Prime Video’s Newest Sci-Fi Reboot Is a Reminder of Its Worst Cancellation

Published Jul 23, 2026, 11:50 AM EDT

Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features, reviews, recaps, and conducts interviews. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His novella, The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain,** **was released in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil’s Left Hand, received the Spur Award for “Best Western Short Fiction” from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

After a poorly received reboot over a decade ago, Prime Video has decided to revive **RoboCop **with a new project. No, it’s not another feature film, but rather a long-form streaming series that will seemingly go beyond what the original movies explored. Some will no doubt be thrilled by this news, but for others it’s just another blow in the wake of the recently cancelled Stargate continuation that fans had been on the edge of their seats waiting for. If Prime Video wants to lean into the science fiction icons acquired when the company bought MGM, you’d think the highly successful television franchise would be front-and-center.

RoboCop is fun, sure. Anyone who has seen the original — or even the underrated 2014 reboot — can see the potential in another contemporary update to the story. But RoboCop isn’t an adventure that demands a series format. Frankly, the story is better told as a one-and-done tale, and previous sequels have made that abundantly clear (you’d be better off revisiting Starship Troopers). Once you’ve seen Alex Murphy turn into RoboCop, the most interesting thing about his predicament is his initial struggle to recycle his humanity with his new identity as a cyborg. Trying to uncover who he once was is what makes RoboCop compelling as a character — and while certain sequels like RoboCop 2 have their moments, there’s a reason most consider them a step-down from the original.

Stargate, on the other hand, is a franchise completely devoted to endless space exploration. The previous three series were quite novel in their ability to expand on ideas established in the original film, whether engaging with new worlds in our galaxy, the neighboring Pegasus Galaxy, or those out among the uncharted stars. Not only did they keep the adventures going, but they did so in a way that allowed for new characters and worlds to be added along the way, something RoboCop simply can’t do. What makes Stargate work — and why it expanded beyond Stargate SG-1 with ***Stargate Atlantis ***and Stargate Universe — is that it doesn’t rely on a single character but rather a strong concept. Without Alex Murphy, there would be no RoboCop. For Stargate, all you need is, well, a gate to another world!

window.arrayOfGalleries[“article-gallery-1-108748800”] = ’“<div class=“w-gallery-carousel”><section id=“main-carousel-1-108748800” class=“splide splide-gallery” data-gallery-expanded-id=“main-expanable-carousel-1-108748800” data-gallery-expanded-thumbnail-id=“expanded-gallery-thumbnails-1-108748800”><button class=“expand icon i-expand” type=“button”></button><div class=“splide__track”><ul class=“splide__list” style=“—gallery-aspect-sm: 2 / 1; —gallery-aspect-md: 2 / 1; —gallery-aspect-lg: 2 / 1;” ><li class=“splide__slide gallery-main-img”>