Despite not being included in The CW‘s potential 2022 fall line up, there’s still some hope for Babylon 5 returning the small screen — just not this year. The show’s creator, J. Michael Straczynski, gave an update via his Patreon, informing fans that there’s still some possibility to see a reboot on our screens in 2023, as the series has been pushed back to the next development season in a highly unusual move by the network’s CEO Mark Pedowitz.

Straczynski explained that though a project is usually dead when it is not picked up for production, the CW CEO took the unusual step of rolling the project into next year while the dust settles on the sale of the network. Straczynski further revealed that Pedowitz, who called the pilot “a damned fine script,” was a long time fan of the show. He then reassured fans once again that the project was not dead, just delayed, stating “Yesterday, Babylon 5 was in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2022. Today, Babylon 5 is in active development at the CW and Warner Bros. for fall 2023. That is the only difference.”

The original version of Babylon 5 followed a group of human military staff and alien diplomats stationed on Babylon 5 – a five-mile long space station and neutral place for galactic trade, political relations, and diplomacy – amid alien wars, upheaval and the resistance against a totalitarian Earth, among other titanic plot lines. The show gained a cult-following during its run and was hailed for popularizing season-long arcs in a time when contemporary television confined conflicts to individual episodes without much foray into consequences and aftermath. Babylon 5 is also credited for launching a “new era of television CGI visual effects” that has remained prevalent today.

Due to the cultural significance and following of the show, the anticipation for the reboot is not unexpected. In today’s entertainment landscape of reboots and nostalgia, fans have repeatedly called for a reboot of the beloved cult science fiction series. As such, when news broke in September 2021 that Babylon 5 would be potentially returning the small screen, the series immediately became one of the most anticipated shows for fall 2022.

The reboot of the critically acclaimed and award-winning 90s series is expected to be a “from-the-ground-up” project which will follow John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, who is assigned to Babylon 5, and whose arrival triggers a destiny beyond his imagination. While Sheridan was a character from the original show played by Bruce Boxleitner, it is expected the reboot will be introducing a new and retooled version of the character. The reboot will see the character and the Babylon 5 crew act as the last hope for the human race when an “exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us.” While we know Sheridan will be returning to Babylon 5 lore, it remains to be seen which other characters from the original show will be included in the reboot as well.

Straczynski will be returning to write and executive-produce the new series and has said the reboot will have many beats and elements of the original show while being reflective of today’s world.

via Collider