Which gay TV icon is making a comeback?
LGBT icon Xena: The Warrior Princess may soon be battling her way back onto television screens – fifteen years after the last episode of the show aired.
Reports claim NBC is planning to reboot the classic fantasy epic Xena: Warrior Princess – two decades after the show began.
Xena originally debuted in 1995, as a spin-off to the equally mythological TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
However, during its six-season run, the show’s popularity excelled – largely due to Xena’s on/off lesbian relationship with her companion Gabrielle, with the pair now regarded as feminist and LGBT icons.
Original executive producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert are apparently planning a “modern reboot” – however, the pair still want the show’s main star, Lucy Lawless, heavily involved – with insiders saying she will be working both on set and behind the scenes, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The actress recently discussed the show at this year’s Comic-Con, where she shared her frustration that a reboot has not yet been made.
“I don’t know what the hold-up is; it’s about who has got the rights,” she said.
“But that’s a piss-poor excuse any more. Find who has got the rights, freakin’ pay it.
It’s better to have 80 percent of something than 100 percent of nothing. Don’t waste this opportunity; reinvigorate that franchise!” she added.
“They’re fools not to bring it back. It’s funny, it’s sexy, it’s action.”
However, if the actress is to be believed, fans should not get their hopes up just yet.
Lawless warned her fans that the show’s future is still uncertain, tweeting that the show is “still in the wishful thinking stage.”
The news follows a report by TV watchdog Ofcom earlier this month, which claimed broadcasters are failing to make minorities feel represented on screen.
The report revealed that a majority of the LGBT community feel that they are either under-represented on television or portrayed in a negative way.
