‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ Reboot In The Cards — But Will Lucy Lawless Be In It?
For fans of the hit 90s television show Xena: Warrior Princess, news of a revival is exciting news. Recently, Lucy Lawless, who played the iconic warrior princess, was at San Diego Comic-Con promoting her latest television series Ash vs. Evil Dead, but as is usual when Lucy Lawless is in the public eye, talk soon turned to her famous role. Lawless seems keen for a reboot.
“They’ve got to bring that back. I’ve been pitching that show this weekend. There’s a swell of interest still and I’m always peppered with questions: ‘When’s the Xena movie coming out?’ I am pitching my a** off to make it happen, whether it’s with me or not. I think it would be funny to have a reboot: middle-aged Xena in a Muumuu with a bad attitude and a smoking habit.”
While die hard Xena fans may not agree with the middle-aged version Lucy Lawless was pushing, it seems someone is ready to jump on board with the reboot. According to an exclusive report from the Hollywood Reporter, a new version of Xena is in the cards. Sources have said NBC and NBC Universal International are looking to reprise the TV series that starred Lucy Lawless. However, it is unclear whether Lucy will be taking the helm as Xena again. The same sources revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that the rebooted version of the Xena character would “have to have the charisma and charm of Lawless and the smarts of The Hunger Games’ Katniss.”
Executive producers Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi are said to be on board with the new Xena series and are citing it as a “modern reboot.” Potentially, Xena: Warrior Princess could return to the small screen as early as in 2016. While it is unclear if the reboot will be on ongoing series or a standalone season, insiders have been reported as saying the hope is for an ongoing series.
The original series of Xena: Warrior Princess, starring Lucy Lawless, ran for six seasons from September 1995 to June 2001 and was a spin off from the original series, Hercules. Xena, however, quickly surpassed the success of Hercules. The character Lucy Lawless played was supposed to only be a three episode arc character, but the network quickly realized just how popular the character was, and the spin off series was born.
There’s just one problem with a Xena reboot. [SPOILER ALERT] In the original series, Xena lost her head in the very last episode. Although Lucy Lawless doesn’t see this as a great hurdle.
“So what? Technicality! No one really dies! Screw her head back on, it’s a bit wonky, and she’s got a really bad attitude since she’s been in a box for 20 years, so they’ve got to get Xena’s mojo back, and go and save the world somehow.”
Considering the current viewer support for strong female roles (for example, Brienne in Game of Thrones and the female clones in Orphan Black), now is the perfect time for a Xena reboot — with or without Lucy Lawless in the cast. What do you think, should Xena be revived? And would you like to see Lucy Lawless back at the helm? Let us know by commenting below!
[Image credit: Studios USA]
