TV can always use more series led by badass female characters, so when it was (unofficially) announced that NBC was looking to get back into the Xena: Warrior Princess game with a new take on the fantasy adventure series, fans understandably went apeshit. But then actress Lucy Lawless publicly said that rumor was hogwash, and our hopes were dashed. But wait! It looks like she spoke a little too soon, and she now has a few more things to say about it, though none of them will get fans too excited, unfortunately.
Lawless cleared things up a little more at the TCA press event, and while she might not think that her initial denial of the project was in error, she did regret unleashing those thoughts after seeing how far-flung they went. THR is still saying that NBC has got a deal for a new Xena going, and if that’s true, it doesn’t sound like Lawless or executive producers Rob Tapert (her husband) or Sam Raimi are involved. Here’s how Lawless put it.
There was a conversation a year ago that Rob was involved in but that didn’t happen. If there’s anything current going on, we’re not involved. They could be doing it without us. They have the right to, don’t they? I’d love to see it happen, and I know that NBC wants to do it, but they’re just trying to find a way and a time.
Booooo on NBC if they attempt to do this thing without Tapert or Raimi. I mean, it would also be terrible if Lawless wasn’t involved, but that’s a little more understandable, since she wouldn’t be able to take on the title role at this point in her life. I’d easily watch her in any other role, though. (We’ve already shared who our choices for a new Xena would be.)
It’s great that Lawless is positive about a new version of the syndicated hit, even if she has no aim to be directly involved. She even offered up some advice for anyone who does attempt to bring it back to TV.
I actually couldn’t do it. I’m 47, but there’s someone great out there. People still want that core friendship and I think whenever they reboot it, they have to get two women who really like and respect each other…to carry that mantle. In whatever world you set it in, I think the friendship is what they’re underestimating.
So while we’ll (probably) never see Lucy Lawless donning sexually suggestive costumes and swinging a whip around, we can thankfully still look forward to her reteaming with Sam Raimi for the upcoming Starz series Ash vs Evil Dead, which will probably be the best series to debut this year. But now I’m thinking about Bruce Campbell as Xena, and I’m not unimpressed with that idea.
