The Stargate franchise spans three decades, three TV shows, and three movies,
plus other non-canon material. Want to know where to start? We've got you
covered. This is the correct order in which to watch the Stargate franchise.
Any Stargate watch-through should logically begin with the 1994 movie.
It's the film that launched the entire franchise, and it's the first time audiences were introduced
to the Stargate universe. The plot builds on the popular conspiracy that aliens built the
pyramids in Giza, Egypt and proceeds to create a mythology around the wide-ranging implications
of that central concept. Played by James Spader,
the main protagonist of the original movie is an archaeologist named Daniel Jackson.
He is a confirmed believer in the theory that aliens built the massive ancient structures.
Not surprisingly, academia at large rejects and ostracizes Daniel. But as it always tends to be
with crackpot academics in movies: Jackson is more correct than he could possibly know.
The U.S. military has managed to get their hands on an alien device buried in the sands of Egypt,
which is dubbed the Stargate. Eventually, Jackson teams up with Colonel Jack O'Neill, played
perfectly stoically by Kurt Russell. Together they work to uncover the secrets of the Stargate.
As it turns out, this large ring-like device is basically a universal phone.
You “dial” a set of coordinates in 3D space, and if there's a connection,
you can transport yourself to another planet. Unfortunately for Jackson, O'Neill, and their
team, this is no vacation. On this new world, they quickly become embroiled in an age-old conflict.
They must defeat an evil alien dictator that calls himself Ra before they can return home to Earth.
After finishing the movie, you get to enjoy a long uninterrupted stretch of television
in the form of Stargate SG-1. The series spans ten seasons overall, but for now,
we're just going to focus on the first seven. SG-1 is a spin-off from the original film, and picks up
roughly one year after the events of the movie. In the pilot, the Stargate device activates on
its own, and aliens walk through, killing and kidnapping several U.S. military personnel.
Naturally the government reacts by setting up a secret base called Stargate Command
to monitor the device and mount a rescue mission. The base is led by General Hammond, played by the
always authoritative Don Davis, who pulls Jack O'Neill, now played by Richard Dean Anderson,
out of retirement. From there, O'Neill makes contact with and once again recruits Daniel
Jackson, played by Michael Shanks. He completes his team with the very capable Samantha Carter,
as played by Amanda Tapping, and ultimately the renegade Goa'uld
warrior Teal'c, as depicted by Christopher Judge. The show quickly establishes that the Goa'uld are
an aggressive, highly advanced alien civilization who are bent on destroying and enslaving humanity.
To protect Earth, Stargate Command assembles a group of teams, led by SG-1, to travel through
the Stargate, exploring the universe and searching for allies in the battle against their new foe.
Each episode has SG-1 visiting new locations looking for partners and technology that will give
them the edge over the Goa'uld, but interesting storylines develop as the show progresses.
In the first seven seasons, the four-person team of SG-1 operates out of a secret base in Colorado,
traveling to other planets and facing down all manner of alien threats.
After wrapping up season 7, things start to get a little more complicated. While Stargate SG-1
was still in production, MGM took advantage of its popularity and launched a spinoff TV series
called Stargate Atlantis. Both of the shows took place in the same fictional universe,
and their stories run in parallel to each other. The good news is that SG-1 and Atlantis are mostly
independent from each other. They take place in different galaxies and have entirely different
storylines and casts. But there are a few episodes where the shows reference each other in some way.
You won't have to weave the episodes together, but it's probably best to
start watching Stargate SG-1 season 8 and Stargate Atlantis season 1 at the same time.
The climax of Stargate SG-1 season 7 introduces the lost city of Atlantis.
The SG-1 team discovers its location, lost in deep space.
Stargate Command sends a permanent team there, which sets up a base and lives as a colony in
the lost city. Stargate SG-1 season 8 continues the storyline, and by the season finale, the team
finally defeats its two biggest opponents: The Goa'uld and the Replicators. Meanwhile, Stargate
Atlantis introduces several new characters as well as the team's own powerful enemy, the Wraith.
Continuing on with the trend, your next step should be to watch Stargate SG-1 season 9 along
with Stargate Atlantis season 2. Once again, you don't need to go back and forth between
the two shows, but it will help to watch them back-to-back since the events that occur in them
take place at the same time. With many long-running series,
established characters enter and leave depending on off-screen events, and season 9 was a massive
change for SG-1. Both Jack O'Neill and General Hammond transition into supporting characters who
play minor roles in the series. They are replaced by Beau Bridges' Hank Landry, new commander
of Stargate Command, and Ben Browder as Cameron Mitchell, the new leader of a fractured SG-1 team.
Additionally, Vala Mal Doran, a recurring character played by Claudia Black,
becomes a primary member of the SG-1 team. Mal Doran is an extremely clever,
though morally dubious human alien with a deep infatuation with Daniel Jackson.
"Ladies first." "Well then, after you."
Season 9 also introduces a new race of villains known as the Ori. These aliens discover the
existence of humans living in the Milky Way galaxy, and they begin a violent crusade
in our region of the universe. The Ori's ultimate goal is to convert everyone to their religion:
Origin. Their highly advanced technology forces SG-1 and Stargate Command to devise new
and innovative ways to defeat this menacing foe. Meanwhile, on Atlantis, the team there tries to
develop a retrovirus that will turn the Wraith into humans. But the experiments aren't without
flaws, with test subjects producing ambiguous results at best. The Wraith, who feed on humans,
discover Earth's location and decide to head there to use the population as a new feeding ground.
Season 10 is the last hurrah for Stargate SG-1, and the last time you'll watch two shows at the
same time. Being the last season of the series, you'll get to see several major plotlines wrapped
up in SG-1. Without giving anything major away, the series finale ties up several threads,
including the fate of at least one fan-favorite couple and the climax of the battle against one
of the show's big bads. After dozens of episodes, the final curtain closes on Stargate SG-1, so it's
time to head over to Stargate Atlantis season 3. In Atlantis, the team manages to prevent the
Wraith from assaulting Earth, but they fail in their attempts to develop a retrovirus to defeat
their foe. The team on Atlantis continue to battle the Wraith even as a new foe is
introduced in the form of self-replicating nanobots that call themselves the Asurans.
These creatures threaten to destroy Atlantis, so the team fires up the city's hyperdrives and
heads to the stars. You heard that right, the entire city is a massive spaceship!
Soon after Atlantis flees, it's badly damaged and the crew find themselves adrift in space.
Before moving on to the next season of Stargate Atlantis, you should take a
couple of hours to watch the direct-to-video movie Stargate: Ark of Truth, which picks
up right after the end of Stargate SG-1. Ark of Truth wraps up some dangling threads
about the Ori left at the end of SG-1, and effectively eliminates the enemy once and
for all. The movie opens by explaining the existence of an ancient object known as the
Ark of Truth, a mysterious machine which has the capabilities of defeating the Ori. Naturally,
the team is eager to find it. Unfortunately for SG-1, it's located on the Ori's homeworld.
Despite it being a suicide mission, they visit the planet and retrieve the device, but in the process
resurrect an old enemy: The Replicators. The Ori gather their forces for a final
assault on our galaxy, but SG-1 activates the Ark of Truth and defeats the Ori,
albeit in an unexpected way. See, the device reveals to the Priors that the Ori are not
gods. The Priors are humans who serve the Ori and promote their religion, which includes plans to
invade Earth. The Ark of Truth causes all Priors to become aware of the true nature of the Ori,
and they leave their religion, and abandon the Ori all together. The movie ends with
SG-1 preparing to go through the Stargate on a new mission, implying that the story will go on.
With the Ark of Truth wrapped up, head back to Stargate Atlantis and watch season 4.
There was some transition in the Stargate franchise at this point.
For one, this is the first time Atlantis aired as the only Stargate show on TV.
Secondly, the main cast shifted quite a bit. Elizabeth Weir, played by Torri Higginson,
became incapacitated, which made room for Samantha Carter to become a main character in the series.
Carter made the move from the SG-1 team, and became a series regular on Atlantis.
"Thanks for saving our asses back there from the bad guys.
It was a risky move." "It was nothing compared
to the risk you and your team took." The show's tone also took a darker turn
this season. Season 4 opens with Atlantis still adrift in space, and the team desperately trying
to make repairs. They continue their two-front war against both the Wraiths and the Asurans,
and part way through the season make the brilliant move of pitting both enemies against each other.
The Atlantis team manage to reprogram the Asurans, convincing them that the Wraiths
are their enemies, and by the end of the season the Wraiths are nearly wiped out.
With only one season of Stargate Atlantis remaining, it's time to take another break
to watch the next standalone movie in the Stargate SG-1 storyline. Stargate: Continuum occurs between
seasons 4 and 5 of Atlantis and completes the story arc of several characters from SG-1.
It revolves around one of the only survivors of the Goa'uld after their defeat at the hands
of Stargate Command. Ba'al, the last of the Goa'uld System Lords survives the destruction
of his people. He continued to play a minor role in SG-1 during seasons 9 and 10, and occasionally
joined forces with Stargate Command, but ultimately remains a villainous figure.
In Stargate: Continuum, the SG-1 team finally corners Ba'al and plans to put
a permanent end to him. However, it turns out that this is merely a clone of Ba'al,
and the real System Lord has enacted one last plan to gain universal power.
Ba'al time travels to 1939 and actually prevents the Stargate program on Earth from ever happening.
Doing so creates an alternate timeline where Ba'al conquers the universe. As he readies an
assault on Earth, a few members of SG-1 remember the original timeline. Through their efforts,
they revert history back to its original course. The movie ends how it started, with Ba'al about
to be executed. This time, the characters are unaware of the previous events or an alternate
timeline. They complete the extraction process, which brings an end to the Goa'uld for good.
It's time to head back to Atlantis one more time. The fifth season of Stargate Atlantis
is the last. Fortunately, the show does a pretty good job of wrapping up a bunch of plotlines.
McKay, the snobbish geek, finally falls in love with Keller. The team defeats their archenemy
the Wraith. In the end, humans can finally form a government in the Pegasus Galaxy,
free from the tyranny of enemy alien forces. The series finale of Stargate Atlantis is
pretty spectacular. The Wraith discover the location of Earth and head straight for it,
dinner being the only thing on their minds. In response, the Atlantis team decides to
fly the city to Earth and join in a massive fight to fend off the Wraith. After an epic
battle and glorious victory, Atlantis lands in the Pacific Ocean not far from San Francisco.
The Stargate franchise continued after the end of Atlantis in the show Stargate Universe, though
this latest entry in the franchise only lasted two seasons. Because it was the last of the series,
you can watch both in order without having to split your attention with other shows and movies.
The plot and characters are far removed from the rest of the franchise, which makes the show
its own independent story arc. In Stargate Universe, humanity discovers an alien race
called the Ancients. The Ancients sent a ship deep into the unexplored parts of the universe.
The vessel traveled so far that it's actually almost impossible to get to it using a Stargate.
And because the journey is so long, it's basically a one-way trip. The ship doesn't
have enough juice to send the travellers back. A team from Stargate Command decides to take the
plunge, and they wind up stuck on the Ancient's vessel. The show balances several storylines
including trying to find a way to get home, surviving this strange new place, and trying to
figure out what the Ancients wanted to accomplish with the ship. It turns out, the craft was
investigating something incredibly close to the point in the universe where the Big Bang occurred,
and there's evidence that life might have existed before the beginning of the known universe.
Up to this point, we've been going in pretty much chronological order through
the Stargate franchise. The last entry in the list is the exception. Stargate Origins
is actually a web series that serves as a prequel of sorts to everything you've watched so far.
The series is set in 1939, long before the events of the first movie. Origins is quite different
from the rest of the shows. It only contains ten episodes, and each is only ten minutes long.
After the initial release, every episode was compiled into a single movie,
which is now available to stream. If you've been binging all of the shows up to this point,
you should have no problem knocking Stargate Origins out quickly.
The plot follows Catherine Langford played by Ellie Gall, who is trying to unlock the secrets
of the Stargate. In SG-1, Langford is a minor character and a good friend of Daniel Jackson.
It's explained throughout the series that Langford was key in helping to establish
the Stargate program. Now we get to see more details about her story in Stargate Origins.
The main antagonist for this short series is a Nazi who, surprise surprise,
knows about the Stargate and how it works. Check out one of our newest videos right
here! Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite shows are coming soon.
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