Stargate SG-1 Actor Ben Browder Was Nearly Cast As Two Different Atlantis Characters

Actor Ben Browder is truly no stranger to starring in science-fiction shows. In fact, he was in high demand for those roles in the early-to-mid aughts. Browder was particularly perfect on the series "Farscape" as John Crichton, an American astronaut who ends up going through a wormhole and finds himself surrounded by the universe's most ragtag group of aliens misfits on a living ship called the Moya. On "Farscape," which was designed by its creators to be the "anti-'Star Trek,'" Browder was both brash and boyishly charming, a kind of silly-but-smart 20th century Captain Kirk, and the team behind the "Stargate" franchise knew he was ideal for their newest spin-off, "Stargate: Atlantis." There was just one little (big) problem: he was a little busy filming the "Farscape" follow-up miniseries "The Peacekeeper Wars."

The "Stargate" creative team was so anxious to get Browder on "Atlantis" that he was almost cast as two different characters. Of course, things didn't go that way, and he was eventually cast as Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell in "Stargate SG-1" season 9. There, Browder served as the new commanding officer of SG-1 after some cast shifting at the end of season 8. Let's take a look at the characters he almost played, and how things might have been different if he hadn't been tied down with other projects.

Browder was a welcome addition to the "Stargate SG-1" cast and helped fill the void left when Richard Dean Anderson stepped back from his role as Jack O'Neill, but it wouldn't have happened if he had gotten one of the earlier roles on "Stargate: Atlantis." While creating "Stargate: Atlantis," the first television spin-off of "Stargate SG-1," the show's creative team apparently envisioned Browder as Lieutenant Colonel Air Force pilot John Sheppard (who would ultimately be portrayed by Joe Flanigan). In a 2011 entry in his personal blog, "Stargate: Atlantis" executive producer and writer Joseph Mallozzi revealed the original plans for Browder as Sheppard:

"Ben would have made the perfect John Sheppard as originally envisioned in the 'Atlantis' pilot — a Southern cowboy with swagger. The fact that he was shooting the 'Farscape' miniseries took him out of the running."

It would have been a blast to see Browder playing a "Southern cowboy" version of John Sheppard, who is also a very Captain Kirk-like character in certain ways. Flanigan did a great job with the final version of the character, though, so everything worked out. Then, some time after that, Mallozzi and the "Atlantis" team tried to bring Browder onboard for a prominent arc as a very different character: Colonel Dillon Everett.

On his blog, Mallozzi went on to say that he wrote Colonel Dillon Everett in the "Siege" three-episode arc specifically for Browder, adding that "the character's arc would have been significantly different had Ben been available to take the role." Colonel Everett is a Marine Corps commander who takes over Atlantis briefly during the arc as the city-ship deals with an attack from the horrifying hive-based Wraith fleet. He's a much less likable character than Sheppard or Crichton, and it would have been interesting to see Browder play someone so much more antagonistic (although not a full-fledged villain).

Since scheduling didn't work out for that either, Browder was, at long last, finally brought on for "Stargate SG-1" near the end of its run to help round out the cast and inject a little fresh blood into the flagship series. He stayed with the show until its end, but didn't return for any other "Stargate" franchise entries. Since "SG-1," Browder has appeared in superhero projects like "Arrow" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and even had a great guest role in "Iké Boys," itself a cinematic love letter to anime. Things may not have worked out for Browder and "Stargate: Atlantis," but thankfully he's had lots of great roles across other genre movies and TV shows for us to enjoy.