J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 began as a two-hour television movie titled Babylon 5: The Gathering, which aired on February 22, 1993. However, there was some controversy surrounding the series when Straczynski pitched his Space Station series to Paramount back in 1989. Paramount turned Straczynski down and he took his series to Warner Bros., who agreed. Suspiciously, just two months after Warner announced Babylon 5, Paramount announced their own space station series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In a tweet from 2018, Straczynski claimed that Paramount “kicked their show into overdrive and spent four times as much as we did to get them to air first.” In fact, “Deep Space Nine” first aired on January 3, 1999, a month and a half faster than ” Babylon 5”. No legal action was taken against Paramount, but there has been some bitterness since then.
Furthermore, the TV series Babylon 5 did not begin airing until late January 1994, leaving a significant production gap between the two series. Despite many similarities, “Babylon 5” and “Deep Space Nine” were just different enough to form their own unique fan base. Additionally, because Babylon 5 wasn’t tied to an existing science fiction franchise, it had the freedom to expand its own universe and explore its own sprawling mythology. In fact, there have been three Babylon 5 TV shows, six TV movies and, as of 2023, a direct-to-video feature.
It might prove difficult to keep track of the different “Babylons,” but we here at /Film are here to help. Here you will find a practical and clear list of all “Babylon” film supports produced to date in the correct order.
The release command
Here are all the films and series in the order in which they were released. The central TV series is split around the release of several TV movies and the show is highlighted in bold.
- “Babylon 5: The Gathering” (1993) – TV movie
- “Babylon 5” Seasons 1 to 4 (January 26, 1994 to October 27, 1997) – TV series
- “Babylon 5: In the Beginning” (January 4, 1998) – TV movie
- “Babylon 5” Season 5, Episodes 1 – 17 (January 21, 1998 to June 17, 1998) – TV series
- “Babylon 5: Thirdspace” (July 19, 1998) – TV movie
- “Babylon 5” Season 5, Episodes 18 and 19 (October 28, 1998 and November 4, 1998) – TV series
- “Babylon 5: The River of Souls” (November 8, 1998) – TV Movie
- “Babylon 5” Season 5, Episodes 20 – 22 (November 11, 1998 – November 25, 1998)
- “Babylon 5: A Call to Arms” (1999) – TV movie
- “Crusade” (June 9 – September 1, 1999) – TV series
- “Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: Living and Dying by Starlight” (January 19, 2002) – TV movie
- “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales” (2006) – direct-to-video anthology special
- “Babylon 5: The Road Home” (2023) – Direct-to-video film
And this list doesn’t include the 22 Babylon 5 novels, nor the many comics or board games that spawned from the series. Straczynski said he also wants to reboot the series and is currently looking for a network willing to finance it.
The correct order is mythology
It’s important to work through the Babylon series in order, as the stories and characters are extremely complicated in nature. “Babylon 5” takes place aboard the titular space station, which was built specifically as diplomatically neutral ground after several devastating pan-galactic wars. Ships visit the station via wormhole-like “jump points,” allowing anyone to visit Babylon 5 if they are able. Aliens growl at each other and humans running the station try to keep the peace. The series revolved around religious fervor, post-war resentment, assassination attempts, psychic powers and legitimate god-like prophecies.
One must familiarize themselves with the Drakh Attack of the Shadow War, the Telepath War, the Earth Alliance Civil War, and the Independence of Mars. Unlike Star Trek, Babylon 5 never presented itself as a utopia and had the freedom to start wars and feature devious, fallible and evil characters. The Earth Alliance is different than the Federation. In many ways, “Babylon 5” was the anti-“Star Trek,” suggesting that utopian science fiction was rude and unrealistic. Humans (and aliens) may be able to travel the stars, but they will be just as divided and petty as ever.
Yes, both “Babylon 5” and “Deep Space Nine” had wormholes near the titular stations, and fans of both will be able to point out numerous parallels beyond that, but as previously mentioned, they are actually separate entities. It’s worth noting that Babylon 5 would eventually poach several well-known Star Trek actors, including Walter Koenig, who played Alfred Bester in 12 episodes of the series.