‘Buck Rogers,’ the series that first spurred the imagination of a young George Lucas, who later said he was inspired by this franchise to create ‘Star Wars,’ is making a big-screen comeback, at least according to Deadline and the folks over at Angryfilms, who are developing an origin story that will be made into a movie for the character.

Buck Rogers, whose original name in ‘Armageddon 2419 AD’ was Anthony Rogers, was a man trapped in suspended animation after investigating a gas leak at a coal mine in Pennsylvania. Much like Fry in ‘Futurama,’ he wakes up in the future, only for Buck it has been 500 years, and discovers how much the world has changed while he has been asleep. The Russians and Mongolians have conquered the United States using technology far more advanced than the Americans. Yet in secret, US forces are building their own technological weapons with the hope of using these tools to defeat their oppressors.

The story (originally a novella) was first published in ‘Amazing Stories’ magazine in 1927 and was written by Philip Francis Nowlan. Since then, it has been adapted into a newspaper comic, a film serial, radio show, and finally a television series on NBC. The TV series, which took some liberties with the story, had Buck Rogers as an astronaut who was sent deep into space and put in suspended animation by his life-support system, awakening on his return to earth 500 years later. The show starred Gil Gerard, and ran from 1979 to 1981 on NBC. Check out the intro to ‘Buck Rogers in the 25th Century’ below!

What are your thoughts on AngryFilms reviving the franchise with an origin story? Is this just more Hollywood desperately trying to find any franchise to reboot or put out a sequel/prequel? Or do you think its time to get a Buck Rogers movie with modern day visual effects? Let us know your thoughts below!