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So apparently JMS is going to make a reboot of B5 for the CW?
I mean, on the one hand, I'm not crazy about reboots. Period.
But at the same time, this can be done well in the right hands. Treat it less as a straight-up "this is the new canon now" thing and just go "this is an alternate universe of what could have happened, especially with some of the ideas we wanted to try initially that we couldn't execute at the time," and treat them both as valid parts of canon. I guess kind of like what I've been seeing out of the Ultra franchise, which has an established multiverse and has picks and chooses what canon points it wants to play with over the decades. Not a fan of Leo and Zero as a continuation of Seven? There's a continuity just focusing on Seven. Wonder what things might have been like if Hayata never regained his memories of Ultraman? There's a continuity for that.
Another thing would definitely be to be CAREFUL updating the look and feel of the setting. It's what I'm not crazy about in Star Trek, where things look TOO sleek and shiny and...well, Apple and Tesla. Absolutely, improve things now that the technology or budget allows for it. There's always going to be some evolution, but take the flaws for what they are and make them look GOOD. Like the way Hideaki Anno's Shin Kamen Rider looks so far in one of its first trailers. It looks sharp, recreating the opening theme of the original series while updating the look just enough to say "This costume is not going to fall apart while you're watching unless we want it to."
So I kind of have this morbid curiosity about it. Are there things that we can get away with now? Trans Delenn? Mind you, just about the only thing that was preventing that was Mira Furlan hating the makeup. Maybe the process is easier to pull off now? Maybe we've got the tech now to show off more alien-looking aliens in full? Can we tell Sinclair's story in full now, and if so, will Sheridan have a part to play in the story? What about Talia? Will she exist as a character because she was created as a replacement for Lyta, only to be replaced herself in a gut-wrenching story?
Basically, what if this story is "How do you tell Babylon 5 without all the executive meddling and behind the scenes chaos that shaped the story and characters? Will it still be Babylon 5?"
So again. Mixed feelings, but curiosity. I don't think that it'll go and totally replace the original, given how much love there is. I can tell that yeah, they would have loved to do more continuations if not for...well, many members of the cast passing away unexpectedly. So...I'll have to see what it ends up looking like.
I mean, on the one hand, I'm not crazy about reboots. Period.
But at the same time, this can be done well in the right hands. Treat it less as a straight-up "this is the new canon now" thing and just go "this is an alternate universe of what could have happened, especially with some of the ideas we wanted to try initially that we couldn't execute at the time," and treat them both as valid parts of canon. I guess kind of like what I've been seeing out of the Ultra franchise, which has an established multiverse and has picks and chooses what canon points it wants to play with over the decades. Not a fan of Leo and Zero as a continuation of Seven? There's a continuity just focusing on Seven. Wonder what things might have been like if Hayata never regained his memories of Ultraman? There's a continuity for that.
Another thing would definitely be to be CAREFUL updating the look and feel of the setting. It's what I'm not crazy about in Star Trek, where things look TOO sleek and shiny and...well, Apple and Tesla. Absolutely, improve things now that the technology or budget allows for it. There's always going to be some evolution, but take the flaws for what they are and make them look GOOD. Like the way Hideaki Anno's Shin Kamen Rider looks so far in one of its first trailers. It looks sharp, recreating the opening theme of the original series while updating the look just enough to say "This costume is not going to fall apart while you're watching unless we want it to."
So I kind of have this morbid curiosity about it. Are there things that we can get away with now? Trans Delenn? Mind you, just about the only thing that was preventing that was Mira Furlan hating the makeup. Maybe the process is easier to pull off now? Maybe we've got the tech now to show off more alien-looking aliens in full? Can we tell Sinclair's story in full now, and if so, will Sheridan have a part to play in the story? What about Talia? Will she exist as a character because she was created as a replacement for Lyta, only to be replaced herself in a gut-wrenching story?
Basically, what if this story is "How do you tell Babylon 5 without all the executive meddling and behind the scenes chaos that shaped the story and characters? Will it still be Babylon 5?"
So again. Mixed feelings, but curiosity. I don't think that it'll go and totally replace the original, given how much love there is. I can tell that yeah, they would have loved to do more continuations if not for...well, many members of the cast passing away unexpectedly. So...I'll have to see what it ends up looking like.