BREAKING - The critically acclaimed space opera Babylon 5 may be making its way back to television.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, modern reboot of the classic sci-fi series is in development at The CW network. The potential new series is being developed at Warner Bros. Television and will be written by the original show's creator and showrunner, J. Michael Straczynski. In addition to his work on shows such as Sense8 and the Oscar-nominated 2008 movie Changeling, Stracyznski is also known for his 2001 - 2007 run on Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man. The new series is reportedly part of an initiative by Warner Bros. to leverage the company's existing IP to help it stand out from other broadcast networks and streaming services.
The new series will once again tell the story of Babylon 5, a five-mile long space station located in neutral space that was designed to maintain the peace between the most powerful space-faring races in the galaxy. The show will focus on the space station's human commander, John Sheridan, who was portrayed in the original TV series by Tron's Bruce Boxleitner, as he tries to work together with species such as the Mimbari, who previously brought humanity to the brink of extinction, as well as the Narn and the Centauri, who have been at war with each other for generations. Already overwhelmed with handling the galaxy's existing conflicts and prejudices, Sheridan is tasked with bringing each of the races together to face an ancient enemy that threatens them all.
The original show is well known for telling a single continuous, serialized story during an era when most TV series were focused on episodic content, and was also one of the first sci-fi TV shows to primarily use computer-generated graphics for its special effects. The series was lauded for its character development, political intrigue, and its mix of sci-fi and spiritual themes. The show earned a Hugo and a Saturn award during its original five season run. The show aired in syndication for its first four seasons from 1994 - 1997, and returned for a final season on the TNT cable network in 1998. The series was followed up with several made-for-TV movies and a spinoff series, Crusade.
The original Babylon 5 series is currently available for streaming on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter