Stargate Origins: Catherine
Stargate Origins brought the venerable science fiction franchise back to the small screen for the first time in nearly seven years. But was the 10-part Web series a one-and-done affair? Or will it be back to tell another origin story?
MGM has not announced a second season of Stargate Origins yet, but there are some hints that an ongoing anthology series might have been the original plan. Origins was announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July of 2017, set to debut on a brand new streaming platform: Stargate Command. There was every indication from the studio that MGM was using the lower-budget, lower-risk project to test the waters — to see what life might still be in the brand.
So if Origins did well enough, couldn’t a totally different story be told for Season Two?
Here’s everything we know so far about the Web series’ renewal prospects (as of February 2019), what sort of story might be told, and when it could be ready to premiere.
Stargate Origins went before cameras in October 2017, and by February it had made its big premiere online at Stargate Command. Set in 1939, Origins starred Ellie Gall starred as a young Catherine Langford, whose father had discovered the Stargate at the Giza plateau in 1928.
After Dr. Langford (played by Connor Trinneer) is captured by Nazis and taken through the gate to the distant planet Abydos, Catherine recruits her beau James Beal (a British officer stationed in Cairo, played by Philip Alexander) and Egyptian soldier Wasif (Shvan Aladdin) to help her rescue him.
It was clear to viewers from the beginning that this was a one-off story. Origins was self-contained, meant to last just the one season. In fact it really was a single movie, split up into 10 parts for online consumption. As the series debuted Gall even said that a second season of Stargate Origins would be “someone else’s story.”
After the Web series finished its initial run a feature cut was released at digital retail — offering Stargate fans another clue about MGM’s long-term strategy. It carries the title Stargate Origins: Catherine. That seems to suggest that there might be other stories yet to be told under the “Stargate Origins” banner.
So if Stargate Origins were to return for another round, don’t expect any of the same cast (or even the creatives). It would be a totally different story about different characters, set in a different era, and maybe not even on Earth …
Which character or species from the vast Stargate universe deserves to have its backstory explored in what is effectively a mini-movie event? We can think of a few we’d like to see.
The most talked-about idea for a second season of Stargate Origins is the Jaffa — specifically, Master Bra’tac (played by Tony Amendola through ten seasons of Stargate SG-1). He’s a fan favorite, and at 140-something years old he sure has a lot of history to tell.
Bra’tac was already a seasoned warrior and elder statesman, First Prime of Apophis, when Catherine Langford was trying to get a Stargate program up and running on Earth. Heck, the Jaffa are so long-lived that Amendola (who is now 67, according to IMDb) could play the character as a much younger man!
We know from flashbacks (“Threshold”) that Bra’tac served Apophis reluctantly. For many years he sewed the seeds of skepticism and liberation among the warriors he trained. It might be that the Free Jaffa movement as a whole — which spans many planets and armies in the service of many different Goa’uld — ultimately arose from Bra’tac’s careful, quiet influence.
The Jaffa embraced a new future in SG-1‘s ninth season, voting to govern their new nation through democratic elections.
That’s a story worth telling: not only Bra’tac’s origins as a leader of the resistance, but the origins of the Jaffa resistance movement itself.
Writer and actor Christopher Judge has said publicly on more than one occasion — including MGM’s own Stargate panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2018 — that this is a story he wants to tell. That would apparently mean writing it (and potentially scoring a producer’s credit), in addition to putting in an appearance as Bra’tac’s star pupil, Teal’c.
There are plenty of other directions Season Two of Origins could go — even if the writers chose to stay away from Earth entirely. Stargate has more than 350 episodes of mythology under its belt. So how about an origins story about the Ancients, the construction of the gate network, and the plague that nearly wiped them out? Or a season of Stargate Origins all about the first Tok’ra — the Goa’uld’s own internal resistance movement — and the leadership of their queen, Egeria?
The Wraith?
The Asgard?
And where are those d@-% Furlings?!
One thing we do know: As of February 1, 2019, MGM has not given the go-ahead to Season Two of Stargate Origins — not as another 10-part, stand-alone Web series. As many ideas as there are out there, the studio was not yet ready to commit to another season after Catherine’s story was finished early in 2018.
The production process takes time, of course. If Stargate Origins Season Two were going to premiere before the end of this year, it would probably have to go into pre-production right now. So the longer MGM waits to announce something, the more likely it is that that project won’t hit our screens before 2020.
We do know, however, that they are doing something. The Stargate franchise is an important part of the MGM library, and whatever the next step is — they want to get it right. This calculation may entail the cold reality that some long-time fans found the Origins Web series to be under-budgeted and off brand.
To do Stargate justice, the studio is going to have to do it right. They’ll need to spend the money, and have the right creative talent in place to tell a story more in keeping with what made millions of fans worldwide fall in love with that big, round portal.
Who will that be? It remains to be seen — but long-time executive producer Brad Wright has stated publicly that he and MGM are talking about Stargate again — and, evidently, working on developing a new project.
Whether that next thing falls under the Stargate Origins banner, or strikes off in a new direction, remains to be seen.
Wright co-created Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. And so he really is the father of the franchise — the “Great Bird of the Galaxy” (to borrow a nickname from another sci-fi family). New, in-canon Stargate content from his creative mind would really be an ideal next step.
In the meantime, we wait. We wait for MGM to pull back the curtain on those conversations, and the fruit they will ultimately bear. Here at GateWorld, we think 2019 is going to be an important year.
Keep your browser locked on GateWorld for the latest breaking Stargate news! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook today, and subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can also find the GateWorld Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Stargate's VFX supervisor James Tichenor talks about recreating the Stargate's signature puddle effects from the…
Five Stargate ship models are available now, with the next three announced and more to…
BlueBrixx's new LEGO-compatible Stargate construction sets are here. So how are they?
"T.J." actress Alaina Huffman reveals the other role she auditioned for, and why she fought…
Actor David Nykl looks back on Stargate Atlantis, being part of the fan community, and…
EXCLUSIVE: A classic Atlantis ship is now in the works from Master Replicas – one…
View Comments
Unless this is an important step towards a long-form series, please no more Stargate Origins.
Let me ask this question to those who aren't fans of SGO: What if Brad or Chris ended up writing it; and it was directly connected to SG-1 mythology; and it was budgeted at $5-10 million (Ark and Continuum were $7 million apiece); and someone like Andy Mikita was hired to direct.
And they called it "Stargate Origins" Season 2.
Would folks still object?
@Darren
I would love more Origins movies, but only with the certain quality, and the respect of the canon. Yes, Catherine did fit into the canon, but we all know it was constrained.
For me, the ideal would be a new series with a whole season, plus two movies per year. One of them could be an event movie or miniseries connecting to the current story, maybe building up to Universe s3. The other one could be an Origins movie. A self contained story about an established character without bashing the canon.
Bra'tac, Egeria, Jolinar, Quetesh (Claudia is a fan favorite), Todd, Thor, Anubis, Oma Desala, Ba'al, Merlin... The list is very long. And it is absolutely possible. Caprica was awesome, despite the fact that we all knew how it would end.
And IF they do the Bra'tac movie, it must happen sooner than later, because Tony Amendola is not getting any younger. We know that both Amendola, Judge and Williams would be up for another adventure, and it would bring back the classic SG vibe definitely. I am a big fan of the Ancient/Ori story line, but a movie like this would put the fan base together again.
And one more thing. Brad Wright should be the boss if anything happens, but let's not forget Mallozzi and Mullie, Cooper and the other guys. Both the writers and the directors. I believe, that a new series needs some fresh blood in the writing room, but these people must not be neglected.
@Darren I'd say yes to that if those are the people involved and with that budget. Though the web 10x10 web series format is pretty terrible; it makes things disjointed. 4x40 minutes would be amazing, like a mini-series proper. But again, if this hinders the road to a long-form series some how, then I would rather wait an extra year or two for that.
Personally, I wasn't a fan of SO. The acting was uninspired, it touched on an area I had no interested in (i.e., pre-SG1) , and it didn't seem Stargate-y enough. I guess the bitterness of expecting something much more than just a limited web series after reading the headline ("Stargate is back!") got to me too.
If you look at all the people involved with Origins (including all the producers, screenplay people, writers and the director), 0% of them were connected to Stargate in any capacity. The vast majority of them weren't involved with anything sci-fi at all. I realize it's good to give someone a chance in this industry (you never know where talent is hidden) but they could have gotten some of the writers or producers involved, if just as consultant. It's like MGM looked for the cheapest options possible and scraped the bottom of the barrel.
It's probably asking way too much, but I just want to see a direct sequel to one of the main series. Brad's recent comments does give me hope though; many of the original actors seem like they are readily available (and willing!).
I would watch another season of Origins, but I don't like prequels. Move the timeline forward with an SGA/SGU crossover to wrap them both up, or just jump forward 8 years to match the real world gap and proceed from there.
Problem I see is that most of these other choices entailed too much SG-1 mythology to allow new fans to jump aboard - which is probably a prerequisite for what MGM is trying to do. SGO (season 1) was overall kind of meh.
Might not work with the Origins name, but I would rather have some closure to SGU or even Atlantis as a one season anthology series. I'm not holding my breath though.
This article doesn't actually say anything.
Wright now is free, now that Travelers was unfortunately cancelled.
Does the great uncertainty inherent in the ending of Stargate Universe (Stargate Dark) create a entry point for something new?
@Dana - You're right that this piece isn't meant to report new information for those who have been following the news on the site week-to-week for the past year. What it is meant to be is a one-stop landing page for those who are searching for info on whether or not Origins is going to continue in some form.