Babylon 5 Reboot in the Works at The CW With J. Michael Stracyznski

Fan-favorite 1990s sci-fi series Babylon 5 is getting a reboot. On Monday, The CW revealed that it is developing a “from-the-ground-up reboot” of Babylon 5. The show first aired on PETN and TNT and was remastered in HD for its HBO Max debut earlier this year. J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of the original show, is writing the new version. He took to social media to confirm the news and divulge some details on his plans. This new Babylon 5 will focus on a character from the original, John Sheridan (played previously by Bruce Boxleitner). He’s an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background assigned to the Babylone 5 space station. The location is a five-mile-long structure located in a region of neutral space.

The Babylon 5 reboot, which hasn’t received a series order yet, comes from Warner Bros. TV, the same studio behind the original series. Straczynski is executive producing via his Studio JMS.

Warner Bros. TV first developed Babylon 5 as a television movie to boost the then-nascent and now-defunct Prime Time Entertainment Network. Debuting in 1993, the film, known now as Babylon 5: The Gathering, led to a series order, though some cast shakeups came during the interim.

The original Babylon 5 starred Michael O’Hare, Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Jerry Doyle, and Mira Furlan and ran for five seasons, jumping from PTEN to TNT when the former shut down in 1997. Even after the original 110-episode run, the series spawned spinoffs and TV movies set in the same universe, including Crusade on TNT. It also proved a popular multimedia franchise, leading to tie-in novels and comics.

Straczynski has stayed busy since Babylone 5‘s original end. He’s a prolific comic writer, creating the Rising Stars universe. He also wrote The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Thor for Marvel Comics and Superman for DC Comics. More recently, he’s launched new projects at the recently launched publisher AWA Studios. His more recent work in television includes Netflix’s Sense8. His film credits include Changeling, Underworld: Awakening, World War Z, and Thor. He recently published a memoir, Becoming Superman: A Writer’s Journey from Poverty to Hollywood, and has a new novel titled Together We Will Go. He recently revealed that he reached out to the BBC about becoming the new following Chris Chibnall’s exit. However, that job has since gone to the returning Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T. Davies.