‘WandaVision’ creator has a new sci-fi franchise to revive after Marvel
Amazon MGM Studios is set to reboot ‘Stargate,’ with Jac Schaeffer (creator of ‘WandaVision’) at the helm, Deadline reports. Schaeffer is currently working on the project as part of the three-year overall deal she signed with the studio in February. A writers’ room has opened in New York, with Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell, heads of Safehouse Pictures, set to executive produce with her. Plot details, cast, and a release date have yet to be revealed, and representatives for Amazon MGM Studios and Schaeffer declined to comment. It will be Amazon’s second attempt at reviving the sci-fi franchise, after it scrapped the show in June, reportedly worried it would not have appeal beyond the existing fanbase.
Harold and Tunnell co-founded Safehouse Pictures in 2005. Harold co-wrote ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ in 2017, and executive produced ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.’ He served as showrunner and writer on ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ a six-episode Disney+ series that saw the return of Ewan McGregor as the Jedi, in May 2022. Schaeffer’s debut film, ‘TiMER,’ premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. It was a science-fiction romantic comedy starring Emma Caulfield, famous for her role in ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’
In 2019, she wrote ‘The Hustle,’ a ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ remake starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson, and contributed to the script for ‘Captain Marvel.’ Two years later, she co-wrote the story for ‘Black Widow’ and created ‘WandaVision,’ the first MCU series to appear on Disney+. Her spinoff ‘Agatha All Along,’ which starred Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, ran nine episodes from September 18 to October 30, 2024. Her Marvel Studios and 20th Television deal ended in February, paving the way for the Amazon MGM one. Fast forward 17 years since ‘TiMER,’ and she is working on a franchise that began in 1994.
That earlier version was the brainchild of Martin Gero, writer of ‘Stargate SG-1,’ ‘Stargate Atlantis,’ and ‘Stargate Universe.’ Prime Video ordered his series in November 2025, with Harold and Tunnell on board as executive producers. It had completed a 20-week writers’ room and was in pre-production in the UK by the time Amazon killed it off, citing a shift in leadership at Amazon MGM Studios. Schaeffer’s project emerged four months later. ‘Stargate’ started as a 1994 film from Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, starring James Spader and Kurt Russell.
‘Stargate SG-1’ premiered on Showtime in 1997, ran 10 seasons, and starred Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping and Christopher Judge. ‘Stargate Atlantis’ followed with five seasons, while ‘Stargate Universe’ ended in 2011. The franchise later expanded with the animated series ‘Stargate Infinity’ (2002–2003) and the web series ‘Stargate Origins’ (2018). Amazon announced its $8.45 billion acquisition deal with MGM in 2021, and the purchase was completed in March 2022. In this deal, Amazon acquired the ‘Stargate’ film and television library, and the studio gained an opportunity to reboot the science-fiction universe.
