With a five-year arc and an intricate story that unfolded more like a seasons-long miniseries than a series, J. Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 earned legions of fans worldwide--all of whom were riveted to his story until it concluded on TNT in 1998. The series was followed by four B5 telefilms and a short-lived spinoff titled Crusade; creative differences over the latter by cable network TNT marked the end of B5's relationship with that network. Now, Straczynski brings his imagination to the SCI FI Channel with the highly anticipated Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight.

Andreas Katsulas--who played G'Kar in Babylon 5--headlines the otherwise largely unknown cast of Dylan Neal, Alex Zahara, Miriam Sirois, Dean Marshall, Warren Takeuchi and Enid-Raye Adams. The movie was filmed at the start of the summer in Vancouver, British Columbia.

While at the set, Straczynski took some time out of his day to discuss The Legends of the Rangers.What is the origin of the story that forms the basis for Legends? Is this something that's been percolating in your mind for years?

Straczynski: Well, we've had the Rangers as part of the Babylon 5 universe ever since season three. I've always been fascinated by them, and the fans have been pretty intrigued by them for a long time. And the creation of the Interstellar Alliance is something that was also dramatized in the series. The nearest point of comparison [for them] would be King Arthur and his knights, because this is about empire building. It's a variety of stories. The thing about the Rangers is that they go everywhere, and therefore the entire B5 universe is open to us, and will definitely be involved [in the stories].

Where does this movie fit into the B5 timeline?

Straczynski: It's about two and a half, three years after the episode "Objects at Rest," in year 2265.Is the spartan design of the ship the Rangers use supposed to reflect Legends' grittier look at the Babylon 5 universe?

Straczynski: As a rule, we're not going to be spending a lot of time there [on the ship] necessarily. But for the time that we are there, we wanted a look that was definitely not the traditional, science-fiction television-show look. It's more like a PT boat. Even the doors are kind of small. In fact, the art department—just to mess with me—made the doors a half-inch shorter than I am, so I skirt my head on the top of [the doors on set].

I did want a darker, more serious look to this. I've always felt that we should learn from the B5 tradition, but not be bound by it. We can take it in another direction and expand and improve it—I'm all for that. I just don't want to go backwards.How did B5's established traditions help shape what you were doing with this show?

Straczynski: Primarily, in things like ship design. [The influence is visible] on the exteriors in particular. We have power colors and design textures and so on that we've used before that we have to have in the new show. You've got a Mercedes and a Ford Explorer—-they're both Ford vessels, but that they have four wheels is all they have in common.

The ship is of Minbari origin; how is that reflected in what we see?

Straczynski: The bridge and the sign elements there; the doors; Minbari language plates on various things. It's kind of cool: [Since this ship's origin is] as a Minbari ship, we have very carefully stamped out in metal the Minbari version of, say, "bathroom," and then spray-painted beneath it and stenciled in English is "bathroom," because they wouldn't bother changing it that much for the stupid Earth people coming on this thing. And in a couple of places on the sets, there are very rude messages in Minbari about TNT. At my request. We also have ones that say [things like], "Celebrate Minbari Beer."Veteran Babylon 5 and sci-fi genre (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Voyager; The X-Files; Legend; Seven Days; The X-Files) director Michael Vejar is back to helm the Legends movie. What made Vejar the right choice for this telefilm?

Straczynski: Mike has always been our lucky charm. He did a lot of B5s for us. The best of what we have ever done, visually, Mike did. He did "In the Beginning" and "Face of the Enemy"—one of our best-directed episodes to date. And I wanted someone who was familiar enough with the history of B5 and the look of B5 to keep those things consistent while bringing in the new stuff. With a new director, you'd be explaining everything to this person, and you'd just be explaining forever to this person; we have five years of tradition to get through. With Mike, we have shorthand; he's one of the best directors working right now.

Aside from Andreas Katsulas, the cast of Legends is young and largely unknown. What went into the casting decisions for this series?

Straczynski: I've always had a very simple approach to casting: I sit in a room until the character walks in the door, and that's the person I hire. When Enid-Raye [Adams] came in, I explained that [her character] is a warrior priest, and that logic, therefore, is that she's the closest we're going to have to a nun. She then turned around, and on the next take, she was that character. She was a Minbari. And that was it—no one else came close. Dylan was right at the top category from the very beginning. He has a great preparation, and he can memorize vast amounts of my words, and not stumble over them—he actually can make them sound better than they are on paper. All things considered, it was a pretty fast casting session. I knew when [the actors] left the room who it would be. We had full authorization to cast both from Vancouver and L.A., but we found what we wanted right here, so why go elsewhere?If Legends does go to a series, how will the types of stories you tell differ from those of Babylon 5?

Straczynski:Babylon 5 was really a show about political intrigue, with [this] core wrapped around an action series. This really isn't [the same] for several reasons. The political stuff will be there to inform [the Rangers'] missions, in terms of trying to make new alliances, and to steady problems as they come up out there. But I want this to be more action-oriented. Plus, this is a small ship; we've put these characters into a very small, confined situation—a tin bucket in space—and they have to live with each other on a daily basis.