Openly gay Xena: Warrior Princess reboot cancelled at NBC

August 22nd 2017, 3:18pm

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

While you might not have heard about a XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS reboot in the making, I'm sure you're not surprised to find out there was one. Was being the operative word. It seems NBC is no longer going to produce the show.

The cancelled reboot was supposed to be a total overhaul – new actress, new tone, etc. In fact, the writer of the XENA reboot – Javier Grillo-Marxuach – said this interesting tidbit when he was asked what would be new about this incarnation of the Warrior Princess, "There is no reason to bring back Xena if it is not there for the purpose of fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication in the 1990s". Meaning, that in the proposed reboot Xena would be openly gay, rather than have it all be subtextual.

In fact, Lucy Lawless – who portrayed Xena in the original 90s series – agreed with this interpretation, stating when Xena kissed her companion Gabrielle in the show's final episode, "it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was, 'Nope, they're married, man.'"

I'm actually kind of disappointed the reboot isn't happening, even if we're saturated with them at the moment. I just like the idea of Xena – a badass warrior trying to atone for past sins – made even better with a bigger budget and with less cheesy elements. Furthermore, having her be an openly lesbian hero would be pretty cool too, especially if it wasn't played for exploitation or titillation, but rather just a matter-of-fact aspect of her character.

However, producers are quick to say the project isn't completely dead – just this incarnation at NBC. Hopefully we'll get a good reboot sometime soon. If not, there's always the fun (if cheesy) series to rewatch!