Honestly, if you're a sci-fi fan, you know the heartbreak of a "revival" that just... stops. That’s exactly what happened with Babylon 5: The Lost Tales. Back in 2007, when the DVD for Voices in the Dark hit the shelves, people thought we were entering a new era. A fresh dawn for the Interstellar Alliance.
Instead, it was a one-and-done deal.
👉 See also: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson: Why the Metaverse is Nothing Like the Book
It’s kinda weird looking back from 2026. We've seen so many reboots and "expanded universes" lately, but The Lost Tales remains this strange, isolated island in the B5 canon. It was supposed to be an ongoing series of direct-to-DVD anthologies. J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) had these stories—bits and pieces of the universe he didn't have room for in the original five-year arc. But after one release, the whole project was shelved.
Why?
It wasn't because it didn't sell. In fact, it moved about 65,000 units in its first week alone in the US, pulling in over $1 million right out of the gate. For a low-budget DVD release in 2007, those were solid numbers. No, the real reason is way more frustrating: money and creative control.
The $2 Million Budget Trap
Basically, Warner Bros. gave JMS a $2 million budget. That sounds like a lot of cash, but for high-end space opera, it’s practically pocket change. You can see it on the screen. The production used heavy greenscreen work—kind of like 300—to hide the fact they couldn't afford to build massive sets.
The visual effects, handled by Atmosphere Visual Effects (the same folks who worked on the Battlestar Galactica reboot), actually looked pretty decent for the time. But JMS wanted more. He wanted to do a story featuring Jerry Doyle’s Michael Garibaldi on Mars. The problem was that the "Mars story" required more money for sets and effects than the studio was willing to cough up.
JMS told fans flat out: if he couldn't do it right, he wasn't going to do it at all. He didn't want to keep "nickel-and-diming" the production. He was tired of making "B-quality" versions of an "A-quality" universe. So, when Warner Bros. refused to bump the budget for the second installment, he walked away.
Talk about sticking to your guns.
What Was Actually in Voices in the Dark?
If you haven’t watched it recently, Voices in the Dark is basically two short stories. They aren't huge, galaxy-shattering epics. They’re intimate. Character-focused. Sort of like a stage play in space.
The Lochley Story: Demons and Diplomacy
The first segment follows Colonel Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins). She’s still in charge of the station, and she’s dealing with a crewman who claims to be possessed by a demon. Not an alien "energy being." A literal, supernatural demon.
This story is polarizing. Some fans love that B5 finally touched on the "supernatural vs. science" debate. Others felt it was a bit too "Exorcist in Space."
"God was trapped in space so that starfaring humans would find reason to believe."
That's the kind of heavy, theological stuff JMS loves. It challenges the idea that space travel makes religion obsolete. Honestly, it’s one of the most "JMS" scripts ever written, even if the actual execution felt a bit cramped by the small sets.
The Sheridan Story: The Baby Hitler Dilemma
The second half is where the heavy hitters come in. Bruce Boxleitner returns as John Sheridan. He’s now the President of the Interstellar Alliance, and he’s heading back to Babylon 5 for a ten-year anniversary.
Enter Galen (Peter Woodward), the technomage from the Crusade spinoff. Galen shows Sheridan a vision of the future: New York City destroyed. Earth in ruins.
The cause? Prince Vintari of the Centauri Republic.
The catch? Vintari is currently a teenager. Galen tells Sheridan that if he kills the boy now, Earth is saved. It’s the classic "Would you kill baby Hitler?" moral trap. Sheridan, being Sheridan, finds a third way. It’s a great reminder of why that character worked so well—he’s a man who refuses to accept a "no-win" scenario.
The Technical Tragedy: Lost Assets
Here’s a fact that still hurts: when they went to make Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, they discovered that the original CGI assets from the 90s were gone.
Warner Bros. had told the original team not to make backups of the digital files. Then, naturally, the studio lost the archives. Because of this, the team at Atmosphere Visual Effects actually had to use fan-created 3D models of the station and the Starfuries to rebuild the world.
Think about that. The fans literally saved the visual history of the show because the studio couldn't be bothered to keep a hard drive. It’s a miracle the movie looks as good as it does.
🔗 Read more: Masters of Sex TV Show Cast: Why This Ensemble Still Matters in 2026
Why It Still Matters in 2026
We’re currently in a weird limbo with B5. There’s been talk of a "from-the-ground-up" reboot at The CW, which then got caught in the crossfire of the Nexstar acquisition. Then there was the 2023 animated movie, The Road Home, which proved there’s still an audience.
But Babylon 5: The Lost Tales represents a specific moment in time. It was an attempt to keep the original continuity alive without a massive network budget. It proved that:
- Bruce Boxleitner can still carry a scene with just his voice and a look.
- The themes of faith and morality are timeless in sci-fi.
- The fans will show up, even for a "minor" release.
The limitations of the project—the small cast, the digital sets—actually made the writing shine in some places. You don't need a thousand ships exploding to have a tense scene. Sometimes you just need a priest and a colonel arguing in a dark room.
Your Next Steps for a B5 Binge
If you’re looking to dive back into this universe, don't just stop at the main series. The "Lost Tales" might be short, but it’s a vital piece of the puzzle.
- Track down the DVD/Digital: The Lost Tales: Voices in the Dark is often omitted from big streaming packages. You might have to buy it on iTunes or find a physical copy.
- Watch the Extras: The "Fireside Chats" with JMS on the DVD are gold. He talks about the production struggles and his philosophy in a way you rarely see from showrunners.
- Compare to The Road Home: If you’ve seen the 2023 animated movie, go back and watch The Lost Tales. It’s fascinating to see how JMS handles the same characters in live-action versus animation when he has a limited budget.
The tragedy of The Lost Tales isn't that it was bad. It was that it was a proof of concept for a series that never got to breathe. It’s a reminder that in Hollywood, sometimes being "good enough" and "profitable" still isn't enough to beat the bean counters.
But for those 72 minutes, we got to go home one more time.