With many iconic sci-fi series securing revivals as the nostalgia of the ’90s hits us all, Babylon 5 star Claudia Christian has addressed the idea of the much-loved show being rebooted.
The actress starred as Commander Susan Ivanova in the groundbreaking series, set on the space station Babylon 5, which was intended as neutral ground for trade and diplomacy in a universe that has seen several brutal wars.
The show ran for five seasons from 1994 to 1998 (with Christian leaving at the end of the fourth season) and, in 2021, it was announced a reboot from creator J Michael Straczynski was in development. However, it never came to fruition.
Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, Christian admitted she’s “torn” about the idea of Babylon 5 being rebooted.
“I thought it would be really fun to show the young [John] Sheridan, and maybe have the remaining cast members come back as other characters that they’ve never played before… I certainly would have been involved with that. I thought it was something that would have been delightful for the fans, even more so, I think, than the animated feature we did.
“But, at this point I think it’s been so long that that if they did a reboot, it would have to be with those original characters, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense, and I think recasting those characters is always a nightmare.
“It has to be done right for the fans to accept it. These are big shoes to fill. Who’s going to [take over from] Mira Furlan? Who’s going to [take over from] Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik? These are giant shoes to fill. I pity the person who would have to do that.”
However, she added: “But it’s possible. I think it’s a beautiful project. If it never gets rebooted or remade, it’s perfect as it is.
“It’s the little train that couldn’t. You look at it now and some of the hair looks silly, and the sets look cheap, the CGI was so cutting edge in the day and now people are laughing at it, and I have to say, if you were there at the time and you saw that, it was extraordinary.”
While Christian left Babylon 5 after season 4, she still looks back on it with a huge amount of love.
“I see how it touched so many people, and that’s really the overwhelming feeling,” she said.
“No one’s ever come up to me and said ‘Babylon 5 ruined my life!’ They always say, ‘It was there for me at a very difficult time’, or, ‘I resonated with Susan Ivanova, because she was strong and gave me faith’ or ‘gave me hope, or ‘I saw Jewish character’, ‘I saw bisexual character’, ‘I identified with these things’, ‘I saw substance use disorders’, race wars, religious wars, all of these things that touch people, and that’s overwhelmingly what I feel. I feel a nostalgic love for that show that continues.”
Most recently, it was announced that Blake’s 7 is set to be rebooted, with Peter Hoar at the helm, while a planned reboot of Stargate from franchise veteran Martin Gero was also announced – and has since been scrapped – at Amazon.
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