There are a lot of tropes in science-fiction films and shows that owe their origins to comic books. As space operas became more of a thing as time passed, there were some tropes that just seemed natural to involve in stories including space journeys, whether it be Marvel Comics or Star Trek.
The Watcher was one of the concepts in Marvel comics that received a lot of traction in its introduction. An unbiased observer, who came from a race of unbiased observers, was not a novel idea but was pretty well realized in Marvel Comics. There are a few people who have speculated that The Watcher might have inspired the Prime Directive in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek series.
The Watcher came before Starfleet’s Prime Directive
The Prime Directive is a protocol that most members of Starfleet need to follow when interacting with foreign cultures. It mandates that there can be no interference from members of the Starfleet when it comes to the natural evolution of a civilization, which is also something that The Watchers are expected to do in the Marvel Universe.
The Watcher was introduced in Marvel Comics, in April 1963, in Fantastic Four #13, while the first episode of Gene Roddenberry‘s Star Trek: The Original Series began airing in February 1965, which has led some fans to believe that The Watcher and his race might have inspired this protocol for the Starfleet, which took inspiration from a slew of science fiction works that came before it.
Did the Prime Directive take inspiration from The Watcher? Not necessarily…
A noninterfering observing species has been a long-standing part of science fiction stories. From film classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, to literary classics like Olad Stapledon’s Star Maker, there have been several stories that include a race, or even lone observers whose entire point is to make sure that certain things are observed in the universe, especially when it comes to aliens races that are believed to be ‘less advanced’ than the observer.
It is unlikely that The Watcher inspired Starfleet‘s Prime Directive, despite the proximity at which both these things could have been introduced. While The Fantastic Four took some pages from Star Trek in its later issues, the show might not have taken such an integral part of its mythology from Marvel Comics, which was arguably still in its infancy.
Star Trek: The Original Series can be streamed on Paramount+.
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