A few days ago, Straczynski answered a query from a fan about the possibilities of new Babylon 5, saying (quoted from memory) “This may not be as far fetched as you might think”.

Yesterday the news broke via several sources:

The CW channel, owned by Warner Bros, now has a re-boot of the Babylon 5 series in development. The new show will have J. Michael Straczynski (JMS), the creator of the original series, at the helm. JMS is busy writing the pilot episode.

When hearing about re-boots of older series I am usually a bit of a skeptic. Hearing that JMS will be running the show makes me optimistic and excited to see what he can do with his much larger writing experience and modern techniques of production. Having followed a good deal of his other work over time, I get the sense that we will not get just a re-hash of the original story, but taking into account all that JMS has learned over timr, about what works and what doesn’t. I think that the experience of working together with the Wachowskis on Sense 8 has further added to this.

Additionally, he said in a Twitter thread that he is not just just going to tell the old story all over again – we have seen that story already – but that it should be fresh water in the river of story telling. I have faith in his ability to craft stories that catch many people.

The reactions in the fan community is understandable very diverse, from people simply saying no, don’t want a re-boot, to people saying I’m all in. For me I will watch and then judge the new series on its own merits, even if I see it in the light of the original series that I have seen several times (I lost count).

When it comes to JMS, expect the unexpected. Exciting times ahead!