In a unique turn of events Babylon 5 Creator Joseph Michael Straczynski is rebooting his
own space opera.
The original 90s science fiction series was considered groundbreaking at the time for
Stracynski’s approach in conceptualizing and utilizing a preplanned 5 year story arc
with each episode envisioned as a chapter in the story.
The original series kicks off in the year 2257 and is centered around the space station
Babylon 5 built and positioned deep in neutral space in the after-math of several major interspecies
wars.
Hailed as the last best hope for peace, Babylon 5 was a dream given form.
A port of call for travelers, refugees, diplomats and entrepreneurs.
A neutral venue where the 5 major space faring races of the galaxy could gather and work
to resolve their issues peacefully.
While reboots of classic IPs are nothing new.
For a creator to reimagine their own story in a from the ground up reboot is unprecedented
and no doubt presents interesting creative challenges.
A Babylon 5 reboot was announced late September 2021 however shortly after the CW Network,
where it was set to air, was put up for sale.
Mark Pedowitz, the president of the CW, assured Straczynski that this would not be the end
of his new project.
As he made sure to roll production on the reboot into the next year in 2023 while the
dust settled on the network’s sale and acquisition by Nexstar Media Group.
This new reboot is going in the direction of Westworld and Battlestar Galactica in taking
certain evergreen elements of the original series and telling a different story that
attempts to retain the same spirit of the original.
Fans may understandably be worried about this reboot under the youth oriented CW network
and whether the acquisition by Nexstar may be a positive development.
However there has been a recent revelation that a secret original Babylon 5 project in
addition to this reboot is in the works as well.
Straczynski recently took to twitter where he first talked about this new secret B5 project
in a message to his patrons saying quote: BTW and FYI, my Patrons are first to hear
everything related to B5 & all my other projects; getting pages from my new novel, peeks into
a secret B5 project THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED for '23 release, commentaries, archival photos,
storyboards, scripts & more.
What's most surprising about this news that JMS made sure to emphasize is that this secret
B5 production has already been completed and is set to debut in 2023.
Fans were definitely excited after this revelation and naturally had many questions for the showrunner
over the subsequent days.
In a following tweet Stracynski said quote: The great thing is that the secret B5 project
isn't one of those "maybe it'll happen/maybe it won't"...it's done, it has a '23 release
date, and it's the closest thing to the original B5 in tone of anything we've done since.
As if no time has passed at all.
100% crescent fresh.
In a separate tweet JMS added,“The agonizing part is that, even though it's finished, the
project won't be debuted until a big presentation at next year's San Diego Comic Con, after
which it will be made available.”
The clues JMS teases definitely highlight that this project is closely connected to
the original series with a very similar tone emphasizing that it’s as if no time has
passed at all.
His careful choice of words however makes me question whether it is a project set within
the original series canon or if it’s meant to be connected to the reboot somehow perhaps
as a way to draw in fans of the original encouraging them to check out the new reimagined series.
The fact that he merely points to the tone as being close to the original series makes
me tend to believe that it is indeed part of the reboot’s new canon but retains the
same spirit of what came before.
But so far all we can do is speculate.
For more clues as to the nature of this project, in an article from Space.com it was reported
that in March of 2021 Straczynski put out a request on Twitter for anyone who worked
on the special effects for the original show and who might still have some of the CGI files
to get in touch with him as they were needed.
Rumors then swirled as to what could be in the works with B5 and Warner Bros. Many suspected
that an animated movie or series of movies could be in development.
An animated film certainly sounds intriguing and could allow for original cast members
to reprise their roles in whatever time frame is needed without having to worry about de-aging;
however other formats for this secret project can’t be ruled out either.
Several days after Stracynski’s initial social media post.
He took to twitter again to clarify the dual B5 projects in development saying quote: “B5
Project 1 is the reboot/reimagining for CW, which is awaiting a production order.
Project 2 is the one we've been doing in secret with some of the cast.
Until there's an official announcement, all of us are sworn to secrecy and can't tell
you what it is or even what medium it's in (film/audio/video/game/print/semaphore), I
can only tell you that it's done and has a '23 release date.”
After this clarification it’s less certain whether the two projects have anything to
do with each other as the reboot itself is currently awaiting the official production
order.
However I can't help but speculate whether there would be a similar start to the reboot
as the original series itself if these two projects do end up being connected.
This secret project might end up paving the way for the reboot, drumming up excitement
for its premiere as did the pilot film for the original series.
Babylon 5’s first episode premiered as a test pilot film in 1993 entitled Babylon 5:
The Gathering.
Only after the success of the pilot movie did Warner Bros give the greenlight for production
on the series which aired almost a year later in 1994.
Admittedly there is not much to go on in Stracynski’s clarification tweet to confirm or deny certain
rumors regarding this secret project as the showrunner is sworn to secrecy.
However, whatever the project’s form may be, many fans are no doubt excited that members
of the original cast got to be a part of this production.
In commenting on the cast, JMS revealed that all surviving main cast members from the original
series participated in this project and later in response to fan questions on twitter he
also made a point to emphasize that “all means all” when it comes to which cast members
would be included.
So in addition to Bruce Boxleitner (John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Susan Ivanova), Peter Jurasik
(Londo Mollari), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Tracy Scoggins (Elizabeth Lochley) and Patricia
Tallman (Lyta Alexander).
It could also mean that Andrea Thompson, who played telepath Talia
Winters before departing in season two, Jason Carter, who played Marcus Cole and Julie Caitlin
Brown, who portrayed Ambassador G'Kar's aide, Na'Toth could have joined as well.
Fans have speculated whether or not this production will expand upon the stories of the original
series, perhaps producing a film centered around the Telepath War.
However, these clues from JMS indicate that there really isn’t a solid basis to assume
this project is indeed an actual B5 production set within the original series canon.
Also, the inclusion of main cast members doesn’t necessarily mean they will be reprising their
same roles.
It is possible they could be portraying different characters in a project connected to the impending
reboot, perhaps in the form of a prologue of sorts.
Regardless of what this project is or what form it will take, I'm very excited about
the surviving main cast members' participation and the fact that it is already completed
and ready to be revealed at next year’s San Diego Comic Con.
JMS in another tweet did say that any official announcement regarding the production and
its form will have to come from others but did share it is something he is very proud
of and noted that his Patrons will get the new details about this project ahead of everyone
else.
I’ll leave a link in the description below for his Patron page if you’d like to check
it out.
But I’m curious to know what you think about this secret Babylon 5 project.
What medium do you suspect it will be presented in and what story do you think could be featured
in this new production.
Do you think this will be part of the original series canon or tied closer to this new reboot
instead.
What are you most excited to see from this project featuring the original main cast members?
Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
Leave a like if you did and be sure to subscribe for more sci-fi and fantasy news and lore.
Thank you all so much for your support and as always have a very nerdy day.