
Well, this one is deeply frustrating. Amazon has reportedly decided not to move forward with the planned ‘Stargate’ TV series from Martin Gero, despite the project having received a series order in November 2025.
The new series was set to come from Gero, who began his career writing on both ‘Stargate SG-1’ and ‘Stargate: Atlantis’, and later went on to create Blindspot and develop the 2022 Quantum Leap reboot. According to reports, Amazon execs were concerned that Gero’s take on the franchise would not have broad appeal beyond the dedicated existing fanbase.
And that is where things get a bit baffling.
‘Stargate’ is not exactly some forgotten bit of IP gathering dust in the back of a cupboard. It is a franchise with a very loyal fanbase, many of whom have spent years keeping the show alive while it has been off-air. The idea that the problem might be “too much appeal to Stargate fans” rather than “not enough appeal to everyone else” feels like exactly the sort of corporate logic that tends to go down so well with fandoms. By which I mean, not well at all.
Deadline reports that the project had completed a 20-week writers room and was in pre-production in the UK before Amazon pulled the plug. The decision appears to have come following changes behind the scenes at Amazon MGM Studios, with execs who had championed the project no longer in place.
The report also suggests the studio may revisit the IP with another showrunner, possibly someone without history with the franchise, in order to bring a “fresh new perspective” to the property.
Which… sure. Fresh perspectives can be great. But when you have Martin Gero, Brad Wright and Joe Mallozzi involved, all people who actually understand why ‘Stargate’ worked, perhaps throwing that away in favour of someone who does not have history with it is not automatically the slam-dunk idea some executives seem to think it is.
Joe Mallozzi, who served as a consulting producer on the new project and was one of the major creative voices behind the original TV franchise, confirmed the news on social media, saying:
“Sadly, it’s true. Amazon has elected not to move forward with the new Stargate series.
There’s not much I can add beyond confirming what’s happened. But I will say this…
Creator Martin Gero developed a new Stargate series over two years, ultimately crafting a show that offered a fresh jumping-on point for new viewers while deeply respecting existing canon. It was a series that avoided the pitfalls of several modern remakes and reboots by fully embracing the core of its predecessors: action, adventure, exploration, wonder, heart, humor, and found family. And based on that creative vision, the new Stargate series was greenlit in November of 2025.
As of today, officially, that original vision is no more. We’ll never get the opportunity to introduce you to that world and those characters – or reintroduce you to, and check in with, some familiar faces from the past.
My heart breaks. For the incredibly talented writers who worked tirelessly to bring this show to life. For Martin who maintained an unwavering positive outlook throughout despite the challenges, and who always strove to make a show that would honor the fans while welcoming a new audiences. And for the long-suffering Stargate fandom who waited so long and came so close to getting a show they truly would have loved.”
That last part is the real sting. This was not just some vague “maybe one day” development project. It had a series order. It had a writers room. It had legacy creatives involved. It had reportedly reached pre-production. For fans who have been waiting since ‘Stargate Universe’ ended in 2011 for a proper return to the franchise, this was the closest the gate had come to reopening in years.
More than that, it actually looked like Amazon might have been getting it right. In an industry rather fond of taking a well-known brand, slapping the title on something that looks almost nothing like the original, and then wondering why the fans are annoyed, this seemed like the rare case where the people involved understood the assignment. The team behind it were the team many fans wanted. People who knew the franchise, respected the canon, and understood that ‘Stargate’ is not just about wormholes and spaceships, but action, adventure, exploration, humour, heart, and found family.
The original ‘Stargate’ began as the 1994 film starring James Spader and Kurt Russell, before expanding into one of television’s most beloved sci-fi franchises. ‘Stargate SG-1’ ran for 10 seasons from 1997 to 2007, followed by ‘Stargate Atlantis’ from 2004 to 2009 and ‘Stargate Universe’ from 2009 to 2011. There were also two direct-to-video movies, the animated ‘Stargate Infinity’, and the 2018 web series ‘Stargate Origins’, although the latter is generally something many fans prefer to pretend never happened.
Amazon acquired MGM in 2022, giving it control of the ‘Stargate’ franchise, and the property was quickly identified as one of the studio’s key titles for potential revival. On paper, it makes perfect sense. It has a huge mythology, an existing fanbase, endless story potential, and a format that can support both episodic adventures and bigger arcs. It is also a franchise built around exploration, humour, found family, and the sort of optimistic military sci-fi that has been largely missing from television for quite some time.
That is probably why this decision feels so odd. If the concern was that Gero’s version respected existing canon too much, that is not necessarily a flaw. One of the biggest problems with many modern reboots is that they seem slightly embarrassed by the thing they are rebooting. Mallozzi’s comments suggest this was not that. It was designed as a jumping-on point for new viewers while still respecting what came before.
Amazon may yet find another way to bring ‘Stargate’ back, but this is not a great way to start that journey. The people most likely to turn up on day one are the existing fans. Alienating them before the next version even exists feels like a very strange strategy.
For now, Martin Gero’s ‘Stargate’ series is not moving forward at Amazon. Whether the studio eventually dials the gate again with a different creative team remains to be seen.

4 comments
Honestly, the best we can probably hope for is a BSG style reboot. Not necessarily in terms of design and “vibe”, but a reboot all the way back to first principles, keep a smattering of iconography and production design from the original show, then give it fresher, more modern twist. Hope that you keep enough original fans on board whilst attracting a new audience
I’ll be honest in that I always thought that the TV franchise would be a difficult revival. A show about a universe populated by humans who speak English with an American accent, was always going to be a hard sell to modern viewers.
I don’t think this would have been a hard sell for modern viewers. Yes a fair amount of the cast members from the original series were American, but there was also a lot diversity in the series too. The Goa’uld and many of the off world races in particular were represented by a wide range of actors and not just from the US and who could forget the Asgardians as being one of the many highlights of alien characters depicted in the show. The overall appeal of Stargate was it’s hopeful and optimistic depiction of exploring of the wider galaxy through fantastical means and I think it drew in a lot of people, even those who wouldn’t normally watch sci-fi. As a long time fan of the series, it’s a real shame Amazon has made this decision.
No wish to get into a debate about it, but I disagree. The reason that it’s been off our screens for 15 years was that it stopped appealing to anyone bar an ever decreasing number of hardcore fans who readily accepted things that other sci fi fans would probably nowadays frown at (such as an unexplained galactic wide spread of the English language). Just to be clear, I am (and have always been) in the hardcore fan camp (like many, I’d say that my favourite episode was “Window of Opportunity”, in case you’re wondering- the bit with Jack and Teal’c hitting golf balls into the event horizon of the wormhole still cracks me up). I tend to rewatch SG1 and Atlantis pretty much annually. Universe was an attempt to halt that slide by changing tone to something more cerebral. It was created by people who knew the franchise inside and out and respected the existing fandom, canon and lore (Brad Wright and Rob Cooper). It didn’t work (although I actually really enjoyed it). I don’t think that just effectively making Stargate SG1 season 11 will work, either. I’m not saying that Martin Gero’s new show wouldn’t have been successful (I’m not privy to his pitch), just that I think that these was a lot of risk involved and I’m not surprised that the Amazon execs were nervous.
I do think its a silly choice to alienate the existing fan base, when you’ve basically promised them exactly what they wanted, then changed your mind at the last min…
Having said that, I do think a BSG type revamp could be interesting… Modern, more serious, more… grounded? Maybe?
But it could also end up being the 2015 Fantastic Four movie… And no one wants that…
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