While Stargate might not be on the same level of popularity as sci-fi staples like Star Wars and Star Trek, there’s no question that it’s had a dedicated fanbase ever since the original movie starring Kurt Russell and James Spader was released in 1994. This mythology centered around the alien wormholes capable of transporting users across the universe instantly would go on to be expanded through various TV shows, web series and TV movies released between 1997 and 2018. Today it’s been announced that Stargate is finally being revived, and I already have one big hope for the project as it starts to take shape.
Amazon MGM Studios, which owns the Stargate franchise, announced today that Martin Gero, the showrunner of series like Blindspot and the short-lived Quantum Leap revival, will fulfill that same duty on a new Stargate show that will exclusively stream with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. Gero goes way back with the franchise, having started out as a story editor on Stargate: Atlantis and risen through the ranks from there, and he also served as a consulting producer on Stargate Universe. In a separate Prime Video, uh, video, Gero also confirmed that this new Stargate show will be set in the same continuity as its predecessors, saying:
It is not a reboot. It is a brand-new chapter. It’s its own unique chapter in the Stargate universe. So for us, it’s incredibly important that obviously everyone watching this Zoom, everyone that’s getting excited about this announcement will love the show. But the amazing thing about Prime Video is it airs everywhere, all around the world. And so for us, it’s really important to not only have it so that the fans feel like, ‘This is my Stargate, this is the Stargate I’ve been waiting 14 years for,’ but that a brand-new audience can come in without having to have watched 350 episodes of an amazing show, that they can start with Episode 1 of the new Stargate show, and then if they love it, then they can go back and watch everything else.
I’m so glad that this Stargate revival isn’t a traditional reboot akin to the Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy those movies, but it’s not necessary to carve out a new reality in the Stargate franchise. Like Martin Gero said, it should be an easy enough thing to create a new show that can draw in new fans, while also appealing to the people who’ve been enthusiastic about this property for decades, set in the same universe rather than break out a blank slate.
So with that concern out of the way, my new hope is that this new Stargate series brings back Richard Dean Anderson as Jack O’Neill. When Stargate: SG-1 began airing in 1997, Anderson, also known as the lead of the original MacGyer, took over the O’Neill role from Kurt Russell. Anderson starred in SG-1 for its first eight seasons, made guest appearances in the final two seasons and appeared in the second tie-in movie, Stargate: Continuum, as well as appeared in four Stargate: Atlantis episodes and six Stargate Universe episodes. If there’s a face that longtime fans associate with Stargate, I’d argue Anderson is among the top choices, if not in the #1 slot.
Richard Dean Anderson hasn’t acted onscreen since guest starring in an episode of Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 back in 2013, but my fingers are crossed that this Stargate revival can lure him back to the TV space. That doesn’t mean he has to be a series regular on the new show. I would be more than happy if he reprised Jack O’Neill in a recurring or guest capacity, with the character still among the top military officials associated with the Stargate program. It would just be nice to have them as this connective thread between the old and new Stargate eras.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled for more news about this Stargate revival, including if Anderson is brought aboard. The revival’s creative team also includes Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell will executive produce alongside Stargate creators Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi, who have been “longtime creative leaders within the Stargate universe,” will serve as consulting producers.
