31 Years Later, This 6-Part Cult-Classic Fantasy Officially Deserves a Reboot

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XENA-WARRIOR PRINCESS, Hudson Leick, 1995-2001

Published Mar 13, 2026, 7:09 PM EDT

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The runaway success of the rebooted Scrubs has all but guaranteed that the age of the reboot is not ending anytime soon, and along with upcoming resurrections Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, Malcolm in the Middle and Baywatch, the target du jour is late 90s/early 2000s television. Now one can argue that some series should stay in the past – it's hard to believe thousands cried out for a reboot of Baywatch – while some are not only deserving of a reboot, but the timing for one couldn't be any better than it is today. And at the top of that list, 31 years after its debut, lies Lucy Lawless' fantasy cult classic, Xena: Warrior Princess.

Xena Journeyed from Villain to Hero Across 6 Seasons In 'Xena: Warrior Princess'

Xena first appeared in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' ninth episode, "The Warrior Princess," as a cruel, bloodthirsty, and manipulative villain out to kill Hercules. Two episodes later, Xena is forced to rely on Hercules for help after being betrayed, but when the two are set up to fight one another, Hercules refuses to kill her. That moment of grace leads to a dramatic change in heart, with Xena choosing to make amends for her misdeeds during the events of the Season 1 finale. The spin-off, Xena: Warrior Princess, debuted in 1995 with the pilot episode "Sins of the Past," which saw Xena returning to her home city to begin her journey to redemption. That episode would also introduce Renee O'Connor's Gabrielle — a maiden who would become her sidekick, and eventually her equal as a warrior — creating a relationship that became as much a defining trait of the show as its spectacular action sequences.

Xena was more than a gender-flipped Hercules, with a complexity afforded her by that three-episode arc in its parent series. She was haunted by the terrible things she did to good people in her past, fighting her inner demons while struggling to better herself. She was smarter, a problem-solver, master tactician, and strategist who could outwit even the gods by thwarting their plans before they knew it. Xena was more dangerous — skilled in hand-to-hand combat and psychological warfare — and deadly, with her favored weapon, the chakram. She was flawed, arrogant and distant at times, and living in a morally gray area where her violent and cruel past would come up in her efforts to do good. Xena was, in a word, real, and her journey from villain to hero captivated millions.

The Time is Perfect for a 'Xena: Warrior Princess' Reboot

Xena: Warrior Princess was cancelled in 2001, but has remained in the public consciousness ever since. The series and its titular hero inspired the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other series that featured a strong female protagonist as its lead. Its status as a cult classic is inarguable, and its not-so-subtle lesbian subtext saw it strongly embraced by the LGBTQ+ community. It led to an attempt in 2015 to reboot the show then, but those efforts collapsed in 2017.

So, why is Xena: Warrior Princess deserving of a reboot, and why is the time perfect now when the previous effort failed? The short answer to the former is simple. If airy fare like Baywatch, notoriously famed for its slo-mo shots of women in tight red swimsuits running across a beach, can get a reboot, then something like Xena: Warrior Princess, a series with smarts and a kick-ass female hero, should be considered. It also deserves a chance to come out from behind the camp elements it hid behind to exist in a genre strongly dominated by male protagonists.

When Xena: Warrior Princess debuted, strong females on television were a rarity, and while Lawless brought a complex, nuanced and strength to Xena, it was tampered to a degree to appeal to an audience that weren't ready to embrace it. It's truly a testament to the strength of the writing for the series, which balanced the need to move female protagonists forward with a palatable sensibility. Now, of course, the idea of a strong female protagonist is in a golden age, with characters like 9-1-1's Athena Grant or High Potential's Morgan Gillory finding widespread popularity.

Technology is also well past what the series was able to use in its first incarnation. CGI would enhance the action without having to turn to outdated and cheesy special effects, making an immediate impact on downplaying the original's camp elements. Additionally, LGBTQ+ representation on television has never been stronger, so the lesbian subtext of Xena: Warrior Princess can come move to the forefront. That's not something that could have happened with the 2015 reboot, when representation was still largely a novelty. As for the genre itself, had the 2015 reboot moved forward, it's reasonable to assume that it would have been seen as another attempt to jump on the success of Game of Thrones. Now, in a post-Game of Thrones world, the fantasy genre is still popular, allowing Xena: Warrior Princess to reemerge with its own legacy rather than trailing after the HBO hit series. Xena: Warrior Princess is a timeless series that deserves a reboot without any limitations.