This paper examines the ongoing struggle among Sunni powers in the Middle East through the lens of popular culture – specifically, through imperial-themed television dramas. Although existing literature examines the appeal of “soft power” in creating affinity, such as that cultivated among MENA audiences by Turkey’s widely popular TV serials, a gap exists in capturing the otherizing power of the genre. How does pop culture serve as an arena for regimes not only to create affinity but also to undercut threats to their own claims to power by “otherizing” and thus delegitimizing their competitors? What advantages does the “everyday” medium of television provide in doing so? To answer these questions, I explore contestation surrounding the 2019 debut of the Saudi-produced TV serial Kingdoms of Fire through the social psychological lens of social identity theory (SIT). Hailed by Arab promoters as exposing Ottoman tyranny, I analyze the motivations behind and impact of the series as a counter-narrative to the “Ottomania” of Turkish imperial dramas such as Muhte?em Yüzy?l (The Magnificent Century), Dirili?: Ertu?rul (Resurrection), and Payitaht Abdülhamid (The Last Emperor), all of which supported the ruling AKP’s efforts to expand Turkey’s influence in former Ottoman territories. Applying the SIT concepts of Ingroup privileging and Outgroup prejudice, I flesh out the vital ontological importance of countering narratives that challenge an Ingroup’s definition of its sense of self as well as its perceived role in the world and thus the motivation to “otherize” those challengers in symbolically meaningful ways. In the realm of imperial-themed soap operas, we find a surprisingly high-stakes contestation among Turkey and Arab states over who is the rightful Sunni regional leader based on perceptions of historical legitimacy. To argue that these “epic battles” are not merely reflections but rather tools of foreign policy shaped by perceptions of role identity, I analyze data gathered through intertextual analysis of series content and audience commentary made via social media, audience surveys, and interviews with series producers and foreign policy officials. In addition to shedding light on Turkish-Arab struggles over Sunni hegemony, the analysis specifies 1) the ontological motivations behind initiatives to disseminate a particular identity narrative through popular TV dramas, 2) the surprising significance states attach to “everyday” platforms of identity contestation, and 3) the powerful “otherizing” role that such dramas play in regional rivalries, and thus the need to look beyond the “soft power” of popular cultural media in foreign policy.