The First Babylon 5 Movie Trailer Is Here
Watch the first trailer for Babylon 5: The Road home.
Back in the day, Babylon 5 was the more complex and arguably more mature show that never quite rivaled series like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine but still won over a legion of fans. Those fans have been waiting for more than two decades for another movie to continue the franchise. That next movie, Babylon 5: The Road Home, will be released in August, and the first trailer provides some interesting clues as to what we can expect from this film.
If you didn’t already know the premise, the trailer for Babylon 5: The Road Home reveals that John Sheridan has become unstuck in time. That means that he is traveling through various timelines and alternate realities as he tries to make his way back to his home dimension. The premise gives series creator J. Michael Straczynski the opportunity to show us different sides of our favorite characters and different glimpses of what might have been, both for themselves and for the universe.
No trip through different realities would be complete without a visit to a very dark one. And while we’re not sure if Abed from Community would dub it “the darkest timeline,” the Babylon 5 movie will show us a parallel dimension in which Babylon 5 actually lost the Shadow War. As the trailer shows, Sheridan will have a difficult time navigating all of these different realities, but the good news is that he won’t have to do so alone.
So far, it looks like the majority of the surviving Babylon 5 cast are returning to provide their voices for The Road Home. This includes Bruce Boxleitner reprising his role as John Sheridan, and he will be joined by Claudia Christian, Peter Jurasik, Tracy Scoggins, Bill Mumy, and Patricia Tallman, all reprising their famous roles. Other favorite characters like Zathras, Dr. Franklin, and Garibaldi are also returning, but new voice actors will be stepping in for them since their original actors have passed away.
Interestingly, Babylon 5: The Road Home is not the only way that the franchise is continuing. In addition to this animated film that continues the original story, we are also going to be getting a live-action TV reboot that will help bring this unique flavor of space opera to a brand-new audience. That’s the good news: the bad news is that until the writer’s strike is resolved, this is just one more project now in indefinite limbo.
While it’s a bummer to have to wait that much longer for a Babylon 5 reboot, fans won’t have to wait very long to check out The Road Home, which was written long before the strike went into effect. Judging from outlets such as Amazon, fans may be able to buy or stream the movie (it will be available on both YouTube and Apple TV) as early as August 14, and according to Stracynzski, fans attending San Diego Comic Con will be able to watch the film as early as July. However, if you have to wait outside for days before getting a sneak peek at SDCC, here’s a hot tip: you might need to worry more about the “sunlight war” than the Shadow War.
