Why do so many think the Movie and series aren't part of the same universe?

[TheVoidDragon]

Recently i've seen a lot of people say things along the lines of "The movie and the series are seperate universes/canon!" and i don't think i've seen any other franchise with fanbases who think this to such a degree. Even the wiki has a page suggesting they don't really know and they could be separate.

I don't understand it. I get the reason why people could think that they could be separate universes - there are differences and inconsistencies between the movie and the series, obviously - but i don't know how anyone could seriously believe that is what is intended and think that's actually the case if they have an understanding of canon and how franchises work.

Canon is the events that officially take place and are accepted as fact within a franchise or setting. Typically franchise canon works on a "It's true until shown overwise" basis, where if something is not intended to be canon, it will be stated as non-canon in some way. Canon is decided by the owner of the franchise, as they can do whatever they like with it and it's up to them to determine what is and isn't canon to their franchise. Canon is non-static and can be changed depending on what the rights owner decides. So for example with Star Wars, the movies, the latest books and a few of the TV shows were determined to be the only things that were canon after Disney got the rights to the franchise, with them changing everything else to non-canon; they said everything else was no longer officially Star Wars, in essence. The other material was changed to no longer being 'true' to the Star Wars universe in any way.

The part that seems to confuse people with Stargate are the differences between the movie and the series. For example the look of the gate, Ra not being a snake-like Goa'uld, the human guards instead of Jaffa etc. The series made some changes to the lore and events because moving from a movie to a TV should gave them another chance at things, some things just wouldn't work or they felt they needed to be changed for some reason. Turning a one-off movie into a series obviously required some adjustments. Those inconsistencies aren't issues like people think, though - the concept of a retcon means the movie and the series can be part of the same canon despite those contradictions. The TV shows came after the movie and is official, and was made by the owners of Stargate, so the information presented within them retcons (as in, overrides it so you should just assume how it was in the series is how it should have really been all along) those aspects of the movie, meaning those things in the movie aren't canon anymore.

Stargate canon is a combination of both the movie and the series, in one universe as the series was intended to continue from the movie. They aren't an alternate reality or timeline or whatever, they officially take place within the same setting. The movie isn't 100% canon, as there is information within there that is no longer correct and you should just assume it was really how what the TV show tells us it should have been, but it still takes place within the same universe.

So knowing that those changes the series made were retcons, why would anyone still think the movie and the series don't take place in the same universe? It seems like they might have a complete misunderstanding of what canon and a retcon is. Is there something i'm missing?

[DigiFluid]

I literally do not know and have never met anyone who thinks that.

[Falcon Horus]

I literally do not know and have never met anyone who thinks that.

Stargate Origins might change that.

[McClance]

I think it boils down to the direction Emmerich and Devlin intended with the original movie and the sequels they had in mind, which was completely different than the direction SG-1 took.

[SebastianPerez32]

I've never heard anyone say this. I think it's pretty obvious they are one and the same is it not?

[Falcon Horus]

I've never heard anyone say this. I think it's pretty obvious they are one and the same is it not?

Apart from a few minor details, such as the gate's design, O'Neil with 1 L and apparently Catherine's age in 1928 ... they should be in the same universe.

[TheVoidDragon]

Going back to this topic...does anyone know if there are any official press releases, interviews etc from around the time of the announcement that would outright clarify this? I've had a look and been unable to find anything because of how long ago it was, but it seems some people have a view of "Well they've never said it was an official continuation from the movie in the same universe".

[NickEast]

Going back to this topic...does anyone know if there are any official press releases, interviews etc from around the time of the announcement that would outright clarify this? I've had a look and been unable to find anything because of how long ago it was, but it seems some people have a view of "Well they've never said it was an official continuation from the movie in the same universe".

Well, they explicitly said (in-universe, in promotional material and backstory) that Children of the Gods takes place one year after the Abydos Mission and many specific events/situations from the movie have been referred to it in the series. On top of that, Michael Shanks deliberately "copied" James Spader's portrayal early in the show. So the continuity of the show confirms it. But they changed a great deal of it too (the Goa'uld, Abydos), so I can see that it can cause confusion and discussion.

[Mnikolic]

For me, the movie and SG-1 (and what came after it) are all set in the same universe (but only the TV stuff). Besides, it's the original movie tat started it all.

[blueray]

I've never seen that before. In children of the god's they directly reference the movie and the events that happened in it.

I think that a lot of people (including me) don't want to see them continue the original movie and ignore the 17 seasons of the shows. However, I think the plans for it have sailed, as they tried to make a sequel to independence day and it bombed.

[TheVoidDragon]

Well, they explicitly said (in-universe, in promotional material and backstory) that Children of the Gods takes place one year after the Abydos Mission and many specific events/situations from the movie have been referred to it in the series. On top of that, Michael Shanks deliberately "copied" James Spader's portrayal early in the show. So the continuity of the show confirms it. But they changed a great deal of it too (the Goa'uld, Abydos), so I can see that it can cause confusion and discussion.

The show does obviously make plenty of references to the movie and bases quite a few aspects on it, but I've read a few people think that simply means "Something like the movie (but not the movie) took place in the show universe" because of the differences between them.

[NickEast]

The show does obviously make plenty of references to the movie and bases quite a few aspects on it, but I've read a few people think that simply means "Something like the movie (but not the movie) took place in the show universe" because of the differences between them.

Technically, that's also true. At the same time the movie also has so many differences that it's hard to put it in the same canon. To me, the movie itself is its own thing separate from the main franchise. While the events still happened, they happened differently to match the new continuity (the location of Abydos, the Goa'uld, the Stargate and DHD).

I always wished the producers would somehow "remake" the movie according the continuity of the series, so the original movie can be kept separate. The problem is mainly that a lot of people have seen the movie but not the series and are thus confused by what Stargate really is. When I first got the DVDs of the pilot and intended to watch it for the first time, I expected it to sort of be a remake or recap. I saw the movie much later and found it awkward to watch because it was so different.

[WraithTech]

I always wished the producers would somehow "remake" the movie according the continuity of the series, so the original movie can be kept separate.

A movie remake with the SG1 team would have been excellent.

The problem is mainly that a lot of people have seen the movie but not the series and are thus confused by what Stargate really is. When I first got the DVDs of the pilot and intended to watch it for the first time, I expected it to sort of be a remake or recap. I saw the movie much later and found it awkward to watch because it was so different.

Agree-- I have a close relative who only saw the movie back in the 90s and will not give any of the TVs shows a chance because the movie was hated with such a visceral reaction. The movie was awkward and outdated even during the time of its release by social standards: white US male savior, all the troops with darker skin tones are killed off, no female role models, and the women are subservient. Daniel and the stargate itself had made the movie for me, not much else. Maybe some of the people who say the movie and SG1 were different AUs want to distance themselves from the movie and forget about it while enjoying SG1.

[NickEast]

A movie remake with the SG1 team would have been excellent.

The irony is that about two years ago I started writing an outline and script for a potential fan-made graphic novel adaptation that also adapted the original story to fit the SG-1 continuity.

Even more ironic is that I even called it Stargate: Origins, and started writing promotional material representing diary entries, reports and newspaper articles about the archaeological dig in Giza in 1928, all the way through to 1997 up until Apophis arrives. The material was intended to describe what happened to the Stargate from its discovery in 1928, to it being "covered up" in 1996 and Apophis' arrival one year later. That's probably why I'm a bit salty about the official Stargate Origins.

Still, it's something I'd like to explore, given the chance.

[Chaka-Z0]

I think it's just a few details, movie is still canon but they adjusted some stuff to fit in a series mold.

Also, don't we see people going both ways through the gate in the movie? Haven't seen it in a while so I might be mistaken.