Why reboot??? Tons of sci-fi material out there (books, comics).
Because Joe had problems from the beginning with funding. He plotted out a five-year arc before he ever took pen to paper for full scripts, but as each season became such an ordeal to make happen, it looked like he'd only get four, so he compressed everything into four and made it work. But then Warner gave him the go for a fifth season, on TNT rather than broadcast television, and he got to fill in some of the missing, but it didn't really go with the first four. Plus the falling out between him and Claudia meant finding a new Captain to take Ivanova's place, and that was an off note, too. Add in the failures to grab an audience with Crusade or the
other LotR, and, looking back, one can see how it felt very... Picasso, when he'd wanted to do a Rembrandt. It wasn't smooth and flowing. And then there's the whole mess of the widescreen and original film being "lost" so mixed shots can't have their VFX redone, etc., etc.
I can see why he'd want to do a second pass.
But.
I am highly,
highly skeptical. I'll probably watch it at least partway through, because I want to give it a chance. But I'll have to treat it as something other than Babylon 5, in my head, because of how much
of that prior canon I adore. Production pressure tends to lead to creative magic where unlimited time and resources too often doesn't. Lightning in a bottle. Mira's gone. Andreas is gone. Stephen's gone. Jerry and Jeff and Ricky are gone. I know a lot of people didn't like Sinclair, but I always felt Mike was great at portraying a chill veteran fighter pilot who just happened to have a Minbari soul. And he was a friend and I miss him. I honestly don't know how much of Babylon 5 would have been what it was without those actors bringing what they brought to those roles. Honestly, especially G'kar. Goddamn. In one sense, it does feel like a slap in the face to their work, as well as to the surviving main cast. Since the VFX were only part of it, and it's about the actors and their performances more than anything, a do-over with a new cast feels a lot like saying to
them, "Not good enough -- I'm-a try with someone else".
What Joe makes might be good, even amazing. He's matured as a person and a writer, and knows what production pitfalls to look for and try to avoid this time around. It might flow better and be more cohesive and immersive. I have a feeling it might be like Dune, for me. The new one might be amazing and epic and a proper conveying of a complex story... but the Lynch version (especially the unauthorized extended cut, sloppy edits and unfinished VFX and everything) is the one that feels
magic to me. We'll just have to wait and see. nuB5 might be technically flawless, refining everything that was rough in the original "rough draft". But I have a feeling he'll have a hard time generating the same
magic without those people.
variety.com
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