Back in July, rumours began circulating that NBC was developing a “modern reboot” of Xena: Warrior Princess, with the network subsequently confirming the news the following month, as well as bringing on Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost) as writer-producer in December. Now Grillo-Marxuach has now been speaking to io9 about the plans for the new series, why they’ve decided to recast, and how they plan to update the costumes in this post-Game of Thrones world.
“One big thing is that we are telling a much more serialized story than the show ever tackled,” states Grillo-Marxuach. “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.”
“Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor are not going to be Xena and Gabrielle,” Grillo-Marxuach continues. “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 William Shatner as Kirk, Sean 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.”
As for the costumes, Grillo-Marxuach added that: “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.”
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Originally published February 28, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
