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Last year we reported that NBC was planning to reboot Xena: Warrior Princess, and they hired former Lost writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach to write and executive produce the series.
There haven’t really been any details about the project, but in a recent interview with io9, Grillo-Marxuach opened up about what we can expect to see. He revealed that the new TV reboot will reexamine parts of the mythos, characters, and world of Xena, and change things up to fit a serialized storyline.
When Grillo-Marxuach was asked what he was looking forward to playing around with in the new series most, he replied:
“I’m really looking forward to remixing the canon a little bit. One big thing is that we are telling a much more serialized story than the show ever tackled—so formally we are already treading some very different ground—and while the characters will occupy roughly the same thematic spaces they did in the original, some of their backstories will be changed, and some of their morality will be tweaked so that we can tell a long-arcing story in which every episode leads directly into the next. It’s a delicate balancing act: You want to please the fans of the old and attract a new audience, who maybe only know the name of the show, with a story that will draw them in, regardless of their frame of reference—and one of the things I really insisted on in my pitch was telling an epic story that would be bingeable—but still feature several of the legacy characters in a way that makes sense to the totality of the story. So in answer to your question, that’s the one thing I REALLY wanted to mess with.”
I imagine some of the fans of Xena might take issue with tinkering around with some of these legacy characters and changing things up. I’m more curious about what they will change up than anything. For those of you who might have problems with them messing around with some things, Grillo-Marxuach had some things to say to calm your nerves:
“Still, it’s interesting because the communications I get from the fans make it sound like we are going to throw everything out and make it into the Jem and the Holograms version of Xena. People have been asking me if it’s going to be set in the modern day (if that were the case, I wouldn’t have signed on or come near the thing) and whether or not Xena is going to have a Chakram (to which I always reply “Of course she’s gonna have a Chakram, what am I, a monster?”). As you mentioned, a great deal of the appeal of the show lies in certain pulpy elements—like Gabrielle’s bare midriff, Xena’s leather miniskirt, Callisto’s amazing and gravity-defying... well, you get it—and it’s hard for me in the post-Brienne of Tarth era to reconcile with the idea that Xena and her friends can meet every challenge in such skimpy outfits. I think we are going to have some very lengthy discussions about how to bring those elements into the present day without missing the boat on what makes Xena exactly what she is; and how to have our cake and eat it too. There are a few things that are sacrosanct: the Chakram and the quarterstaff, of course, Gabrielle’s ambition to become a bard, and—most importantly—that Xena and Gabrielle be soul mates. Like I said, I’m not monster.”
I think one of the most important elements of the original series was the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle, and it sounds like that will stay intact. As for the characters in the series and if Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor will be back to reprise their roles, the answer is no, which kinda sucks, but here’s his explanation:
“The obvious answer is that Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor are not going to be Xena and Gabrielle. That already has a lot of people in an uproar. The question of reboot vs. revival is a very relevant now that The X-Files has been revived with the original cast, and so has Star Wars… and because the die hard fans want to see their beloved actors in the role. And look, I love these actors in these roles as much as I love Shatner as Kirk, Connery as Bond, and Lynda Carter as Diana Prince—so why does this need to be a reboot and not a continuation? The answer for me is that the reboot is not a repudiation of the classic show, but rather a compliment to it. I want for Xena to be a cultural icon for longer than my tenure in the entertainment industry, or that of anyone else involved with the project. If, in some far future, people assume that Xena is a character from the greek mythological pantheon alongside Hercules, and that’s why so many people have played her over so many years? That right there would be success.”
I get what he’s saying, but still, I’d much rather see a revival of the series with the original actors instead of a reboot. Hopefully the creative team will find a place for the actresses in the series even if they aren’t going to reprise their roles. I wonder who will end up in these two lead roles in the reboot. Do you have anyone else in mind that you'd want to see play Xena?
One thing is for sure, Grillo-Marxuach knows exactly what he wants to do with the series. It will be interesting to see how it turns out and what fans will think of it. Lawless previously talked about her thoughts on the reboot and her potential return, which you can read here.
