Xena's Sexuality May Come to the Fore for Reboot in the Wake of The 100 Backlash
Javier Grillo-Marxauch is bringing Xena: Warrior Princess back to the small screen, and he hopes to pull the 'sub' from subtext regarding Xena's sexuality, intending to explore it in the wake of The 100 controversy.
The writer, who is credited with Lost and Charmed among others, stated in a recent blog post 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."
Many fans viewed Xena and her sidekick Gabrielle's relationship as deeper than platonic, and Lucy Lawless (Xena herself) even backed the relationship back in 2003. The writer's openness comes in the aftermath of episode 307 of The 100, which he wrote and featured the death of a fan-favourite in the aftermath of her sex-scene with another woman on the show.
Fans have been vocal about their dissatisfaction, viewing it as a trope of gay and lesbian TV characters killed off in unceremonious fashion.
The writer has noted that the character's death was a hero's death, though the message may not have been clear. He will not return for season 4 of the show, with his focus solely on running Xena and bringing the character back to TV.
