After the successful airing of a pilot movie, Warner Bros. commissioned the series as part of the second year schedule of programs provided by its Prime Time Entertainment Network (PTEN).

Describing it as having "always been conceived as, fundamentally, a five year story, a novel for television", Straczynski wrote 92 of the 110 episodes and served as executive producer, along with Douglas Netter.

The ensemble cast portray alien ambassadorial staff and humans assigned to the five mile long Babylon 5 space station, a center for trade and diplomacy.

Described as "one of the most complex programs on television" the various story arcs drew upon the prophesies, religious zealotry, racial tensions, social pressures and political rivalries which existed within each of their cultures to create a contextual frame for the motivations and consequences of the protagonists' actions.

"[4] The original show spawned a multimedia franchise of spin-offs consisting of a miniseries, six television movies, a direct-to-video animated film, twenty-two novels, two tabletop games (an RPG and a wargame), and various other media such as technical books, comics, and trading cards.

In the Beginning depicts the events of the Earth-Minbari War, as revealed in the first few seasons, in chronological order, and in greater detail than the main series.

The horror-based story, which ties into the Shadow/Vorlon plotline, centers on the return of an ancient and overwhelming alien force which had once attempted to destroy life in the Milky Way.

A Call to Arms sets up the initial premise of the Crusade series, depicting the alien Drakh species releasing a nanovirus plague on Earth, which will destroy all life on the planet within five years, if it is not stopped.

The pilot's poor ratings contributed to the lessening of the network's interest in a series pick-up, as did the poor reception it received from fans and critics alike, particularly for its depiction of a virtual-reality weapon, but the final nail in its coffin was the dispute between Warner Bros. and Vivendi Universal (owners of the Sci-Fi Channel) over revenue-sharing for the potential weekly series.

In the Beginning, Thirdspace The River of Souls, A Call to Arms, The Legend of the Rangers, and The Lost Tales are sometimes marketed as Babylon 5: The Movies.

In May 2023, J. Michael Straczynski announced plans on his social media for a direct-to-video animated film, produced by Warner Bros.

Major plotlines included Babylon 5's embroilment in a millennial cyclic conflict between ancient races, inter-race wars and their aftermaths, and intra-race intrigue and upheaval.

The production team received help from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to ensure that the series depicted space science and futuristic technology accurately, according to current scientific theory.

The sex-and-violence request was later withdrawn, and TNT allocated more money to Crusade, giving the actors better uniforms and new sets mid-season.

At the time of the cancellation, only hints of major story arcs had yet come into play, though unproduced scripts were published online by Straczynski.

Production of the first anthology of two stories, named collectively Voices in the Dark, commenced in November 2006 with Straczynski writing, producing, and directing.

Citing his disappointment with the first release due to the low budget, Straczynski said he did not want to dilute Babylon 5's legacy with further sub-par stories.

[17] During San Diego Comic-Con in 2014, Straczynski announced that he would soon be sitting down to write a Babylon 5 feature film, which is envisioned as a reboot of the iconic sci-fi series.

[27] "The 11-th hour" web magazine was critical of the literary merits of Out of the Darkness but stated that its main strength lies in providing closure to all the unresolved plots lines of the Babylon 5 TV series.

The premise, characters, and plot have not been officially confirmed, but it has been reported that Straczynski originally planned to write a story that takes place before the Season Three two-parter "War Without End," featuring Sinclair and Sheridan, and involving Mars, Minbar, Babylon 5, and a conspiracy.

A special ashcan-sized comic book was included exclusively with Best Buy–sold DVD copies of Babylon 5: The Lost Tales, written by series creator J. Michael Straczynski.

Whilst written by Roger Clark, Allan Adams and Jim Morimore, it was in the style of the station manual, and is considered canon.

The basic idea is that each player need only buy his part of the game, representing in this case a specific political entity from the Babylon 5 universe.

In its original form, the game allowed for 2–4 players, with each one playing one of the ambassadors to the B5 council: Sinclair, Delenn, G'Kar, or Londo.

Players could represent the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, or could play alternative ambassadors, such as Bester for the Psi Corps or Lord Refa for the Centauri.

Christopher Franke composed and recorded new music for the game, and live action footage was filmed with the primary actors from the series.

The game is expected to feature many canon ship and station designs, work from the licensed materials, as well as numerous new art.