Summary
Star Trek: Voyagerdid a version ofWandaVisionnearly 30 years before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. AlthoughStar Trekand the MCU are both huge franchises, there generally aren’t a lot of similarities between the two.The MCU took a decidedly science fiction lean during its first three phases but in a different way thantheStar Trektimeline,which depicts a utopian vision of the future while the MCU runs concurrently with the present. However, one MCU show that did seemingly borrow a story idea fromStar TrekwasWandaVision.
Kicking off Phase Four of the MCU in 2021,WandaVisionfollowed Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) living a seemingly idyllic sitcom-inspired life in small-town New Jersey. Through a slow build-up, the show revealed that in her grief over Vision’s death,Wanda had used her Chaos Magic to create their marital bliss, inadvertently enslaving the entire town of Westview in the processto act as characters in her fantasy. Although not a direct copy, this premise is a lot like a season 3 episode ofVoyagerinvolvingthe Doctor (Robert Picardo).
Star Trek: Voyager Cast & Character Guide
In its seven seasons, Star Trek: Voyager introduced many new faces to the Trek universe. Here is a breakdown of the show’s main cast and characters.
Voyager’s Season 3 Episode “Real Life” Is Like Star Trek’s Version Of WandaVision
“Real Life” has a lot of similarities to the MCU show
Voyagerseason 3, episode 22, “Real Life” bears a lot of similarities toWandaVisionin premise. Although there was no mystery about how the Doctor’s fantasy in “Real Life” existed thanks toStar Trek’s holodeck,both he and Wanda created an idealized version of family life for themselves to experience something they felt like they couldn’t have any other way. Additionally, the sitcom aspect ofWandaVisionand how it progresses through different eras is also loosely reflected in “Real Life.” The quote from Robert Picardo below talking about the episode’s premise unintentionally sums up these similarities well:
“The first act of that script is like a ’70s sitcom. It’s like The Partridge Family or The Brady Bunch. Everything about it is like an old sitcom. Then the second act – after The Doctor’s family program has been randomized, so that everybody’s not so perfect in their behavior – became like a ’90s sitcom, where everybody’s dissing dad. Then, suddenly, it took this odd turn and became very dramatic. And the last part of the show is like an ER episode, where a child is going to die. It starts out so silly and so ridiculous, then becomes quite touching by the end.”
Of course,WandaVisionis not a one-to-one copy of “Real Life,” and likely wasn’t directly inspired by theStar Trekepisode. The show relies much more heavily on the question of why Westview exists and has a clear villain whereas “Real Life” does not. The theme of grief and loss is also much more present throughout. However,both “Real Life” andWandaVisionend up giving their protagonist a greater understanding of their own humanityand the emotional/mental trials they could withstand. Interestingly, “Real Life” isn’t even the onlyVoyagerepisode with a connection to the MCU.
Star Trek: Voyager’s “Endgame” Beat Avengers By 28 Years
Voyager also did “Endgame” before the Avengers franchise
Similarly to the explosive final film of the MCU’s Phase Three,Voyager’s series finale was also called “Endgame.” The chess term is a fairly popular title for finales, but the similarities between “Endgame” andAvengers: Endgamedon’t end there. Both stories involvedtime travel to reverse - or inVoyager’s case prevent - the deaths of several important characters. In the MCU, the scale was much larger thanks to the Blip, butAdmiral Janeway’s (Kate Mulgrew)plan to prevent the deaths of Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) inVoyagerwas just as important.
Another big similarity between the two projects was their respective villains. Although their motivations differed widely,Thanos (Josh Brolin) and the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) are fairly comparable big badsin terms of their relative importance to their respective franchises. Thanos is perhaps the most substantial villain the MCU has created to date, and the Borg Queen is the head ofStar Trek’s biggest enemy. Despite many differences,Star Trek: Voyagerand the MCU are a lot more similar than they might appear at first glance.
Source:Braving the Unknown: Season Three, Voyager season 3 DVD special features.
Star Trek: Voyager
Cast
The fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Voyager, is a sci-fi series that sees the crew of the USS Voyager on a long journey back to their home after finding themselves stranded at the far ends of the Milky Way Galaxy. Led by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew as they embark through truly uncharted areas of space, with new species, friends, foes, and mysteries to solve as they wrestle with the politics of a crew in a situation they’ve never faced before.
WandaVision
WandaVision, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first TV show on Disney+, first aired in 2021. The series kicked off the MCU’s Phase 4 and brought back Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, and Paul Bettany as Vision. WandaVision strayed away from Marvel’s typical formula, this time formatting itself more like a classic sitcom as Wanda struggles to cope with the death of Vision.
