When Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica remake first appeared in 2003, it was called one of the first true post-9/11 television shows. Following a terrorist attack that wipes out humanity's homeworld, the crew of the titular starship battles religious fundamentalist Cylons while trying to guide a ragtag fleet of survivors to Earth.
Battlestar Galactica wrapped up in 2009, and much has changed in the years since. Speaking at a panel during San Diego Comic Con with series star Mary McConnell, who played President Laura Rosalyn in the show, Moore imagined what it would be like to try and remake the series amid 2024's fraught politics.
"I mean, the story itself would probably be different because I wrote it at a specific moment in our lives and in our history,” Moore said. “I was approached to do the project just a month after the 9/11 attacks. As it was developed, the invasion of Afghanistan happened, and then there as Iraq and Guantanamo Bay and we were dealing with the Patriot Act and a lot issues of freedom versus security with terrorism in the modern world and fundamentalism. I wanted the show to talk about who we were at that moment. So if I were creating Battlestar Galactica from scratch today, I don’t know…. it’s so hard to let go of what the show became.”
With that said, Moore said he would still try to approach a modern version of the series with the same attitude as he did with the 2003 version.
“I want it to be recognizable as Battlestar Galactica," he explained. "It’s still a warship and an aircraft carrier in space, guiding a ragtag civilian fleet running from the Cylons after an apocalyptic attack. It’s about their society. What are the pieces of their civilization they chose to carry with them? What’s important to them? What does it mean to be a democracy? Then I would have to get down into the weeds and then it would be different because it would have to be informed by the last 20 years of what we have gone through."
McConnell responded by making a joking allusion to a "wild week," a reference to some of the momentous political events that have happened recently, such as President Joe Biden's decision not to seek reelection.
Alas, those hoping for another remake of the classic series are likely to be disappointed. Moore is busy with other projects right now, including the new season of For All Mankind and its spinoff, Star City. His version of Battlestar Galactica last appear in the 2013 SyFy web series Blood & Chrome. Nevertheless, Battlestar Galactica remains influential, landing at #36 on our list of the Top 100 TV shows of all time.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
