Babylon 5 is getting an animated movie from the original creator

There's a Babylon 5 animated movie releasing in the very near future, and it was written by the classic '90s TV series' original creator, J. Michael Straczynski.

Straczynski himself announced the animated flick on his official Twitter account, describing the project as "classic B5: raucous, heartfelt, nonstop, a ton of fun through time and space & a love letter to the fan." Other details, including the film's title and its release date, will be revealed on Wednesday, May 10, Straczynski said.

Better yet, Straczynski clarified in a follow-up tweet that the Babylon 5 animated movie "is already finished and in the can," which means "it's 100% real, happening, and coming out very soon."

For the uninitiated, Babylon 5 is a space opera TV series that ran on the American network PTEN from 1993 to 1997 and finished up on TNT for its fifth and final season. The series starred an ensemble cast that changed forms throughout the course of the series, but it included Michael O'Hare, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Stephen Furst, Peter Jurasik, Andreas Katsualas, Jerry Doyle, Bill Mumy, Jason Carter, Bruce Boxleitner, and Claudia Christian.

The main story is set between 2257 and 2262 on the titular space station, which was constructed for the purpose of galactic diplomacy after a series of inter-species wars. The character-centric plot consists of many interweaving threads, but prominent themes include conflicting ideologies, oppression, loss, unity, and redemption. It was widely-hailed at the time as a pioneering example of a TV show built around long-form storytelling, rather than self-contained episodes.

There have been many TV movies and spinoff series since the original series ended its run, and in 2010 Straczynski announced a feature film reboot that has, so far, not emerged. The CW announced a TV series reboot to be produced by Straczynski in September 2021. That project has been in various stages of development over the last couple of years, but is currently on hold due to the writers' strike which began on May 1.

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