Sigourney Weaver reveals one version of the stalled Galaxy Quest sequel involved Benedict Cumberbatch playing a version of Alan Rickman's character

Sigourney Weaver has revealed that a version of the proposed Galaxy Quest sequel involved Benedict Cumberbatch replacing Alan Rickman as Alexander Dane.

"They were absolutely going to do it and they had a very funny story," Weaver said during an appearance at New York Comic Con (via People). There's been talk of a sequel to the cult movie since its release, but plans have struggled to leave the drawing board. They were further complicated, too, by Rickman's unexpected death from pancreatic cancer in 2016.

"I think it would've happened by now," Weaver, who played Gwen DeMarco, continued. "At a certain point, they talked about Benedict Cumberbatch playing a version of Alan [Rickman]'s part. It’s very hard to come back to it without Alan there."

Released in 1999, Galaxy Quest follows the cast of a fictional sci-fi show who get sucked into a real intergalactic conflict by aliens who think their series is a documentary. Weaver's character Gwen's Galaxy Quest alter ego was Lieutenant Tawny Madison, the ship's comms officer, while Rickman's Alexander was a Shakespearean actor who played science officer Dr. Lazarus.

The movie's cast included Tim Allen, Tony Shalhoub, and Sam Rockwell and the film was directed by Dean Palisot, who went to helm Bill & Ted Face the Music.

Next up for Weaver is Avatar 3, officially titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, in which she'll reprise her role as Kiri, Jake and Neytiri's adopted Na'vi daughter. That's not the end of her sci-fi franchise work, either – she's also set to star in new Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu as a New Republic colonel.

Avatar: Fire and Ash arrives in theaters on December 19. For more, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest upcoming movies.