Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2255

The Entire HARRY POTTER Film Series in LEGO Form Is the Best Way to Recap

With the arrival of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, you may feel you need to bone up on your Harry Potter-related knowledge in order to be prepared for an entirely new chapter of that cinematic universe. Luckily, we have things such as our extensive five part series on Fantastic Beasts by our very own Michael Walsh, and the video above recapping the entire eight Harry Potter films in just a minute and a half.

The wizards of LEGO animation over at the Brotherhood Workshop teamed up with YouTube’s How It Should Have Ended to bring us a video that you can think of as a bullet-pointed quick reference guide to the film series. Although it’s probably not much use for someone who’s never seen the films, the LEGO-fied versions of Harry and company hit all the major plot points quickly to bring those who are familiar with the films up to speed on anything they may have forgotten about. We see everything from Professor Quirrell’s demise trying to gain the Philosopher’s Stone to Voldemort’s final corn-flaky disintegration in his final dual with our scar-headed hero.

What’s truly fun about this Hogwartian LEGO adventure–other than how detailed it is in both Harry Potter canon and in the creative use of LEGO pieces (i.e. the hedge maze plants)–is the way How It Should Have Ended makes light of the overall silliness of the wizarding world we love so much and what it’s resulted in, including a stage play and the eventual creation of a film series based on a textbook.

What are your favorite LEGO moments in the video above? What other films would you like to see LEGO-fied? Let’s discuss in the comments below!

Image: How It Should Have Ended

Cool Crowds Don’t Stare at Superheroes

It wasn’t that long ago–7 years, in fact–that the Lonely Island gave us a very important musical lesson in how to be cool in the face of danger.

We did not heed the message. Or at least, crowds in superhero movies didn’t. Because great power means nothing without great responsibility great throngs of average people staring at the action with their mouths open. Via Sploid, we now have a supercut, entitled “Superhero Bystanders,” to prove it, edited by Vimeo user LJ Frezza. Frezza’s point isn’t just that throngs of extras all make the same kinda-dorky face, but that all those people who are standing in awe could actually do something if they mobilized together–a point made strongly by Sam Raimi in his first two Spider-Man movies. There may be a larger message in that, but we’ll leave the potential political implications to someone else.

Superhero Bystanders from Fandor Keyframe on Vimeo.

So back to our headline: if you were wondering why it referred to these crowds as “cool”–it didn’t. The cool crowds are the ones who help the hero, and don’t just look. The rest just look like they’ve never seen a superhero before, which is an increasingly unlikely proposition in our world–and cinematic reality–full of them.

What would you do if you saw a spider-powered man in action? Would you help? Take a selfie? Or just stand there with your mouth hanging open? Let us know in comments, where no particular facial expression is mandatory for participation.

Image: Marvel/Disney

Diamond Select’s LADY DEADPOOL Figure is an Awesome Piece of Merc-andise

2016 proved that the world can’t get enough of the Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool. His hit movie earlier this year just helped to increase his popularity. But fans of the comics know that one Deadpool just isn’t enough, and that there is an entire Deadpool Corps across the multiverse.

PreviewsWorld is reporting that in their December issue, fans will be able to pre-order the Diamond Select versions of two members of the Deadpool Corps in one convenient set: Lady Deadpool and Headpool!

Lady Deadpool is Wanda Wilson, the female version of Wade from Earth-3010. On her world, Wanda is part of a rebel resistance fighting the fascism of the U.S. Government, led by General America. However, whenever Wade needs help, Wanda is always ready to cross dimensions to lend a hand. She has the same powers and Earth-616’s (the regular Marvel Universe) Deadpool, and can be just as annoying. This 6.5-inch figure comes with 16 points of articulation as well as swords, a bazooka, and a custom base.

Headpool is the Wade Wilson from Earth-2149, which is Earth of the Marvel Zombies, based on the popular series of comics produced in the Mid-2000s. Headpool was transported to Earth-616, and his body was reduced to just his head. When he’s not trying to chop off OUR Wade’s head to use his body for himself, Headpool does his best to help his teammates in the Deadpool Corps.

Diamond Select looks to have done it again with their detailed figures. If you are a fan of Deadpool, this set is a definite must-have.

So what do you think? Will you be adding these two members of the Deadpool Corps to your collection? What other members would you like to see? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: Diamond Select Toys, Marvel Comics

8 JOHN WICK Moments Proving David Leitch Is Perfect to Direct DEADPOOL 2

Late last month, Deadpool 2‘s fast track to the cinema was derailed with director Tim Miller abruptly left the film after creative differences with Ryan Reynolds over the project’s direction. But just a few weeks later, 20th Century Fox has apparently lined up a worthy successor for Miller.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, John Wick co-director David Leitch has been signed to helm Deadpool 2. And while this will be only Leitch’s third feature film after the upcoming thriller, The Coldest City, he’s also had a long career as a stunt coordinator and a second-unit director. Along with his co-director, Chad Stahelski, Leitch made John Wick one of the best action films in years, and the movie is actually a great calling card for Leitch’s newest project. Last night, we happily re-watched John Wick to pull out the 8 moments that should prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Leitch is up for the challenge of giving Marvel’s “Merc with a mouth” a kickass sequel.

Before we go forward, you should know that there are major spoilers for John Wick on this list if you somehow managed to miss it. Seriously, go watch it if you haven’t done so, and then come back here!

Home Invasion

The first major action sequence set the tone for the rest of the film, as Viggo sent 12 of his deadliest men to kill John Wick in his own home…and he just wasn’t having it! What struck us as a very Deadpool-like touch was the way that John used guns as an extension of himself while fighting, and he almost always went for the fatal headshot.

Noise Complaint

One of the film’s funniest moments came immediately after the home invasion, as John opened his front door to speak with a cop, only to reveal that the police officer was not only familiar with John’s work, but he was also totally cool with a house full of dead bodies. We fully expect that Deadpool 2 will be heavier on humor than John Wick, but it’s nice to know that Leitch can handle the lighter moments as well.

Rumble At the Bathhouse

While John showed mercy on one guard at the bathhouse, he went on to mercilessly cut down his target’s bodyguards. The story had already set John up as an unstoppable force of nature, but he was so dominant in the early part of this battle that he might as well have been superhuman.

“Wick is Here!”

Shortly after his presence at the bathhouse was exposed, John went full Gun-fu on Viggo’s men, which strikes us as a very Deadpool thing to do. One of the signature features of this movie was the way that its stunts and action sequences had a heightened sense of reality that just couldn’t exist in the real world. But it’s the perfect approach to take for Deadpool 2.

Breakin’ The Rules at the Continental

Shockingly, John only had one fight with Adrianne Palicki’s Ms. Perkins, but it was a really wild sequence that managed to bring the film’s insanity meter to a higher level. We’d love to see a fight between Deadpool and Domino recapture this intensity while maintaining a sense of humor as well. Honestly, Palicki would also make a pretty awesome Domino…and that would only add to her impressive geek cred roles including Wonder Woman, Mockingbird, Lady Jaye, and even a fake out version of Supergirl on Smallville.

The Bag Man Cometh

At one point in the film, John was actually knocked out by Viggo’s men and nearly asphyxiated by a plastic bag after the order was given to kill him. It was another crazy sequence in the movie, and Deadpool may be the only other action star we can think of who would go through most of a fight with a bag over his head!

Theon’s Last Gasp

Yeah, we know that Alfie Allen played Viggo’s son, Iosef…but we’re still gonna call him Theon! It was somewhat darkly humorous and ironic that in his final moments, Game of Thrones‘ third favorite eunuch essentially pleaded for his life by insisting that it was “just a dog.” Much like John, Deadpool is also a bit inflexible when it comes to personal slights like stealing his prized car or murdering his dog. Remember the way that Deadpool dealt with Ajax? That scene is almost a parallel to this one, minus a puking Colossus.

He Knows Car-Fu

In one of the final action sequences in the movie, John used his car to run down and shoot the last of Viggo’s men. It was completely ridiculous, and yet presented in straightforward way with only a few touches of humor. If this sequence had been in Deadpool 2, the scene’s comedy factor probably would have been greatly amplified. But we always appreciate a fresh take on an old action trope, and this was a great way to close out that part of the movie. It probably also played a role in helping Leitch into the director’s chair for the next Deadpool film.

Which moments from John Wick made you think that Leitch is the right choice for Deadpool 2? Take aim, and share your thoughts below!

Images: Marvel/20th Century Fox/Summit

After re-watching John Wick, re-watch our interviews with Keanu and Adrianne!

Tea up Your Hot Toys Collection With a Faux-Porcelain STORMTROOPER

When it comes to sixth scale figures, no one can hold a candle to Hot Toys. Their detailed and lifelike creations make it seem like your favorite movie heroes and villains have come to life in your home. But reproducing movie moments isn’t enough: Hot Toys has now decided to try their hand at custom figures. You might not see these in the movies, but they are great additions to any collection. Back in September, we showed you one of their first tries at this with the Suicide Squad “Joker as Batman” figure. Now Hot Toys has moved on to the world of Star Wars with their “Porcelain Pattern Stormtrooper.”

From the looks of it, this figure would fit in great on either your display case with your Star Wars collection or in your mother’s hutch next to the fine China. If you look closer at the designs, the flowers have the Imperial symbol as their centers, and the back of the helmet is adorned with AT-ATs frolicking among some palm trees. Now I may be speculating here, but it looks like since he knows he can’t hit the broadside of a barn with his blaster, he just wanted to look awesome in the attempt (I’m guessing the art elective he took at the Imperial Academy didn’t go to waste). He also comes with a blaster gun and rifle, four different sets of hands, and a collectible stand. You can check out more pics of this figure in the gallery below.

Since we are on the subject of Hot Toys and Star Wars, at their pop-up store event in Hong Kong, they revealed for the first time the newest figures from the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

From left to right are C2-B5, Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, Jyn Erso, and K-2SO.

When released, all of these amazing figures will be available from Hot Toys’ U.S. distributor, Sideshow Collectibles.

So what do you think? Will this Stormtrooper make a great centerpiece during Thanksgiving dinner? What other types of customized figures would you like Hot Toys to design? How excited for Rogue One are you? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: Hot Toys

Maybe he’s the one who left that Death Star exhaust port uncovered?

7 Things We Learned From the ROGUE ONE Prequel Novel

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the novel Rogue One: Catalyst. Stop reading if you don’t want to know details. If you’re not sure whether you want to pick up Catalyst, go read my spoiler-free review.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story pilots into theaters on December 16. The film will tackle a topic we see in the opening crawl of A New Hope: “During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon…” Galen Erso and Orson Krennic both have important parts in the upcoming movie, and the prequel novel Rogue One: Catalyst by James Luceno goes into their history and the nuts and bolts of how the Death Star came together.

In short, Krennic wanted to rise to the top and figured getting Galen on board and using that big brain of his to develop the Death Star’s weapon was the best way to do it. The slight problem with Krennic’s plan was Galen wanted no part of the war. Trickery and manipulation ensued.

Catalyst is packed with enough details and connect-the-dots sort of information to make this Star Wars fan drool. Here are seven especially interesting tidbits I took away from the novel. Again: spoilers are ahead.

1. Why a Death Star?

Like with so many other things, Palpatine manipulated the Republic to start construction on the Death Star. If you’ll remember, Poggle the Lesser handed over the Death Star blueprint to Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones. Dooku was a Separatist. So, as far as the Republic knew, the Separatists were building their own super weapon and the Republic had to rush to finish their Death Star first. A feint within a feint…

2. Kyber Crystal Geekery

The past five or so years of Star Wars storytelling has revealed more about more about kyber crystals and what they’re capable of, but Catalyst dives into the heart of the matter. The crystals are at the center of Galen’s studies and passion, and his tests reveal much about the nature and living aspects of the crystals. His scientific approach to the kyber crystals is tempered by his wife Lyra’s spiritual take on them. Their two viewpoints combine to offer plenty of juicy information on the objects most commonly known for powering lightsabers.

3. The First Test

The first test of the superlaser that would eventually be amplified and put into the battle station was performed on a black hole binary called the Hero Twins. Interesting, since we know some heroic twins who destroyed the Death Star.

Speaking of the weapon, though Geonosians came up with the plans for the station, they didn’t have time to design the weapon before the Battle of Geonosis and the beginning of the Clone Wars. The Republic had to figure it out–it’s one of the reasons construction took so long.

4. A Hate-Hate Relationship

Despite the similarities in their personality and ambitions, Krennic and Tarkin despise each other. Like, they wouldn’t even be Facebook friends for the sake of being polite. They each had moments in the book of having begrudging respect for the other, but their mutual dislike was obvious. I point it out because since their antagonistic relationship was emphasized in Catalyst and we know from the book Tarkin that the Moff ends up overseeing the entire Death Star project, you have to wonder how he’ll figure into the film.

5. Biological Warfare

Krennic encountered some Separatist scientists on the world of Merj who were working on developing a biological warfare agent to harm the Grand Army of the Republic. Clone troopers were vulnerable in that way. They could have been working on the Blue Shadow Virus, which we encountered in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

6. Project Celestial Power

I’ve always wondered how the Empire managed to keep construction of such a massive project secret, and Catalyst went into those ins and outs. Krennic was responsible for keeping different scientists in labs around the galaxy on a need to know basis. Each department of the battle station project had its own cover name and agency; Galen worked under Project Celestial Power, believing he was helping to get more energy and power to planets in need.

7. Saw Gerrera

Catalyst revealed how the Ersos met Saw Gerrera. He came to know them through a fellow Rebel (a somewhat reluctant Rebel), and it was because of him the Erso family was able to escape Coruscant and Krennic’s grasp. Saw bonded with a young Jyn.

These are just a handful of intriguing details from the book. If you’re eager for more, I recommend getting your very own copy of Catalyst.

Are you anxious to know more? Let us know in comments.

Images: Lucasfilm/Disney

Have you seen everything in the international Rogue One trailers yet?

STAR TREK Nerd Ben Stiller Had Leonard Nimoy’s Ears in TROPIC THUNDER

The enduring and powerful legacy of Star Trek means that Trekkies are everywhere you look, even in places you don’t expect. Take Ben Stiller, who has been subtly referencing TOS in almost every film he makes. Even “Red Hour Films,” Stiller’s company, is a reference to the “red hour” from the TOS episode “The Return of the Archons.” Stiller has been a Trekkie since his mother took him to a convention all the way back in 1976. So, when StarTalk host and personal astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson asked Stiller what one of the biggest moments in his life was, he gave a Star Trek-themed answer.

In the exclusive clip above, Stiller explains that in Tropic Thunder, Matthew McConaughey’s character has a pair of original Spock ears from the original series. After the film came out, Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, noticed the nod and reached out to Stiller. Starstruck, Stiller says that not only was Nimoy incredibly kind, he ended up sending Stiller a pair of his ears from the first Star Trek movie. According to Stiller, he would have been fine dying after that.

Of course, Nimoy affected generations of fans with his acting, his art, and his kind spirit. We’ll forever remember him as Spock, something that Nimoy struggled with and eventually embraced. Stiller’s experience is yet another testament to the power of science fiction.

The Ben Stiller episode of StarTalk episode airs Monday night at 11/10c and features Ben Stiller talking to Neil about the role of science in his life, his movies, and comedy in general.

Images: National Geographic

PLANET OF THE APES/GREEN LANTERN Crossover Details and Art Revealed

Welcome comics fangirls and fanboys to your weekend edition of Comics Relief! To start things off this week, we have news on one of the weirder comic book crossovers to come down the pike in quite some time. Read on for all the details!

Details on The Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern Crossover Emerge

Although we learned it was coming back in October, we finally have details and art for BOOM! Studios and DC Comics‘ anticipated Green Lantern goes to the Planet of the Apes crossover. Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern will be a six issue mini-series from writers Robbie Thompson and Justin Jordan, and artist Barnaby Bagenda.

According to the official solicitation, “When Taylor (that’s Charlton Heston, Apes newbies) goes missing, Cornelius investigates and discovers an ancient ring, unlike anything he has ever seen. As its power echoes through the stars, the Guardians of the Universe must reveal to their Lanterns a secret they had hoped would remain buried. With the Green Lantern Corps, led by Hal Jordan, racing to get to the source of this power before Sinestro can get his hands on it, they will discover a truth that will change them forever on…the Planet of the Apes!”

The comic will come with four variant covers, a Silver Age-themed cover by Paul Rivoche, a foil-stamped cover by Felipe Massafera, a vintage action cover by David Ryan Robinson, and a movie poster homage cover by Steve Morris. You can see Ethan Van Sciver’s regular cover for issue #1 above. Planet of the Apes/Green Lantern #1 arrives in February. [Bleeding Cool]

Philip Tan is Your New Hellblazer Artist

Along with Swamp Thing, John Constantine was one of the few Vertigo characters that made the transition to the DCU with the New 52, and retained that position when DC Rebirth rolled around. Now the current Rebirth iteration of Hellblazer is about to get a change, as the publisher has announced that writer Simon Oliver will be joined by artist Philip Tan, who succeeds the artist who goes by the one-word name Moritat. Many of you out there are very likely familiar with Tan’s work from his arc of Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin.

The new Hellblazer storyline “The Smokeless Fire” will find John teaming up with Swamp Thing. In a statememt, Tan said “I’ve recently read the original run of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, and can’t believe how amazing John Constantine’s first stories were. It’s the version that has inspired my artwork for this story.” The first Phillip Tan issue of Hellblazer hits on February 7th. [CBR]

Robert Kirkman Celebrates 25 Years of Image Comics with 25¢ Comics

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the birth of Image Comics, and current Image Comics writer/co-owner Robert Kirkman is celebrating the occasion by making his three main comic books only 25¢ during the month of February. The Walking Dead #163, Invincible #133, and Outcast #25 will all have a list price of 25¢. To boot, each of the issues begins a new storyline: The Walking Dead explores the aftermath of “The Whisperer War”—Invincible kicks off the 12-part finale which will end the series and Outcast also begins a major storyline. It’s unknown if the non-Kirkman Image books will go for the reduced price point as well. [Newsarama]

Wolverine and X-23 Comics Will Be Cheap, Too!

Speaking of comics at a low, low price: in February of 2017, Marvel is celebrating Wolverine and X-23 (no doubt because of a certain movie coming out in March, ahem) with a new line of ten Wolverine/X-23 themed “True Believers” titles. All of these issues feature Canada’s #1 all time heroes as specially priced introductory comics, available only at comic shops.

These are the most iconic Wolverine and X-23 comic books of all time, and each is coming in for just the price of $1. Among the comics are Wolverine’s first appearance in Incredible Hulk, his backstory revealed in Origin, the original Weapon X storyline, and X-23’s own comic. You can see the cover for True Believers: Wolverine– Weapon X #1 above, which is reprinting material from Marvel Comics Presents (1988) #72 – 74. For the full list of comics, click on the following link: [Newsarama]

Disney honors Stan Lee for 75 years at Marvel

Stan Lee‘s importance to the Marvel universe cannot be overstated. There’s a reason he’s the face of Marvel—together with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he created Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Ant-Man, The Avengers, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Dr. Strange, and revived Captain America for the modern age. Of course, all of those properties have gone on to make a fortune in Hollywood, especially for Disney.

Now the CEO of the Walt Disney Corporation, Bob Iger, has presented Stan Lee with a special custom-built statue featuring Marvel’s most famous creation icon, Spider-Man, together with Mickey Mouse. Lee then went on social media with a post to thank Disney for the honor, which means fans can now see the one-of-a-kind statue above. [Comic Book]

Amazon Reveals Their 20 Best Books of 2016

While many hardcore comics readers are still devoted to their weekly dose of periodical comics, more and more fans are content to “wait for the trade” (as they say), buying comics exclusively as collections and graphic novels. Specifically, they are buying these mostly via Amazon. Now Amazon has revealed their list of the best 20 OGNs and trade paperback comic books of 2016, all in an unranked order.

Among the twenty are critical darlings like Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang, Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso, and Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse Than A Man by Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta. For the full list, click on the following link: []

All 50 State Variants Revealed for U.S.Avengers #1

Not long ago, we revealed Marvel was going to have 50 variant covers for the first issue of their new U.S.Avengers comic, featuring one Avenger for each state. Now the publisher has revealed all the covers in one giant image, which you can see above (for a more detailed look, click here).

It’s interesting to see which Avengers made the cut and which didn’t — the usual iconic team members are all there, but then there are D-listers like Whizzer and and Two-Gun Kid. And unloved members like Sentry get covers, but longtime member Wonder Man gets the shaft. Why is there no love for Wonder Man ever?? The first issue of U.S.Avengers by Al Ewing and Paco Medina will be released on January 4, 2017. [Bleeding Cool]

Images: DC Comics / BOOM! Studios / Marvel Comics / Stan Lee / Image Comics

Watch Animated and Live-Action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Side by Side in This Trailer

Disney isn’t deviating too far from known territory with the live-action adaptations of their animated films. Cinderella, for example, was almost an exact retelling. And Beauty and the Beast? The new movie is definitely pulling visual and storytelling inspiration from the 1991 animated film–why wouldn’t it? The classic is rather beloved.

Thanks to MTV, we caught Movie Pilot’s video that puts the first trailer for the live-action Beauty and the Beast alongside shots from the original movie. They went through the footage and found scenes to match the ones in the trailer (Oh My Disney did something similar with The Jungle Book earlier this year).

It confirms similarities because of course director Bill Condon is looking for touchstones to connect the two. As a fan of the initial release, I want to see moments I recognize. This comparison offers something more, too; it shows that each film is beautiful in its own right. The backgrounds and details in the original are stunning, but with its grand, fairy tale-esque sets, it looks like the live-action retelling will rise to the occasion and add its own mark to the story. It sort of has to enhance what’s there and/or bring something else to the table, otherwise what would be the point?

What differences do you think we’ll see in the live-action Beauty and the Beast as far as the plot? Tell me your opinion in the comments and let me know if you even want it to diverge from the original.

Image: Disney

Don’t miss our trailer breakdown:

The New STARGATE Movie Isn’t Happening, We Think It Should

Two years ago, MGM and Warner Bros. made the grand announcement that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were planning a reboot of their 1994 sci-fi film Stargate as the first installment of a new trilogy. But according to Devlin, it’s no longer going forward.

“It looked good for a couple of months, but now it’s not looking so good,” said Devlin during a new interview with Empire Magazine. “There are just a lot of things that have to fire at the same time, and there was a moment where I thought it was all firing at the same time, and then it all kind of fell apart… It’s one of the reasons I prefer to work independently… I think if we did Stargate right, the fans would like it and we could do something really good. But if we screw it up, they’ll reject it. As they should. But I kind of don’t want to do it if I think that we’ll screw it up, and that’s one of the things that’s holding us back.”

The original Stargate was sort of a cross between Star Wars and Indiana Jones that put forth the idea that some of the ancient Egyptian gods were actually aliens from another world. The stargate itself was used to transport a team from Earth to another planet in a distant corner of the universe. As a standalone movie, Stargate was a lot of fun and it deserves to get a second chance on the big screen. But not as a reboot. We’ve already seen that story, and the Stargate franchise has moved far beyond that point in the last 22 years.

Shortly before Emmerich and Devlin found greater success on Independence Day, they signed over the Stargate rights to MGM. That eventually led to the Stargate SG-1 television series. For a whole generation of fans, that show defined Stargate even more than the film did.

SG-1 expanded the mythology of Stargate and it transformed the franchise into something grander than it was before by introducing new worlds, new aliens, and an even larger intergalactic playground. But at its core, the show made fans care about the two returning characters, Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson, as well as the two new co-leads: Teal’c and Samantha Carter. That affection helped the series get through casting changes and additions along the way towards an incredible ten season run and two live-action spinoffs.

Collectively, there are 214 episodes of Stargate SG-1, two direct-to-DVD movies, 100 episodes of Stargate Atlantis, and 40 episodes of Stargate Universe. All of that world building and character development would be wiped away from a big screen reboot. That would be very unfortunate and wasteful, especially since many fans of the Stargate TV shows would probably love to see a continuation of those adventures.

As Devlin alluded to in his interview with Empire, the economics of big budget blockbuster movies are complicated. And we would add that it’s a very different process from financing a weekly TV series for a smaller audience. It’s pretty unlikely that MGM would simply bring back the SG-1 cast, or even Stargate Atlantis leading man (and current Aquaman star) Jason Momoa for a bow on the big screen. There has to be fresh blood, and we get that. The only way forward is forward.

That said, there is absolutely no reason why a new Stargate film franchise has to delete the TV series from continuity. Unlike for Independence Day: Resurgence, we’ve actually seen what happened after the first Stargate movie. Having that history in place for a new film could be invaluable, and the SG program is a natural way to introduce new characters while allowing some of the old favorites to remain involved in either cameo roles or in a supporting capacity. The three television shows also established a wide network of planets connected by the stargates that have barely been explored. Wouldn’t you rather see one of those new worlds instead of another rehash of ancient Egypt?

Some day, there probably will be another Stargate movie, and in all likelihood, it will be a complete reboot. But it doesn’t have to be. The franchise could become even greater if it’s allowed to retain the characters and the stories that captured the imaginations of fans for two decades.

What would you like to see in a potential Stargate movie? Dial the gate, and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: MGM