The First 'Star Trek Beyond' Trailer Will Hitch A Ride With 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

The oldest still-active nerd argument of all time is whether Batman or Superman would win a fight, and that question will be answered on the big screen next year. The second oldest still-active nerd argument of all time is whether Star Trek or Star Wars is the superior science-fiction series, and that classic squabble looks like it'll be reignited very soon.

Why? Because the first Star Trek Beyond trailer will be attached to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In other words, Lucasfilm and Paramount are now actively encouraging you to keep this geek war raging for as long as possible. Fight! Fight! Fight!

Joking aside, this is actually a fairly canny marketing decision and an example of some not-so-quiet corporate synergy. Although Paramount has zero stake in Star Wars and Disney zero stake in Star Trek, both studios are well-aware that the Venn diagram of both fandoms is almost a perfect circle. So why not give the nerds what they want? Both films can only be boosted by being in wrapped together like this. More importantly, as The Hollywood Reporter notes, J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot production company is still still steering the Star Trek franchise, even though Abrams ditched Star Trek Beyond to make The Force Awakens. So Abrams, Emperor of the Modern Sci-Fi Franchise Landscape, just had his space cake and ate it, too.

THR also reports that other big 2016 summer releases like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Huntsman: Winter WarX-Men: Apocalypse and Independence Day: Resurgence are also hoping to be attached to Star Wars. After all, why would you not want to advertise your movie in front of the pop culture event of 2015? Good or not, everyone is going to see The Force Awakens. Of course, upcoming Disney releases like The Jungle Book, Finding Dory, and Captain America: Civil War will want to have trailers in orbit around the Star Wars machine as well. Things are going to get a little tight.

If you though Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a mysterious project, you haven't turned your attention to Star Trek Beyond. The third film in the rebooted franchise is in a tricky position at the moment, as the fairly awful Star Trek Into Darkness undid a lot of the goodwill engendered by the original 2009 film. We know that Fast and Furious franchise veteran Justin Lin is stepping in for J.J. Abrams, that geeky royalty (and Montgomery Scott himself) Simon Pegg co-wrote the screenplay, and that Idris Elba's villain will be some kind of groundbreaking twist for the franchise. We also know that the cast really likes to dance for charity. Beyond that, your guess is as good as ours. We've been so busy tearing into Star Wars that we've been ignoring the all of the Star Trek sneaking right past us.

Star Trek Beyond is set to open on July 22, 2016.