Actors

Robert Carlyle and Brian J. Smith On Reviving Stargate Universe

For fans of Stargate Universe, the show’s abrupt cancellation after two seasons is still a tender wound. This year marks 12 years since the show went off the air, with the crew of Destiny frozen in stasis to cross the long void between galaxies.

While fans wait for MGM and its new owner Amazon to decide what they will do with the Stargate franchise next, many are holding out hope for some form of continuation of the existing TV franchise. If it’s not a third season of SGU, maybe at least a one-off movie or mini-series to wrap up the story originally conceived by creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper?

In a new pair of interviews with Sidewalks Entertainment, former SGU cast members Brian J. Smith and Robert Carlyle speak to the possibility of a revival and whether they would play their characters again.

“It was huge for me,” Smith said. He played young Lt. Matthew Scott on the show. “Stargate was the first time I really had some solidity in my life. I was able to pay off my student loans. It kind of made me feel like an adult for the first time in my life.”

“We’re still cryogenically frozen on the Destiny, on that space ship somewhere out there in the cosmos!” he said. “It’s kind of teed up for someone to do a movie or something where we can finish off that story. It’d be really fascinating to revisit it after all these years.

Smith said that he had a great time working with the SGU cast and being a part of the Stargate universe. “Please, yes — if that happens sign me up,” he said of a potential return. “… There’s so many worlds in that franchise. It can go so many different ways. I’m curious to see what they do.”

Smith is currently promoting his new limited series Class of ’09, which is now streaming on Hulu. It’s described as a suspense thriller that tells the story of a class of FBI agents across three different time periods as they grapple with the future impact of artificial intelligence on the criminal justice system.

Carlyle, meanwhile, intimated that he would also be willing to portray Dr. Nicholas Rush again — though he is skeptical on whether MGM will one day revive the show. “You never say never,” he said — “I’ve learned that! I would think it would be unlikely for it to come back. … It was unfortunate what happened to it at the time,” when the show was cancelled by the network right at the time that MGM was declaring bankruptcy in 2010.

Robert Carlyle’s Dr. Nicholas Rush goes into stasis in the final episode of Stargate Universe.

But he noted that the series did leave the characters in a perfect position for a revival, even many years later.

“They’re still up there in the sky, floating around on that ship,” Carlyle said. “Whether someone takes it to bring them down to earth again, who knows.”

Carlyle also has a new show: a TV adaptation of his classic film The Fully Monty, which premieres June 14.

Stargate Universe ran for two seasons, which are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the United States.


Would you like to see Amazon and MGM revive Stargate Universe in some form? If not a full-fledged season of television, what form would you like to see this story take? Post it in the comments!

Darren

Darren created GateWorld in 1999 and is the site's managing editor. He lives in the Seattle area with his wife and three spin-off Stargate fans.

View Comments

  • I would love to see a revival with a whole slew of seasons for Stargate: Universe. It was brilliant; Stargate for grown-ups, if you will, since it was that much darker and more serious than its forebears. The tensions between the people stranded on Destiny were a driving force for an excellent take on the franchise.

  • long overdue.. hopefully they might try and keep it going this time

    sudios luv yo make promises but never fullfil them. maybe another 3 years of promises.

    if they do though, i will be there

  • Maybe not a revival but with new star gate series in the works would certainly like to see a few episodes picking up on SGU

  • I mean, they could easily continue it if the original cast would be up for it. I'm pretty sure there would be a way to explain the aging of the crew despite the stasis. It was a mature and dark Stargate and I really liked that. My only problem was the way how the creators wanted to burn Battlestar Galactica into it.

  • Yes please!! This was far and above the best evolution of a beloved franchise!
    The plot line for this series definitely needs a conclusion! Would love a series revival!

  • Yes! I love all Stargate and I came to really appreciate and enjoy Universe and Season 2 really was really great!! It just kept getting better and better and the way it ended just still feels so much like it needs a conclusion. I would Love to see at least another season, but at minimum a movie or something to wrap it up. That show deserves closure. I really hope too that Amazon does well with the Stargate franchise and brings any new series back in the same universe/canon as the three shows. Would be great if Brad Wright was at the helm too! And please no woke crap! Lets enjoy the show for how awesome it is!

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