Xena Reboot—How possible do you all think that could ever be? What percentage chance would you assign?
Posted by TrynaBeMeToday@reddit | xena | View on Reddit | 28 comments
FirstFriendship6883@reddit
It would be awesome, especially if the music and overall tone of the original was intact.
Constant_Ad_6379@reddit
I mean I doubt the original cast would come back. Maybe a cameo. Xena is dead. It would be a complete reboot. Which might be alright. But as someone said it probably won't be funny and end up being serious.
Cesarsghost123@reddit
Tapert could use the MaNdalorean as a model. In when fates collide, Xena is wearing a Roman helmet.
Why not use stunt doubles for all the physical stuff like Disney does for the mandelorian?
Xena did get beheaded in fin so the reasoning could be that she needs neck and head protection once she is brought back to life.
That way Lucy doesn't have to do the physical stuff. That is why God invented CGI.
This way they could continue the story from when fin ended.
Left_Repeat_6172@reddit
Personally, I just want audiobook dramas. Simple, cheap, get to keep Renee and Lucy (if they want), explore bringing Xena back, as well as lost scroll adventures, and you can still call it a reboot.
bertilac-attack@reddit
Okay, I hear you, but may I counter with: an animated show could ALSO feature Lucy and Renee. It could be set any time after AFIN, even just a few weeks. This would give us the ability to keep the action, keep the music, keep the visual flare. Hire an artist like Kris Anka to do the character designs, and we could have something viable for 3-6 seasons of quality 30-45 minute episodes.
The biggest issue is there aren’t really any independent animation houses who would pick up a license like that. Most likely it would have to go through a major streamer like Amazon, Apple, or Netflix, and frankly I’m not really in love with the visual quality of their in-house animated stuff. I’m sure Netflix has come a long way since Voltron, but I just think Xena deserves something more rich and beautiful.
bertilac-attack@reddit
He JUST dropped this WW cover for May!
Left_Repeat_6172@reddit
An animated show is my backup wish, lol. I would love to see xena back on screen with our familiar voice talents, but we've seen so many shows, especially queer based shows, get very short runs in the animated world.
bertilac-attack@reddit
Tone is key. I could see a world where it bombs and fades away, or a world where it blows up (in the good way) and completely revitalizes the franchise. I could see a sort of mainstream rediscovery and embracing of the show’s legacy that would potentially be a very good investment for a prospective producer.
Ultimately, the American entertainment industry is a disaster zone right now, and every project is a huge risk. It would take a LOT of things to really set my mind at ease regarding a project like this - I would need Lucy and Renee both back, classic series writers involved, some sense that a producer cared about the show, etc. But I think it could happen.
Schwarzenegger played The Terminator into his 70’s. Lucy Lawless is only 56. That’s Cate Blanchett / Renee Zellweger / Catharine Zeta Jones / Gina Torres years old. She’s got PLENTY of fight left in her.
Chloe Zhao just talked Sarah Michelle Gellar into coming back to Buffy. It only takes one creative to get the ball rolling.
Latte-Catte@reddit
Exactly. The Javier Grillo-Marxuach script was given quite a lot of support when it came out; in contrary to the xenites reaction here on reddit, the twitter crowd were hella excited and even campaign for the reboot to happen. It was when Tapert pull out from the project did NBC quit on Javier's reboot. They were betting on Tapert; meaning, if we could get Tapert to support it again we can definitely see a reboot happening in the next 10 years.
bertilac-attack@reddit
I feel like our golden window was 2016-2019 when Netflix was throwing everything at the wall to find, one, the next Stranger Things (they’re still looking!), and two, a piece of Intellectual Property that could give them access to an active and lucrative fanbase, something comparable to the GoT crowd.
They spent a LOT of money on license-heavy streamer shows like Jupiter’s Legacy, just trying to develop a property to compete with the other studios’ I.P. money IV’s.
Nowadays they’re more keen to invest in “Visual Muzak,” which means they’re doing fewer scripted shows, lots of reality tv, and lots of cut corners.
So I think our real salvation nowadays would be a streamer like Apple or - god forbid - Amazon. The difference is they’ve got huge reserves of cash from their other businesses that subsidize their film/television productions, so they’re not cutting back on production costs as aggressively as Netflix and Disney, (who is still struggling to keep the parks afloat post-Covid, especially because The MCU has gone from a $5Billion a year industry to seemingly a black hole of money on its fifth or sixth failure, and counting.)
This all means that companies like Apple and Amazon can afford to pay the license and full production without worrying about NEEDING to quickly recoup millions of dollars / hundreds of millions of viewing hours. Companies like Disney are still used to / dependent on the Box Office injection of $1.5Billion three to six times a year depending on how many tentpole movies come out.
Like I say, SMG just signed back on to Buffy. All it takes is one motivated creative with a story, and for Lucy and Renee to say yes. Stranger things have happened.
Latte-Catte@reddit
20% seeing how fast the fandom is growing here and on twitter, I'm confident our generation will vouch for an action woman x woman romance show; every single queer show gets canceled eventually, and imo it's because romance work best as a subplot, not mainplot. Look at yellowjackets, still exciting 2 years later. Meanwhile a similar show like the wilds (amazon prime show) got axed for not gaining viewership. And Agatha for not enough viewership. Meanwhile Xena in the 90s remain mainstream even after Hercules finish airing. So clearly, Xena has all the correct recipe for the perfect wlw action hero queer lead show. NBC should just get on with it, I'm sure with Lucy Lawless, Robert Tapert, and the Raimi's name attached to it, it'll garner quite a crowd.
We aren't confident now because we havent heard about a potential reboot the last 20 years, but if it falls onto the right hand I'm sure it'll be exciting. Within the next 10 years, I'd give Xena reboot a 50% chance of happening.
Natural_Range_5498@reddit
What is a reboot, exactly?
If it's with the originsl cast, it probably won't happen.
If it's with a new cast, it will happen eventually.
danmargo@reddit
I would love it but it would need to be a sequel. Maybe Xena and gabby retire in the first episode and new heroes start their journey.
jpowell180@reddit
An actual reboot as in a “reimagining“?
No, thanks.
If you mean, a revisitation, maybe, you’d have to resurrect Xena from the dead, of course, but it might be interesting for a short season if you did it right.
Basic-Ad-79@reddit
So I think a revisit of the character could be really cool. As the series canonically relies heavily on the idea of soulmates, the characters could return at any time. Xena’s soul awakening in a new form, they could even do a modern day take where X is an assassin turned bounty hunter of criminals. Of course her soul is reunited with Gab and others (Joxer and Alti are clearly connected to them). It could be a really cool new show but embrace some of the balance of darkness and camp of the original, build on the soulmates lore, and LL and ROC could have cameos or small roles in some sort of weird past-life soul communication thing.
jpowell180@reddit
That would be cool, however, I definitely would prefer to have Lucy, René, and Ted in there playing the characters; I’m not so sure about Alti as she was not really on the show for very long, but I would not mind seeing Hudson back as Callisto, that would be cool.
bubba1834@reddit
My first thought lol
renakou@reddit
If we can't get a show reboot, I just want an open world Xena RPG pls.
_bennyluxe_@reddit
I think the Buffy reboot will help. There's a good chance we could get this in the next few years.
EVILisinALL8778@reddit
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Away-Living5278@reddit
Anymore, most everything that gets greenlit is a redo. So I think it's quite likely. Just without any of the original cast. And it'll probably be some dark show like Game of Thrones.
IseQween@reddit
Sorry, but I can't imagine anything approximating the unique human qualities of XWP that appealed to me, especially Lucy's charisma and her chemistry with Renee.
EnvironmentalWalk328@reddit
I like it more authentic representation of ancient Greece
godsibi@reddit
Considering there's a Red Sonja reboot coming this year and an Odyssey epic by C Nolan next year, a Xena reboot seems more likely than what it was a couple of years ago. I'd say around 50%. Do I actually want it? Not really. I don't find any reason to reboot this. It's not broken or something.
That said, I'd love an animated show or/and a story driven action game featuring Lawless, O'Connor and the rest of the cast. Maybe even the same writers too!
Agent8699@reddit
At the moment, I’d put a Xena reboot at around … 15% likelihood of ever happening.
If “sword and sandals” or “swords and sorcery” takes off in a major way on TV or in movies (eg The Odyssey movie by Nolan, which had better include Ulysses’ romance with Xena), then that could increase the likelihood.
A Xena revival (as opposed to reboot), I’d put at around 5% likelihood of happening. But, IF the Buffy revival is made AND it’s a major success, then that could increase the likelihood.
TrynaBeMeToday@reddit (OP)
Logical take!
Automatic-Adeptness4@reddit
0%
sorry but the time has LONG passed. The only way is with NEW viewers showing an interest, like ALOT of them. And even then it wont be with Lucy.
Personally, Id be happy with a cartoon movie.
flynnigan14@reddit
I have an idea how they could possibly bring back Lucy and Renee into a live action but with Lucy not loving the physical aspect, it would have to be through animation if it were ever to work. I wouldn't want a reboot without our OG Xena and Gabrielle.