Prime Video Is Giving A Classic '90s Sci-Fi Franchise The Battlestar Galactica Treatment

Published Oct 27, 2026, 11:30 PM EDT

Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant's TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy. 

Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones).

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It's time for another classic sci-fi series to get the same treatment as Battlestar Galactica, but it's difficult to say just how well that will go this time around. Back in the 2000s, there were more than a few raised eyebrows when it was announced that a new Battlestar Galactica series was on the way. The original was a classic '70s space opera through and through, and though it only ran from 1978 to 1979, it left a significant mark. The idea of Ronald D. Moore and David Eick rebooting Battlestar Galactica was an uncomfortable one for many, as is typical.

The Battlestar Galactica reboot officially arrived in 2003 (as a miniseries) and was ultimately extended into a seasonal television series. In truth, this show broke all the rules that we would consider necessary for any good reboot. Original creator Glen A. Larson wasn't involved, and the bright, optimistic tone was discarded in favor of a dark, gritty political and moral exploration. BSG was no longer oozy, cheesy sci-fi but prestige television. Really, this should have been a problem, but, as it turned out, it all worked spectacularly.

Despite the overwhelming skepticism, the Battlestar Galactica reboot was a significant success. Today, it's regarded as a sci-fi classic and currently holds an impressive 95% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. While this could suggest that this approach to rebooting a classic series is golden, we have to be careful with this line of thinking. Most of the time, scrapping just about everything about an original series for a wholesale reboot will result in little more than public rage and outcry. Still, this seems to be the route Prime Video's Stargate will take.

Prime Video's New Stargate Sounds Like A BSG-Style Wholesale Reboot

Stargate is another beloved sci-fi franchise, this time getting its start in 1994 as a feature film before expanding into the TV series Stargate SG-1 and beyond. That first show ran for a whopping 10 seasons, and though this sci-fi is most certainly outdated in its stylization and special effects, it's a well-loved comfort binge even today. This makes the news that Prime Video is releasing a hard-refresh reboot series a bit tougher to swallow.

Prime Video has put Jac Schaeffer, known for WandaVision and Agatha All Along, on the job, and, based on what has been revealed about the series so far, the new Stargate will be approached in much the same way as the Battlestar Galactica reboot. The original creators and cast of Stargate SG-1 aren't involved, and the upcoming show is being described as a "hybrid continuation," suggesting it is something like a sequel, but one that new viewers can get into without any prior knowledge of Stargate.

Schaeffer is pretty phenomenal; there's no doubt about that. WandaVision is a very different sort of sci-fi from Stargate, but the deliciously mind-bending aesthetic of this Disney+ series bodes well for Prime's upcoming reboot. Additionally, the fact that Moore's Battlestar Galactica square-one, wholesale-reboot approach worked out could be encouraging. However, in the case of Stargate, it's important to remember that SG-1 ran far longer than the 1970s BSG. The legacies here are very different, and fans were already hoping for a more traditional sequel series.

Prime Video Axing Martin Gero's Stargate Revival Puts Pressure On The New Series

This isn't the first time Prime Video has announced a Stargate series is in the works. We all previously heard that Martin Gero had a concept that would serve as a more traditional sequel, with some returning cast and a direct continuation of Stargate's established lore. Unfortunately, this idea was ultimately dropped. Prime Video reportedly thought that Gero's show catered to the more niche original fanbase of Stargate SG-1. They didn't think it would appeal enough to a more mainstream audience.

Scratch & Peek

Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible.

It sounds as if Schaeffer is Prime Video's solution. We can count on this creator to develop a wholesale reboot that will feel warm and welcoming to all viewers, regardless of their experience with the Stargate franchise. However, the fact that Gero's project came so close to happening could present a problem.

If our fears are validated by a reboot that completely loses the flavor of the original sci-fi franchise, it will be difficult to keep the what-could-have-been off of our minds. If the new Stargate feels like something completely unrecognizable, we might just long for the show Prime Video axed. It's a lot of pressure.

• 

  Stargate SG-1

  Release Date

  1997 - 2007-00-00

  Network

  SyFy, Showtime

  Showrunner

  Brad Wright

  Directors

  Martin Wood, Andy Mikita, William Waring, Bill Gereghty, David Warry-Smith, Brad Turner, Mario Philip Azzopardi, William Gereghty, Peter F. Woeste, Dennis Berry, Ken Girotti, Charles Correll, Jonathan Glassner, Robert C. Cooper, Allan Eastman, Bill Corcoran, Jeff Woolnough, Jim Kaufman, Allan Lee, Amanda Tapping

  Writers

  Dean Devlin, Damian Kindler, Katharyn Powers, Alan McCullough, Jeff King, Christopher Judge, Terry Curtis Fox, Martin Gero, Carl Binder, Hart Hanson, James Tichenor, Jarrad Paul, Tom J. Astle, Ben Browder, Corin Nemec, David Rich, Jacqueline Samuda, John Sanborn, Michael Shanks, Sam Egan, Alex Levine, James Taylor Phillips

  Franchise(s)

  Stargate

  • 

    Amanda Tapping

    Samantha Carter

  • 

    Christopher Judge

    Teal'c

  Stargate SG-1 is a television series set a year after the 1994 movie, following an elite Air Force team exploring the galaxy via an ancient alien device called the Stargate. They defend Earth against various extraterrestrial threats, including the Goa'uld, Replicators, and the Ori.

• 

  Battlestar Galactica

  

  9/10

  Release Date

  2004 - 2009-00-00

  Network

  SyFy

  • 

    Edward James Olmos

    William Adama

  • 

    Mary McDonnell

    Laura Roslin

  Battlestar Galactica follows the last survivors of humanity after a devastating attack by the Cylons, intelligent machines created by mankind that have returned to wipe out their creators. Led by Commander William Adama and President Laura Roslin, the remnants of the Colonial Fleet flee across space aboard the aging Battlestar Galactica, searching for the mythical planet Earth while facing relentless pursuit, political division, and the constant struggle to preserve what remains of civilization.