Richard Hatch was a man possessed. Most people know him as Captain Apollo from the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series, but for a solid decade, he was something else: a rogue producer trying to will a dead franchise back to life. He didn't want a reboot. He didn't want a "reimagining." He wanted a continuation, and he put his own money—basically his life savings—into a four-minute trailer called Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming. It premiered at DragonCon in 1999 to a standing ovation that felt more like a religious revival than a sci-fi screening.
You've probably seen grainy versions of it on YouTube. It looks dated now, sure. But in 1999? It was a revolution.
What the Hell Was the Second Coming Anyway?
It wasn't a movie. It wasn't a pilot. It was a proof-of-concept meant to bully Universal Studios into greenlighting a revival of the original Glen A. Larson continuity. Hatch was tired of waiting for the phone to ring, so he hired professional CGI artists, recruited former castmates like John Colicos (Count Baltar) and Terry Carter (Colonel Tigh), and built sets in a warehouse.
The plot was gritty. It was set 20 years after the original series ended, completely ignoring the disaster that was Galactica 1980. In this version, the Fleet is still running. They are tired. The Cylon threat has evolved.
Hatch played a hardened, cynical Apollo who had seen too much war. The trailer features a massive space battle where Vipers are being shredded, and for the first time, we saw Cylons that didn't just walk like slow-moving chrome refrigerators. They were fast. They were terrifying.
Why Fans Went Absolutely Insane
You have to remember the context of the late nineties. Sci-fi was in a weird spot. Star Trek: Voyager was humming along, but the "Golden Age" of the original Battlestar felt like a forgotten relic. Universal was actively trying to figure out what to do with the IP, and rumors were swirling about a Todd McQueen or Bryan Singer project.
Then Hatch drops this.
It felt authentic. When John Colicos appeared on screen as Baltar, now aged and even more menacing, the nostalgia hit like a freight train. It wasn't just a tribute; it was a promise that the story we started in 1978 actually mattered.
The production value was staggering for a fan-funded project. Hatch reportedly spent upwards of $100,000 of his own cash. He used NewTek LightWave 3D for the effects, which was the same tech being used for Babylon 5 at the time. He wasn't playing around. He even had original series veterans like Jack Stauffer (Bozie) and Sarah Rush (Rigel) return.
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The Technical Leap and the Cylon Evolution
One of the most striking things about Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming was the "Cylon Overmaster." It was a giant, multi-limbed mechanical nightmare that made the old Centurions look like toys. Hatch understood that for the show to work in the 21st century, the stakes had to be higher.
The Vipers looked lived-in. The uniforms were weathered. It pre-dated the "used future" aesthetic that Ronald D. Moore eventually perfected in the 2003 reboot, but Hatch got there first.
Honestly, it’s kinda heartbreaking.
Hatch traveled from convention to convention with a 35mm print of this trailer. He was the ultimate hype man. He wrote a series of novels with authors like Christopher Golden and Alan Dean Foster to flesh out this specific "Second Coming" universe. He had a whole roadmap for how the Colonial Fleet finally finds Earth, but it wasn't the peaceful paradise they hoped for.
The Great Betrayal (Or Just Hollywood Business)
So, why didn't it happen?
While Hatch was touring the trailer and getting fans to sign petitions, Universal was looking for something "fresher." They eventually handed the keys to Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. When the 2003 miniseries was announced, the old-school fanbase—the "Colonials"—went into full-blown revolt. They felt Hatch had been stabbed in the back.
Hatch himself was initially very vocal about his disappointment. He felt the new show was too dark, too "in name only."
But here is where the story gets interesting.
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Instead of becoming a bitter hermit, Hatch eventually came around. Moore, in a brilliant move of diplomacy, offered Hatch a recurring role in the new series as Tom Zarek, a political prisoner turned revolutionary. Hatch accepted. He became one of the biggest champions of the reboot, bridging the gap between the two generations of fans.
The Lasting Legacy of the Trailer
Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming remains a "what if" masterpiece. It’s a testament to what one person can do with enough passion and a maxed-out credit card. It proved to the studio that there was still a massive, hungry audience for this brand. Without the buzz Hatch generated with his trailer, it’s debatable whether Universal would have even bothered with the 2003 reimagining.
He kept the fire burning when everyone else had forgotten the hearth.
The trailer exists now as a time capsule. You can see the roots of modern fan-film culture in it. Before everyone had a 4K camera in their pocket and a CGI suite on their laptop, Hatch was doing the impossible.
He didn't just want to be an actor; he wanted to be a guardian of the mythos.
How to Find and Watch It Today
Tracking down a high-quality version is surprisingly difficult because of rights issues. Since it uses Universal’s IP, it was never "officially" released on DVD or Blu-ray in any meaningful way.
Most fans find it through:
- Old Convention Bootlegs: If you find an old sci-fi DVD from 2002, it might be hidden in the extras.
- The "Hatch Files": Various fan sites have archived the trailer in low-resolution MP4 formats.
- YouTube Archives: Occasionally, someone uploads a cleaned-up version before the bots flag it.
It’s worth the hunt. Even with the dated CGI, the tone is spot on. You can feel the weight of the characters. You can feel the desperation of the fleet.
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Practical Steps for the BSG Completionist
If you really want to understand the vision Hatch had, watching the trailer is only step one.
First, go find the "Battlestar Galactica: Armageddon" novel. It’s the first book in the series Hatch wrote that directly follows the "Second Coming" continuity. It explains how the Cylons evolved and what happened to Adama.
Second, look for the "Great War" comic books published by Image Comics in the late nineties. They capture the same visual energy Hatch was pushing for.
Third, compare the "Second Coming" Cylon designs to the 2003 Centurions. You’ll see some very suspicious similarities in the "menacing" silhouettes.
Richard Hatch passed away in 2017. He never got to see his specific version of the show produced, but his impact is everywhere. He proved that Battlestar Galactica wasn't just a Star Wars clone—it was a story about human survival that deserved to be told over and over again, in any timeline.
The "Second Coming" wasn't a failure. It was the spark that restarted the engine.
If you’re diving into this world, start with the 1999 DragonCon footage. It’s the closest you’ll get to seeing the vision of a man who refused to let his ship be scrapped for parts. It’s raw, it’s ambitious, and it’s pure Battlestar.