Summary
- Ben Browder half-jokingly confronted Gunn of stealing his show, but finds pride in influencing
Guardians of the Galaxy
. - Browder told Gunn about the similarities between
Farscape
and
Guardians of the Galaxy
at an event, leading to his cameo in
Guardians 2
. - Browder acknowledges the influence of past sci-fi works, including
Farscape
, on shaping the genre. The past will always be an influence.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or at least that’s how the saying goes. However, it still must be strange to look at another person’s art and see direct correlations between it and past work you’ve done. So it was for actor Ben Browder, famous for his role as John Crichton in the Syfy series Farscape, when he first saw James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
25 years ago, Farscape was one of the series that helped launch the then burgeoning Sci Fi Channel (now Syfy), and focused on the story of John Crichton (Browder), an American with a southern accent who finds himself on the other side of the universe. There, he is thrown together with a group of rebels and outlaws as they embark on an epic battle to save the galaxy. Throughout the series, this variety of alien lifeforms must work together to battle adversity, in the end forming a beloved found family. There was even a sentient plant who selflessly itself herself for this newfound family.
Sound familiar? While often reluctant to compare his film trilogy to any of the genre programming that came before it, Gunn has admitted wholeheartedly that Farscape had a great impact on the series he created. In posts both on X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram, Gunn has admitted that Farscape was one of his favorite series of all time, and it was one of the biggest influences on his development of the Guardians.
Being a genre fan himself, Browder made a point to see the first Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters when it was released. “When I went to see Guardians, I watched it and I went, ‘This is fantastic. That dude stole my show,'” Browder told MovieWeb in a recent interview. Browder then took the opportunity to confront Gunn about this when he ran into him at an event not long after.
“I was at the Saturn Awards in 2014, 15, somewhere in there, and I saw James Gunn. And I had seen
Guardians […]
So I introduce myself to James, he’s surrounded by his crew, and I walk up to James Gunn, and I go ‘James Gunn, it’s nice to meet you, love
Guardians
. My name is Ben Browder.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I know who you are,’ and I said, ‘I thought you did. Cause you stole my socks.’ And he went, ‘Yeah, I did.’ At least that’s what he told me.”
We don’t know if “stole my socks” is code for something. Browder did tell us, “That dude stole my show,” but when recounting his specific confrontation at the Saturn Awards a minute later, he clearly used the word “socks.” We’ll leave the interpretation up to you.
The encounter and Gunn’s admiration led him to request that Browder make a great cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. In the film, Browder plays the role of the Sovereign Admiral, seen alongside Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha.
Farscape Drew on the Science Fiction That Came Before It, Too
Farscape
- Release Date
- March 19, 1999
- Cast
- Ben Browder , Claudia Black , Virginia Hey , Anthony Simcoe , Gigi Edgley , Paul Goddard , Lani Tupu , Wayne Pygram , Jonathan Hardy , Tammy MacIntosh , Raelee Hill , Melissa Jaffer , David Franklin , Rebecca Riggs
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 4
- Writers
- Rockne S. O’Bannon , David Kemper , Justin Monjo , Richard Manning
Much as Browder might joke that Gunn “stole” from Farscape, he admits happiness to just be part of such a rich science fiction history.
“Every piece of work that we produce is built upon the work of someone else. We built upon
Star Trek
, and the original
Battlestar
, and
[2001: A Space Odyssey]
. We built on all of the Henson work over the years. On
Star Wars
. They all informed the work that we did, and if anybody — thank you, James Gunn — if anybody was informed by what we did on
Farscape
, then it’s just passing through the generations.”
He goes on to add, “I’m looking forward to Volume Two of Dune, and that’s a story which was written in the ’60s.” The major anticipation for Dune is a significant example of how far sci-fi has come.
Farscape made its debut nearly 25 years ago, on a channel that aimed to focus on a genre of storytelling that was maligned and ignored by much of society. In the years since, sci-fi has exploded in pop culture, making up some of the biggest box office films of the last quarter-century. From epic space operas like Dune to the comic book stories of the MCU, science fiction is no longer something that can be written off as too niche. Farscape and Guardians of the Galaxy mark two major milestones in the genre that worked to bring sci-fi to the masses.
Shout! Studios is preparing something special for the 25th anniversary of Farscape, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can watch it for free through Shout TV! below or purchase the glorious box set here.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
