NBC announced in 2015 that the studio was preparing for a reboot of Xena: Warrior Princess—more than 20 years after the show first went to air.
Writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost) walked away from the project a few months ago citing “creative differences” and NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke has now confirmed that the new series is “dead”.
“We looked at some material; we decided at that point that it didn't warrant the reboot. I'd never say never on that one because it's such a beloved title, but the current incarnation of it is dead."
Grillo-Marxuach had intended to explore the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle—a romance that was only subtly alluded to in the original series.
"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," Grillo-Marxuach said in March 2016.
Universal Television was concerned at the time that Xena would be perceived as a lesbian show and didn’t allow Xena and Gabrielle to appear in the same frame of the opening titles—according to executive producer Rob Tapart.
Renee O'Connor—the actress who played Gabrielle— said they were "very aware that there was only so much we could do, because it was a show on network television.”
Lucy Lawless has previously said that the ‘kiss’ shared between Xena and Gabrielle in the series finale (framed as a mouth-to-mouth water transfer) confirmed the couple's relationship.
"It wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was, 'Nope, they're married, man.’”
