Michael Shanks Reacts to the Jac Schaeffer News: "I Wonder If the Job Comes With a Blindfold and Cigarette"
Michael Shanks, who played Daniel Jackson across all ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 and had confirmed he was set to return in Martin Gero's cancelled Amazon series, has given his verdict on the report that WandaVision creator Jac Schaeffer is now developing a new Stargate show for Amazon MGM Studios. Quote-posting GateWorld's coverage of the Variety story on X on October 9, Shanks wrote: "I wonder if the job comes with a blindfold and cigarette….?"
The remark, likening the showrunner's job to facing a firing squad, was picked up by CinemaBlend on October 10 under the headline "Fans (And Michael Shanks) Are Big Mad About This Stargate SG-1 Reboot Retooling." The site noted that Shanks has been one of the most prominent voices behind the #SaveStargate campaign since Amazon dropped Gero's series in June, and that many fans used the replies to his post to voice their own frustration that the original creative team had been let go before a new writer was brought in.
Joseph Mallozzi, who was a consulting producer on Gero's version, also made a pointed aside on his blog the same day. Replying to a reader who said his ongoing serialised SG-1 story made it feel as though the show had never gone away, Mallozzi wrote: "Attention Amazon executives: This is why you shouldn't give a much-loved franchise to unfamiliar writers. Paramount executives, if you wouldn't mind also taking note…"
Representatives for Amazon and Schaeffer declined to comment on the original Variety report, and nothing has yet been said publicly about the new show's setting, cast or its relationship to SG-1, Atlantis and Universe. The #SaveStargate campaign itself struck a more measured tone in its October 10 statement, describing itself as "cautiously optimistic" while insisting fans have no interest in a remake or reboot.