Back in 1998, the original run of Babylon 5 came to an end after five seasons. Since then, the franchise has largely been dormant. However, the acclaimed sci-fi series may soon live again. Via Deadline, a new Babylon 5 reboot is in development at The CW. Additionally, series creator J. Michael Straczynski is writing and executive producing the new incarnation.
According to the report, this is a “from-the-ground-up reboot,” rather than a continuation of what came before. The new series will follow John Sheridan, “an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war.”
Sheridan’s arrival also “triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race.”
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It sounds like Sheridan’s story mixes in elements of Jeffrey Sinclair’s arc from the original series. Michael O’Hare’s Sinclair was the original commander of B5 in season 1. However, O’Hare left the series in season 2 and was replaced by Bruce Boxleitner’s Sheridan for the remaining four seasons. O’Hare returned for three additional episodes before he was written out of the show.
Straczynski’s Studio JMS will produce the series alongside Warner Bros. Television. This a turnaround from previous years, when WB had no interest in Babylon 5. There hasn’t been a new Babylon 5 project since 2007’s direct-to-video anthology, The Lost Tales. Regardless, the original series is now streaming on HBO Max.
Are you excited about the return of Babylon 5? And who would you cast in the series? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Babylon 5 All My Words Volume 1: The Gathering through Signs and Portents by J. Michael Straczynski
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