Summary
TheStar Trekuniverse is expanding beyond its already broad reach with new series, new seasons, and even an upcoming theatrical release. However, some fans think the franchise isn’t learning from the mistakes ofStar Wars.
Star Trekis one of the most popular franchises in science fiction history, with nearly twenty titles and counting. There’s no doubt about the impact and lasting power of the world and characters, even poorWesley Crusher fromStar Trek: The Next Generation.Currently,Star Trekhas several ongoing series, includingStrange New Worlds,Lower Decks, andProdigy, and the upcoming projects include aStarfleet Academyseries centered around young cadets and aSection 31movie starring Michelle Yeoh fromEverything Everywhere All At Once.
However, fans are becoming concerned aboutthe overly-stuffedStar Trekslate. A recent Reddit post by u/dearprudence463suggested that the franchise needs even more TV shows, igniting a heated discussion in the comments. Many fans are concerned that too much content will causeStar Trekto suffer the same audience fatigue syndrome as other once-infallible franchises. “Unpopular Opinion: it needs less of everything. More isn’t always better,” said one fan. “See Star Wars. See Marvel. See any media corporation draining the life out of an IP.”
Many users in the comments agreed on their desire for quality over quantity, referencing the recent Disney business model of flooding the market with subpar shows and movies, which has proven disastrous for subsidiaries like Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios, as seen withThe Marvelsand its poor reception. “I feel like they’re starting to pull a Star Wars,” said u/blackfyre686. “We don’t need any more pre-[Star Trek: The Original] series at this point.” Meanwhile, others defended theStar Trekstrategy, claiming more is fine if the series and film are good. “More is only a problem if the quality is lesser,” declared one user, “but this hasn’t been a problem forStar Trek.Lower Decks,SNW, andProdigyare all amazing.” Another commenter replied, “Yeah, the weird thing with moderntrekis that the more shows they’ve had going at the same time the better the content has gotten lol.” However, despite the defenders, most remained concerned.
Another user raised a possibly unconsidered factor in recent fan fatigue that goes beyond the quality/quantity debate: the idea of too many storylines happening simultaneously. “With so many universes nesting within each other, to miss something is to be confused about something else not far in the future,” said u/nthelegend. “This is independent of the discussion of quality because people still only have so many hours a day to watch linear content and only the super fans are going to be able to dedicate nearly all of it to a single property.”
This is an interesting point because it speaks tothe issue of Marvel’s MCUand other relentless sequels and franchises. Fan fatigue, in general, may not be due simply to a drop in quality but to the feeling that you must see everything to understand anything.
TheStar Trekfranchise is streaming on Paramount Plus.
Star Trek
Star Trek is a space exploration franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The series has spanned shows like The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Voyager. More recently, developer Scopely came out with Star Trek Fleet Command, a mobile title where you can be captain of your own ship.
