‘Babylon 5’ Will Be Rebooted By Original Series Creator
So... Babylon 6?
For the first time since the early 2000s, Babylon 5 is returning to television. The series is reportedly getting a new show from its original creator, J. Michael Straczynski. His first Babylon 5 aired in syndication and on TNT for five years through the middle and late ’90s, and earned a reputation as one of the greatest sci-fi shows of its era.
Per Variety, the new Babylon 5 will be a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of the earlier series with his premise:
John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, 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. His arrival 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.
They also note that as of now, none of the original Babylon 5 cast are confirmed to appear on the series. (Sheridan was played previously by Bruce Boxleitner.)
While Babylon 5 was a staple of syndication through most of its first run on television, this new iteration is being developed for broadcast by The CW. Straczynski has previously expanded the universe of Babylon 5 with novels, comics, TV movies, assorted merchandise and games, and one season of a sequel series called Crusade. He’s also worked on Sense8, and written celebrated run on Marvel comics like Thor and The Amazing Spider-Man. As long as he’s in charge, this is pretty exciting news for Babylon 5 fans.