Xena reboot to fully explore lesbian relationship

It’s been confirmed that there won’t be any beating around the bush in the upcoming revival of the lesbian fan favourite fantasy show Xena: Warrior Princess.

Starring Lucy Lawless as Xena, the TV series, which ran for six seasons in the nineties, developed a strong LGBT following thanks to its lesbian subtext, which though obvious to many, was never made explicit.

Now, writer and producer Javier Grillo-Marxauch, who is behind a new version of the show, has addressed how Xena’s sexuality will be depicted on screen.

Writing on Tumblr, Grillo-Marxauch revealed that, “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.”

The original series hinted at an ongoing romance between Xena and the character Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) through hugging, glances and even a lingering romantic kiss in the final episode.

In 2003, Lawless told Lesbian News that Xena was “definitely” gay.

She explained: “Now 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.’”

The Xena reboot is currently in development at NBC Entertainment but a date for its release has not yet been set.