This spring saw the ending of the television run of Stargate Atlantis, much to the fan base’s dismay and surprise, given that ratings were finally starting to rise. The blogs and forums were all abuzz with complaints and comments on how Atlantis was killed in its infancy and not given enough of a chance to succeed. Would direct-to-DVD movies be enough to fill in the hole left by Atlantis? Will there be more than one? Why did they really pull the plug?

Stargate Universe.

The team behind the Stargate franchise decided to put all of their efforts (and money) behind a brand new series. After learning how difficult it was to run two television shows at the same time, they wanted to put all of their attention onto one project (not including the SG1 and Atlantis movies of course).

As per the Sci Fi website, the premise:

“A band of soldiers, scientists and civilians are forced through a stargate when their hidden base comes under attack. The desperate survivors emerge aboard an ancient ship, The Destiny, which is locked on an unknown course and unable to return to Earth. Faced with meeting the most basic needs of food, water and air, the group must unlock the secrets of the ship’s stargate to survive. The danger, adventure and hope they find on board Destiny will reveal the heroes and villains among them.”

Many fans were fast to jump on this synopsis and cry and moan about this being the Voyager of the Stargate franchise. While this may be possible, I get the impression that these were the same fans that were hesitant and critical of Atlantis when it first started, and the same fans that grew to love and miss the same series. Try to hold off judgment until the show is premiered. Too often the devoted fan base of this type of sci fi show is too afraid of change and too critical of anything new.

While we are eagerly await the premier of the show, Sci Fi has given us two brief glimpses into the new show. While these trailers don’t give us anything too substantial, we get a short look at the Destiny’s version of the stargate and some flashes of the new crew.

Frantic:

Philosophical:

While the true feel and format of the show is still unknown, the creators promise to keep the humour and adventure that made Universe’s predecessors so enjoyable. I hope they are able to keep the same kind of chemistry between the characters as they were able to do with SG1 and Atlantis, to me that’s what really made SG1 and Atlantis so successful and fun to watch, it’s amazing that they were able to pull that off twice. Hell, they were able to sign Robert Carlyle, that has to be a good sign…

Stay tuned for our next article which will outline the characters and actors who play them.