Stargate Universe, the latest installment in the trio of main Stargate shows, wrapped up abruptly in 2011 after only two seasons, ending on a major cliffhanger that left fans wanting more. More than a decade has passed since the show's finale, which makes the chances of a third season quite unlikely. Despite this, there have been a few teasers regarding how the story might have progressed, and recent developments in the Stargate universe have sparked new hope among fans for additional stories to be told.
Stargate Universe aired from 2009 to 2011 as the third series in the Stargate franchise. Unlike its predecessors, Stargate: SG-1 and the first spin-off, Stargate: Atlantis, which shared a similar sense of humor and setting, Stargate Universe adopted a darker, more character-focused approach to storytelling. This shift was clearly influenced by the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica, and to some extent by Star Trek: Voyager, earning it the nickname Battlestargate Voyager among some viewers.
The main story of Stargate Universe follows a team of soldiers, scientists, and civilians who are stranded on an ancient spaceship called the Destiny, several billion light years away from Earth. The Destiny is on a pre-programmed mission to explore the universe, and due to a lack of energy, the team is unable to return home. The protagonists face many challenges as they try to survive on the ship, including limited resources, malfunctioning technology, and hostile alien threats.
Stargate Universe was cancelled after two seasons, with the final episode "Gauntlet" airing in 2011. One major issue was the show's ratings, which were lower compared to the previous Stargate series. The show also received mixed reviews from critics and audiences, with many people criticizing it being too slow-paced and lacking the action and adventure of SG:1 and SG:A.
Stargate Universe: Season 3 Unlikely, But New Hope For The Franchise
Sadly, it is very unlikely that Stargate Universe will ever be continued. Besides the fact that it happens very rarely that cancelled shows get renewed (but it can happen, as The Expanse and Lucifer proved), it is even more unlikely for shows that stopped several years ago, since the actors not only turn older but are also usually busy with new projects, which makes it almost impossible to get them all back at the same time.
A possible solution for that would be to bring the show back as an animated series, but it just doesn't look like this is ever going to happen.
Anyway, there is good reason to be optimistic about the future of the franchise. In 2021, Amazon bought MGM, the studio which currently owns the rights to the Stargate franchise. There have already been some rumors about Amazon planning a new Stargate project recently, and it would just make no sense for Amazon to ignore one of the biggest sci-fi franchises in history, so in the end it will be more a question of when there will be a new Stargate movie or series than a question of if it's gonna happen at all.
Furthermore, it's been more than a decade since the last Stargate series (to be honest, we don't count Stargate Origins here and everyone who's seen it will know why), so it would be a great timing for a reboot or a new show.
Stargate Universe Season 3: This Is How The Story Could have Continued
If you watched Stargate Universe and you liked the show, you'd probably be interested in how the story would have continued and ended. As you remember drone ships guarded every star in the galaxy, which is why to get to the next power source, the crew of the Destiny had to move to another galaxy, which is three years away.
Therefore, the crew put themselves into stasis pods, hoping to wake up in said galaxy, safe and sound. Unfortunately, this ending was left open and fans never got to find out what the crew's fate would really be.
Though there is no official info about what would have happened in season 3, SG:U writer Joseph Mallozzi once revealed some ideas that he and the writer's team had to solve the critical situation of Eli and the Destiny crew. Here are some of the mentioned scenarios:
- Eli fixes a pod, gets in stasis just like everyone else, and the crew wakes up between three and a thousand years later.
- Eli manages to extend the life support, so he can stay awake for the whole three years until the Destiny reaches the new galaxy.
- Eli survives by uploading his consciousness to Destiny's computer.
- An outside force (either a squad from earth or an alien species would have been an option) enters the Destiny, eventually resulting in the crew's rescue.
When it became clear that season 3 would never happen, the idea for two SG:U movies came up, with the first one to focus on the crew's rescue and the second one on the completion of Destiny's mission. But, as we all know, that remained a pipe dream until today.
Although a third season of SG:U is basically off the table, there is a realistic chance that a future Stargate show or movie will somehow pick up the story of Stargate Universe as part of a side plot and let us know what happened to the Destiny and its crew. Besides that, our fingers are crossed as we hope to finally get new stories from the Stargate franchise sometime soon.