are challenging their own franchises

It's very rare to see contemporary versions of Star Wars and Star Trek make similar creative choices. After all, part of what's fueled the age-old Wars v. Trek debate are the series' wildly different approaches to scifi. But with The Last Jedi in theaters and Discovery airing online, both franchises seem to be tackling something fascinating, questioning institutions in each world that fans have held dear for decades.

Both The Last Jedi and Discovery have been met with a certain level of fan backlash. Mostly, this has been driven by a belief that these entries into their respective, venerable franchises have chosen to eschew what came before and do something "new"-something that, in the detractors' eyes, goes against the ideals of the older material that defined each series. Additionally, a small but vocal contingent of both properties have turned to trollish seething over the fact that Discovery and Last Jedi feature prominent characters who aren't straight white men, but that's a whole separate, depressing thing.

30th January 2018