UPDATED:

Lucy Lawless says that the story is just a rumor and has no basis:

Sorry, friends! news of a #Xena reboot is just a rumor. I’d love it to happen one day but it’s still in the wishful thinking stage. — Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) July 20, 2015

Maybe all the excitement this caused will build some momentum for it to become reality.

Having killed two of my favorite shows, Constantine and Hannibal, this season, could it be that NBC is trying to find a way to make it up to me by bringing back my favorite Warrior Princess, Xena?

According to the Hollywood Reporter NBC has decided that they are looking into just that possibility with an eye toward premiering the show in 2016. Original producers, Rob “Mr. Lucy Lawless” Tapert and Sam Raimi would be at the helm. It’s unclear at the moment as to whether or not Lucy would reprise the titular role but the actress has made it quite clear, even as recently as last week at SDCC, that she wants to.

Could there be a Xena without Lawless? The reboot may be just that, casting a younger actress in the title role and updating her story:

Sources say the new Xena would have to have the charisma and charm of Lawless and the smarts of The Hunger Games’ Katniss as producers are said to be looking for a sophisticated and smart superhero for a new generation.

I just don’t know that it would have the same warrior’s heart without Lawless. She took Xena from her brutal beginnings in Hercules (forget Cersei’s walk of shame, Xena walked the gauntlet and retained her dignity throughout), to learning about love with Gabrielle in a deeper and more meaningful relationship than any show at the time. We watched a character mostly created for camp evolve and we felt stronger because of it. Xena made me proud to be a woman because she was hard and soft and brilliant and naive and all the many things a human is without regard to her gender. No other show had really plumbed the same depths of womanhood.

On the other hand Lawless often shows up in her husband’s productions, and the report also mentions that she may play a part behind the scenes of the new show, if not on screen or perhaps in addition to if we’re really lucky.

I’d love to see Lucy return as Xena the mentor. Maybe there’s a young demigoddess with a chip on her shoulder who needs a guide. That would be reason enough to have some divine intervention and bring Xena back from the Elysian Fields. I know I’d watch that show.

What about you? Would you watch a Xena without Lucy Lawless? Leave your thoughts in the comments.