'Xena' Reboot Leaves Subtext Behind: Lucy Lawless' 90's Warrior Princess Now Openly Gay?
Back in the 1990s, strong and independent heroine Xena: Warrior Princess was introduced to television, becoming a figure in LGBT culture, though her sexuality was never explicitly stated. Now, the executive producer of the planned reboot has revealed the new version will see Lucy Lawless' character as openly gay, as the show will explore her relationship with Renee O'Connor's Gabrielle.
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, an executive producer of the upcoming reboot who's worked on Lost and Charmed in the past, recently hosted a Q&A on Tumblr, where he was asked about his take on Xena, and whether his past work would greatly affect it.
"Xena will be a very different show made for very different reasons. 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 wrote. "It will also express my view of the world -- which is only further informed by what is happening right now -- and is not too difficult to know what that is if you do some digging."
According to Polygon, Grillo-Marxuach is currently facing some heavy controversy over his writing on The CW's post-apocalyptic drama The 100. During the ongoing third season, beloved and openly gay character Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) was killed off, shortly after finally setting the record straight with Clarke (Eliza Taylor), prompting a wave of outrage on the lesbian community.
The move to kill off an openly gay character has been heavily criticized because it's thought as partaking in the "bury your gays" trend on media, where same-sex couples are deprived of the same happy endings as straight ones are.
In fact, Grillo-Marxuach was responding to concerns that the controversy regarding this move could in fact damage his take on Xena, which has been viewed as an iconic character in the LGBT community since its original run.