The last few months have been a bit of a roller coaster for fans of leather-clad warrior princesses (and really, who isn’t?). Back in July, word leaked that NBC was looking to reboot Xena: Warrior Princess, but Lucy Lawless shot the news down as mere rumor. A couple months later, talk of Xena’s return again bubbled up.
Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Xena: Warrior Princess is absolutely, definitely coming back. The new show will be produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, and led by head writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, a veteran of numerous sci-fi/fantasy TV shows such as Dark Skies, Charmed, Lost, Medium and Helix. Certainly sounds like Xena will be firmly in this guy’s wheelhouse.
Original chakram-chucker Lucy Lawless won’t be stepping back into the role of Xena, although NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt is leaving a door open for her involvement…
“We’d love to have Lucy be a part of it, if we felt that her presence didn’t overshadow the direction we take with it. I’m not sure how she could be part of it if she wasn’t playing Xena, so I don’t know if that’s a direction we’ll ever go.”
Considering Lucy Lawless is still looking as good as ever at age 47, her overshadowing the new Xena is a real concern. That said, NBC is going to have a lot of angry nerds on their hands if they don’t include the original Xena, so, for their sake, let’s hope the direction they take includes Lawless.
