By Kelas Lloyd
Twenty-five years after the series ended, and fifteen years after the last installment in the franchise, Babylon 5 is returning with an animated movie on August 15th. The film, Babylon 5: The Road Home, will be available on Blu-ray and on Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu and YouTube.
Babylon 5 was a ground-breaking sci-fi series focused on a single space station, Babylon 5, that was initially the “last, best hope for peace” after a massive war between Earth and the Minbari, and a little over 30 years after the Narn overthrew the Centauri occupation of their worlds. It featured episodic storytelling and had explicit queerness at a time when the former was rare outside of soap operas and the latter was rare anywhere. Through diplomats, station staff, and a grand assortment of guest stars Babylon 5 explored the gray nature of reality and what it meant to be human, to have faith, and to take a stand.
The trailer for Babylon 5: The Return Home, released today, shows Captain John Sheridan being affected by tachyons and flung through time…and possibly alternate universes as well. Fans of the series will be familiar with time shenanigans, but the alternate universe possibilities are an interesting element to throw into the mix. It looks to be set after the Shadow War but before the events of Sleeping In Light.
Watch the full trailer here:
Returning to voice who they played in the show are Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan, Claudia Christian as Susan Ivanova, Peter Jurasik as Londo Mollari, Bill Mumy as Lennier, Tracy Scoggins as Elizabeth Lochley, and Patricia Tallman as Lyta Alexander. As sadly many of the cast have passed away there are new voice actors joining the movie for their characters: Paul Guyet as Zathras, Anthony Hansen as Michael Garibaldi, Phil Lamarr as Stephen Franklin, Andrew Morgado as G’Kar, and Rebecca Reidy as Delenn. Also a part of the cast are an ISN reporter voiced by Mara Junot and David Sheridan, voiced by Piotr Michael. Notable is the absence of someone voicing Vir Cotto, a fan favorite and the one regular character from all five seasons to not be included.
This doesn’t replace the rumored upcoming reboot of the series that series creator J. Michael Straczynski has been planning for years. Hopefully more news on that will come at San Diego Comic Con in July, where Babylon 5: The Return Home will be premiering.
