In the past year J. Michael Straczynski has been on Twitter asking fans if they were interested in bringing back "Babylon 5" with a new, different cast, and not retelling the story in the same way.

Now that development of the new "Babylon 5" has been confirmed, JMS tweeted some of his ideas about the show. It is a reboot and not an expansion of the Babylon Universe.

From [J. Michael Straczynski -Twitter - 28 September 2021]:

The network understands the uniqueness of Babylon 5 and is giving me a great deal of latitude with the storytelling. As noted in the announcement, this is a reboot from the ground up rather than a continuation, for several reasons. Heraclitus wrote --

-- “You cannot step in the same river twice, for the river has changed, and you have changed.” In the years since B5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question:

if I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, knowing what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then?

How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day? Fans regularly point out how prescient the show was and is of our current world; it would be fun to take a shot at looking further down the road.

So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way because of what Heraclitus said about the river. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and --

-- put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar. To those asking why not just do a continuation, for a network series like this, it can’t be done because over half our cast are still stubbornly on the other side of the Rim.

How do you telling continuing story of our original Londo without the original Vir? Or G’Kar? How do you tell Sheridan’s story without Delenn? Or the story of B5 without Franklin? Garibaldi? Zack?

The original Babylon 5 was ridiculously innovative: the first to use CGI to create ships and characters, and among the very first to shoot widescreen with a vigorous 5.1 mix. Most of all, for the first time, Babylon 5 introduced viewers accustomed to episodic television to --

-- the concept of a five-year arc with a pre-planned beginning, middle and end…creating a brand new paradigm for television storytelling that has subsequently become the norm. That tradition for innovation will continue in this new iteration, and --

-- I hope to create additional new forms of storytelling that will further push the television medium to the edge of what’s possible.

Let me conclude by just saying how supportive and enthusiastic everyone at the CW has been and is being with this project. They understand the --

-- unique position Babylon 5 occupies both in television and with its legions of fans, and are doing everything they can to ensure the maximum in creative freedom, a new story that will bring in new viewers while honoring all that has come before.

Onward!

Although JMS seems to have full control now, there are further negotiations with TPTB and he will have to compromise for it to progress any further.

CW, owned by ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia (after merger with Discovery: Warner Bros. Discovery.), is producing it and does not have a good track record with their shows, so many old fans are not too optimistic about this.

Why? CBS produced the NuStarTrek shows, like "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Star Trek: Picard", CW produced shows from the Arrowverse franchise, like "Arrow", "The Flash", "Supergirl" (originally CBS) and "Batwoman", teenage drama like "Riverdale", reboots like "Charmed", "Dynasty" and "Roswell, New Mexico".

How will the new "Babylon 5" differ from the original? Is JMS finally going to tell the story he wanted to tell, but could not in the 1990s, or will he have to compromise - again - and include suggestions by TPTB?

JMS is the writer and showrunner for now. However, will he stay as showrunner until the end or be replaced by someone else?

Is it going to be a 'clean slate' with much more soap drama, diversity and inclusivenes?

JMS last big project, that he created and wrote with The Wachowskis, was the Netflix science fiction drama series "Sense8 (2015-2018). The plot is about eight strangers from different parts of the world, who shared one 'birth' mother: Angelica. They are 'sensates', human beings who are mentally and emotionally linked. "Sense8" was cancelled - much too soon for the fans - after just two seasons.

. What's Going On | Sense8

Will The Wachowskis, known for the "Matrix" franchise, also participate in writing for the new "Babylon 5"?

In the end, whatever JMS has planned, you can be certain that the target audience will be at least as enthusiastic about this 'new' show as they are about the others produced by CW - and CBS.

They'll enjoy all the action (videoclip from "Arrow") , love and drama (videoclip from "ST: Discovery"), shipping (videoclip from "Batwoman"), and explicit bloody scenes in the new "Babylon 5".