Every Stargate Spinoff Series Ranked

The spinoff game can be tricky, and it’s unclear which property has the potential (or is managed well enough) to become a franchise. For example, when Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi film “Stargate” was released in 1994, few could have guessed that it would eventually become a small-screen spinoff machine big enough to rival “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and the One Chicago franchise.

Yet that’s exactly how things turned out for the film. From “Stargate” came “Stargate SG-1,” the remixed and remade TV adaptation, which explored other corners of the “Stargate” universe in a way that proved engaging enough to continue the series for an impressive 10 seasons. The series constantly experimented with new concepts and characters and, admittedly, not all of them were winners. (Sorry, Aris Boch by Sam J. Jonesit just didn’t work like it did with Claudia Black’s Vala Mal Doran.) Still, the “Stargate” universe expanded effectively enough to warrant additional films that continued the “SG-1” story (“Stargate: The Ark of Truth” and “Stargate: Continuum,” both premiered in 2008), a horde of documentaries and specials, and even a bunch of different games.

And then, of course, there’s the fallout. To date, there are no fewer than four “Stargate: SG-1” offshoots, all of which have a clear connection to the original series but also explore other corners of its universe. They have their own likable characters to boot, and they focus on slightly different but no less important things than Jack O’Neill’s (Richard Dean Anderson) SG-1 team. It is up for debate whether one of them the spin-offs are better than the original seriesbut they all add their own dose of flavor to the “Stargate” franchise.

The last and unfortunately worst of the four “Stargate SG-1” spin-offs is “Stargate Origins”, which, admittedly, has always been doomed by its format. A 10-episode, one-season web miniseries that effectively existed to entice fans to MGM’s Stargate Command subscription service, creator-writers Mark Ilvedson and Justin Michael Terry and director/EP Mercedes Bryce Morgan never really got their just desserts with this one… especially since all of these episodes were only 10 minutes each. (In fairness, this was a few years before Quibi launch and tragic demise in 2020 poisoned the well for high-end studio-produced short-form shows, so no one involved had any way of simply knowing how it was really cursed that this type of media was.)

Format and platform issues aside, “Stargate Origins” isn’t bad. It’s actually a feature-length film about the early life of Catherine Langford (Ellie Gall), the daughter of Stargate discoverer Paul Langford (Connor Trinneer) and a major figure in revealing its secrets. Catherine is already a recurring character in the film “Stargate” and in “SG-1”. Here, she’s front and center as one of the first people to pass through the rediscovered Stargate in an all-new adventure the franchise has never depicted before, thanks to an interference with Goa’uld memory that even causes her to forget the entire mission to save her father from the planet Abydos.

“Stargate Origins” is a very “Stargate” adventure that takes place in a very “Stargate” format. As such, fans may want to track down the cinematic cut of the series, dubbed “Stargate Origins: Catherine.” It offers a much more easily digestible way to appreciate this particular story.

The only animated series in the “Stargate” franchise, “Stargate Infinity” falls into the “could have been a contender” category. On paper, it has one of the most interesting stories under the “Stargate” umbrella. The French-American Fox/Disney Channel/M6 show only aired for a single 26-episode season from September 2002 to March 2003, but it managed to broaden the property’s horizons in several ways… not least because it was set three decades in the main show’s future.

“Stargate Infinity” focuses on a team that doesn’t care much about Stargate Command. After grizzled SGC veteran Gus Bonner (Dale Wilson) is framed for an incident that leads to his team’s demise and a dangerous alien attack, he flees through the Stargate with a ragtag group of misfits and must jump from planet to planet in hopes of clearing his name… while, of course, helping those he and his young team encounter during their desperate quest.

Hopping from planet to planet (in hopes of uncovering a major secret) while being chased by a mysterious villain (Da’Kyll, voiced by Mark Acheson) is a fun premise that offers a whole universe of possibilities. “Infinity” also knew what it had and made sure to introduce plenty of storylines and character arcs that would have undoubtedly yielded interesting results in the future. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after just one season, and its many unresolved secrets have yet to be resolved on screen.

Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper’s “Stargate Universe” took steps to bring a classic sci-fi feel to the “Stargate” franchise by placing a group of characters on a spaceship in the middle of nowhere, with the simple mission of trying to find their way home. After a project at Stargate Command’s Icarus base goes awry, a last-minute maneuver by the Stargate saves Earth but leaves the project’s survivors stranded on a massive abandoned spaceship. Here, the group must find a way to survive, investigate the ship’s many mysteries, and hopefully find their way home.

“Stargate Universe” puts its character development points into exploration and interpersonal relationships instead of the somewhat more explosive antics of the SG-1 team… although, thanks to the presence of Colonel Everett Young (Louis Ferreira) and his ilk, it can also summon that action in a pinch when needed. Yet the show’s driving forces tend to lie on the nonviolent side of the “Stargate” character spectrum. From the undisputed (but not exactly serene) protagonist Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) to the unconventional math genius Eli Wallace (David Blue) and International Oversight Committee representative Camile Wray (Ming-Na Wen), the show’s cast of characters truly pushes the boundaries of the franchise’s traditional military sci-fi genre.

Ultimately, “Stargate Universe” is an interesting experiment that takes everything good about the franchise and adapts it to a more scientific space setting. The end result couldn’t last more than two seasons on Syfy, but there’s more for fans of the series: The “Stargate Universe” tales have a number of companion Kino webisodes known as “Stargate Universe Kino”, and its story has been continued in comic book form.

Some lists just come in with that podium spot predetermined, right? Although the “Stargate” franchise has many spinoffs, only one of them managed to appeal enough to audiences to stay on the air beyond its second season. That honor goes to “Stargate Atlantis,” the very first “Stargate SG-1” spinoff that was also the most clearly tied to the original series.

Premiering in 2004 and airing for five seasons, “Stargate Atlantis” came about after Season 7 of “Stargate SG-1” established the existence of the legendary Atlantis and Stargate Command assembled a team to uncover its secrets. “Stargate Atlantis” follows the adventures of said team, led by John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan). They immediately discover a world (well, a galaxy) of unforeseen threats and possibilities that exists alongside the regular “Stargate” universe, but outside of it enough for the spinoff to establish itself.

Villains like the hive-minded Wraith ghouls and the coded Genii during World War II prove both entertaining and formidable, and the seemingly primitive Athosians are fun and reliable allies who give the series one of its best characters, Teyla Emmagan (Rachel Luttrell). Speaking of characters, this is also the series that introduced the world to the first truly badass incarnation of one Jason Momoa, whose almost hilariously stoic and capable Ronan Dex serves as the team’s resident noble warrior starting in season 2.