Appearing at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention over the weekend, Star Trek’s Walter Koenig broke some news for another franchise: Babylon 5. Koenig says that B5 creator J. Michael Straczynski is currently in negotiations to develop more Babylon 5. Walter also compared working on B5 to Star Trek, details below. [UPDATE: Straczynski denial]

UPDATE: JMS Denial

After TrekMovie.com reported on Koenig’s comments about Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski took to Twitter to respond, saying:

@straczynski: Walter misspoke: I am not in negotiations with WB to develop more Babylon 5

original article

Koenig: Babylon 5 May Be Coming Back

Speaking at the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas on Friday, Walter Koenig, who played the Psi Cop Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, said that just last week he had dinner with B5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. And according to Koenig there may be hope for the future of the Babylon 5 franchise. The actor said:

He told me that he is in negations to re-acquire the rights to Babylon 5 and it looks pretty good. Now what that portends I am not entirely sure. It could be a new series or it could be a feature film, but he was quite animated about it. He seemed very excited and Warner Brothers is dealing with him in good faith. So you might see another Babylon 5 in the not too distant future.



Walter Koenig at Star Trek Las Vegas Con

Since Babylon 5 went off the air in 1998 Straczynski has been involved in a few short-lived B5 spin-off projects, the most recent of which was the direct-to-DVD "Babylon 5: The Lost Tales" in 2007. In 2008 Straczynski said there would be no more "Lost Tales" releases, but he would return to B5 for a feature film. Since that time Straczynski has been very busy writing comics, graphic novels and a number of feature films, including the story for this year’s Thor and adapting the Max Brooks novel for the currently filming World War Z.

Koenig also talked about how much he enjoyed playing the character of Bester on Babylon 5.

I had a great time doing it. It was just terrific…I loved performing the character and investigating the character and discovering new things about him with each script. Bester was a lot more fun [compared to Chekov on Star Trek]. It was more dimensional and it was more complex. He was always pivotal to the story. It was a challenge. I felt more creative doing the role. Bester was a more substantial character. Of course I hasten to add that I am enormously grateful for the opportunity [on Star Trek] and I will say it again and again.



Walter Koenig as Bester on "Babylon 5"

More from Vegas coming up

TrekMovie will have more from Koenig and all the vents at Las Vegas Star Trek con coming up