A Galaxy Quest Sequel Could Happen - But Alan Rickman's Passing Makes It Unlikely
The 1999 science fiction comedy film "Galaxy Quest" follows the exploits of a group of actors from a science fiction series who find themselves amongst actual aliens who mistook their show as a documentary. As the fandom surrounding the film has grown, so have questions about a sequel. Many fans might not know that the story of "Galaxy Quest" continued in comic book form, with both "Galaxy Quest: Global Warming!" and "Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues." The first series was printed in 2008, and the second was printed in 2015. The first volume is written by Scott Lobdell, who is also the screenwriter of the 2017 horror comedy "Happy Death Day." The second volume is written by Erik Burnham. A sequel to "Galaxy Quest," however, could not be made today, whether it was an adaptation of these comics or an original script.
Any sequel to "Galaxy Quest" would sorely miss Alan Rickman. Rickman plays actor Sir Alexander Dane in "Galaxy Quest." Dane is an actor who played the character of Dr. Lazarus, an alien and the ship's science officer, on the series within the film. Rickman died in 2016.
Dane is a key character in "Galaxy Quest," and any sequel would feel incomplete without him. Recasting the character would be ill-advised, as a new Lazarus would either come off as a poor facsimile of Rickman's performance or fundamentally alter the chemistry of the cast and characters. Leaving Lazarus out of the story altogether would also impact the cast's chemistry and raise questions about the character's fate between films.
A sequel was close to happening while Rickman was still alive
In an interview with Inverse in 2020, "Galaxy Quest" director Dean Parisot also highlighted Rickman's absence as the biggest obstacle to making a sequel. He said that "Galaxy Quest 2" was close to fruition in 2016 before Rickman's untimely passing. Amazon Studios had been close to a deal on a sequel series. "It still comes up every couple of months," Parisot said of the possible sequel. "I don't know. Maybe. We better figure out how to do it without Alan."
Sam Rockwell, who plays Guy in the film, and Tim Allen, who plays Jason Nesmith, both expressed similar sentiments. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rockwell said, "After Alan Rickman passed, we didn't know what to do with the story." In a 2016 interview with the same publication, Allen repeated Parisot's sentiments that a sequel was close to becoming a reality. "It's closer than I can tell you but I can't say more than that," he said. "The real kicker is that Alan now has to be left out. It's been a big shock on many levels."
The comic book continuations revolve around the cast, including Guy, reuniting for a new series, titled "Galaxy Quest: The Journey Continues," as teased in the film's ending. The series seen in the comics capitalizes on their fame from the events of the first film. The characters juggle with ratings issues while continuing to get pulled into other alien conflicts.