As if the prospect of a rebooted Xena: Warrior Princess TV series wasn’t exciting enough, writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach has just let slip that the much celebrated yet only ever insinuated lesbian relationship between the show’s main characters would come into the foreground in his version of the show.
The architect behind the cult hit The 100, Grillo-Marxuach made the comments in an Q&A session on Tumblr where he was clear that in his vision for the show Xena (Lucy Lawless) and her ward Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) would be lovers.
“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,” he said.
The show became a favourite among LGBTIQ audiences during its original run in the ’90s, the read between the lines lesbian relationship between Xena and Gabrielle played on hard by the writers. For Grillo-Marxuach however, the chance to reboot the show offers an amazing opportunity revisit that relationship and bring it out of the shadows.
Currently in the grips of a controversy surrounding the death of an LGBTIQ character on The 100, he wanted to make clear his intentions with rebooting the classic fantasy adventure series.
“I am a very different person with a very different world view than my employer on the 100 – and my work on the 100 was to use my skills to bring that vision to life. xena will be a very different show made for very different reasons,” he said.
“It will also express my view of the world – which is only further informed by what is happening right now – and is not too difficult to know what that is if you do some digging,” referring to the The 100 controversy.
While there is no word on whether the series will see Lawless and O’Connor reprise their roles, the fact we might to see Xena and Gabrielle on screen again and this time out of the closet is proof that times they are a changing. Let’s hope they’ve just changed enough to let these two great actresses revisit their iconic roles rather than recast them with younger faces.
In the meantime why don’t we revisit a time of ancient gods, warlocks and kings…
The hell, you say! #Xena https://t.co/C7jRMA3UZX
— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) March 14, 2016
