The Xena: Warrior Princess franchise first expanded into comic books in 1997 with several series published by Topps Comics, including crossovers with their Hercules: The Legendary Journeys comics. Two years later, Dark Horse acquired the rights and published a fourteen-issue series. In 2006, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights, publishing Xena: Warrior Princess #1-4 (the "Contest of Pantheons" storyline) and a second series, subtitled Dark Xena. Also, two tongue-in-cheek crossover series materialized with Dynamite's long-running Army of Darkness series, as both Xena and AOD had roots at Renaissance Pictures and featured actor and cult film hero Bruce Campbell. In 2015, Dynamite reacquired the Xena license, publishing a new core series, an additional AOD crossover (subtitled Forever and a Day), and high-quality reprints of classic Xena comic books from the 1990s and early 2000s.
This would lead to the Xena series, which almost never got made. Xena was originally slated to die at the end of "Unchained Heart"; however, series co-creator Robert Tapert was convinced by Universal to give her a series. "The guys at Universal quickly said, You know what? You should rip yourself off before somebody else does and try and make a spin-off out of that character," Tapert told Entertainment Weekly as part of an oral history celebrating Xena's 15th anniversary. And so, Xena's road to redemption began, with the pilot episode "Sins of the Past" having her rescue a maiden named Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), who eventually became her sidekick.
After Xena's cancellation in 2001, rumors swirled about a potential reboot and/or film adaptation. Finally, in 2015 a reboot was commissioned by Universal, with Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) tapped to write and produce. Grillo-Marxuach said that he was looking forward to updating elements of the show, including Xena and Gabrielle's relationship. It would have even brought back Tapert and Sam Raimi as executive producers. However, in 2017 the project was shelved, as Grillo-Marxuch had left the project due to creative differences and Universal couldn't figure out a direction for the new series.
Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with five years' worth of experience under his belt. Starting out at But Why Tho? A Geek Community, his coverage has expanded to articles at /Film, Comic Book Resources, AIPT, and IGN. He's also a member of the Seattle Critics Film Society. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic book adapatations as well as animation. This stems from a close bond to his father, who introduced him to these worlds via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. He has a near-encyclopdic knowledge, as well as a bottomless love, for all things genre and has used it to craft a number of interesting articles.
Despite public statements from former star Lucy Lawless, NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the network is looking for a way to reboot the beloved series in which she starred as the warrior princess.
The highly anticipated action-packed online series "Angel of Death," starring Zoe Bell (Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof") and Lucy Lawless ("Xena: Warrior Princess," "Battlestar Galactica") is set to premiere as a special programming event on Monday, March 2, 2009 on Crackle.com, Sony Pictures Entertainment's online video network. The announcement was made today by Eric Berger, senior vice president, digital networks for Sony Pictures Television, at Crackle's Television Critic's Association (TCA) luncheon.
Crackle.com will air the first of 10 episodes of "Angel of Death" starting March 2nd. A new 8-10 minute long episode will be available each weekday through March 13th. Together with new footage, the series will be released in its entirety on DVD as a full length feature, after its online broadcast.
While developing the story about a cold-blooded killer growing a conscience, Brubaker's original idea for the series was a hitman afflicted with brain cancer, but then remembered watching a scene in an old PBS documentary series where a patient walked into the ER with a hunting knife stabbed right through his skull, and drew inspiration from that for Eve's head injury. ANGEL OF DEATH is Brubaker's first online series.
"Angel of Death" was created and written by famed Eisner Award-winning comic-book mastermind Ed Brubaker ("Captain America," "Criminal," "Daredevil") and directed by Paul Etheredge ("Buried Alive," "Hellbent"). The series is a White Rock Lake Production being produced by John Norris ("Buried Alive"), and is being distributed by Sony Pictures Television.
Crackle, Inc., a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company, is a multi-platform next-generation video entertainment network that distributes digital content including original short form series and full-length traditional programming from Sony Pictures' vast library of television series and feature films. Crackle is one of the fastest growing entertainment destinations on the Internet today, offering audiences quality programming in a variety of genres, including comedy, action, sci-fi, horror, music and reality. Crackle reaches a global audience through its impressive online and mobile distribution network. Visit Crackle's site at www.crackle.com.
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