A whopping 24 years ago, Christopher Judge was part of the team that made Stargate into a franchise on the small screen with Stargate SG-1. Years later and he’s a part of Marvel’s upcoming Black Panther video game and voicing T’Challa, but he’s also very much aware that there have been rumblings of another project in the works from the franchise that made him famous in the sci-fi world all those years ago. Obviously, as an OG member of the franchise, Judge has some thoughts for anyone who might be working on the potential reboot.
While a lot of people might research what came before when working on any sort of reboot, revival or continuation, Christopher Judge’s advice is actually quite the opposite. Speaking to Polygon, the actor said the key to getting a new Stargate project off the ground should be doing your own thing. He noted:
Don’t watch any of the 10 seasons that we did. I would say, ‘Just make it your own,’ you know? It’s not going to change what I’ve already done. [...] I think that’s to be said for all performers. I mean, you have to make things your own — you have to let the emotional structure of characters fall where they may, and just make them as honest as you can.
Christopher Judge was one of two leads who stuck with Stargate SG-1 throughout the entirety of its run. If anyone is familiar with the ins and outs of what makes a Stargate series a Stargate series, it should be him. (Well and Amanda Tapping, who also stuck with the show through its original run, later appearing in other projects within the franchise as well.) It might be daunting to take on a role in an iconic franchise -- in fact, the Atlantis cast recently confirmed that's definitely true -- but Judge believes the key to a new project in the franchise being successful is making it new, novel, and true to the actors and creators involved.
It may be a little early for such advice. In fact, following the Dean Devlin movie project seemingly biting the dust, producer Brad Wright has been the main person beating the drum about a possible project. He's said several time that he and MGM have something cooking, though there's been no official new series announcement, just talk regarding the potential for a new series. If it does get off the ground, other original star Amanda Tapping has expressed interest in being involved via an appearance or even directing. So, if it does move forward, hopefully there will be room for the project to both do its own thing and pay homage to the past.
Obviously, there's interest from the fanbase and even from some of the original cast, but it is worth noting the lack of success on the last couple of Stargate projects makes a new series a bit of a risky proposition. You could argue Stargate: Origins was stymied by the fact that it was only available on the now-defunct Stargate: Command. Yet, the last TV project before that, Stargate: Universe, only made if for two seasons after being shuttled around on Syfy's schedule. The good news is that streaming seems as if it would be a good place for it and Brad Wright is correct that Amazon has a new deal with MGM; so, whether or not it's the right time for a remake, revival or spinoff remains to be seen,
