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10 Sci-fi and Fantasy Remakes that Will Rock Your World


Remakes and reboots are big in the modern age. We’ve got the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, A Magic School Bus reboot and so on. There’s a lot of anime remakes too, some of which I discussed in my 5 Anime Reboots and Whether You Should Watch article. We all know that remakes can go horribly wrong. But sometimes they can be just plain awesome, breathing new life into old characters and updating a story for the modern era.

Note that when talking about remakes, I’m referring to a complete continuity reboot. Everything is started over from scratch. So this doesn’t include sequels or stuff set in the same universe as the original canon. Obviously the definition of reboot can be pretty vague when it comes to characters who exist in multiple forms of media like superheroes, but I’ll just call new series featuring those character reboots anyway, because I can.

With that said, let’s look at some of the best sci-fi and fantasy remakes out there. Which one is your favorite? Also feel free to mention any reboots you like that didn’t make the list!

  1. The Dark Knight Trilogy

    The Batman movie franchise that began with Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film came to an infamous end with the Batman and Robin movie. The camp and nonsense was just too much and the movie franchise was dead for almost a decade as a result. But then Christopher Nolan came along with his new trilogy of Batman films and to say they were successful and well-loved is an understatement. Nolan’s movies were complex and dark in a way that enchanted audiences and also included an all-star cast, some of which gave unforgettable performances, like Heath Ledger’s Joker and Michael Caine’s Alfred.

    These movies are speculated to have popularized the term “reboot” for film, since the creators had to stress many times in promotion that this was a fresh start rather than anything related to previous Batman movies.

  2. Voltron: Legendary Defender

    When I reviewed the feature film that headed off the new Voltron reboot, I noted that it was quite good but felt it had more potential than it was showing with its predictable start. I’m incredibly pleased to say that the rest of the season that followed the movie proved me right about the potential the show had and really lived up to it for the most part. It explored its characters and proved them to be more complex than they initially seemed and the show turned out to be an incredibly enjoyable experience.

    The show features excellent animation and character designs and also managed to do a lot of great character work and plot building in the scant 13 episodes it had. There were several great developing arcs running throughout the show- Shiro struggling with his PTSD, Pidge’s quest to find missing family, Allura grappling with the death of her father, Hunk’s interactions with aliens and growing realization of the importance of the mission- and in the finale, the villain hinted at having a lot more to him than he initially seemed to. A lot of my initial concerns, like characters seeming to fit in strict boxes and Allura being the only girl, were addressed too. The action was great too.

    In a lot of ways, I see Voltron as an example of what great reboots should do.  It respects the old story, but also updates it in a way so it still feels relevant to the modern audiences and it brings things to the table the original was lacking. The original Voltron was a Japanese anime that, like a lot of anime of the era, was given a dub that hid the series’ Japanese roots and presented everyone as white while also editing the plot heavily. The Voltron reboot pays homage to the original show but adds more diversity and makes the characters more distinct in personality as well.  What I really like is that it pays homage to the anime the original show was based on too, giving the leader character his original Japanese name- Takashi Shirogane (Shiro)- thus making him explicitly Japanese once more. This reboot also tells a pretty distinct story that’s not a retread of the original.

    I’m excited for more seasons!

  3. The Jem and the Holograms Comic

    The Jem and the Holograms comic is another example of what a great reboot could do. The original 80’s cartoon is beloved by many but also amazingly dated in a lot of ways. The new comic is clearly made by fans who adore the original, but they’re smart enough to put a modern spin on it and work out a lot of the kinks of the old show that current audiences might not find appealing.

    For instance, rather than all the girls looking super similar, they’re given distinctive body types and styles. Characters are explored with more depth than the cartoon was able to and annoying love triangles that involve the main character’s boyfriend being an unsympathetic cheater are done away with.

    The comic also does things the original wasn’t capable of but fans really wanted to see- there was a lot of lesbian subtext between two characters that attracted a lot of women-loving-women fans, but obviously the 80s cartoon couldn't make it explicit. The comic finally allows these characters to date and explores that relationship. This is what reboots should do- explore the things the original couldn’t because of constraints of the era and make a more inclusive, nuanced and complex story while still showing a lot of love for what made the original thing great. The Jem comic nails it. 

  4. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Show

    The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a 1992 film. It was basically a comedy about a girl killing vampires and received mixed reception. The end product of the film was very different from Joss Whedon’s original script and he was disappointed by the result. "I had written this scary film about an empowered woman, and they turned it into a broad comedy. It was crushing”. Five years later, when he got to write a TV show, he decided to start over from scratch and do a show based on his original script. This became the beloved TV series that still has a cult following to this day.

    The series was much darker, more complex and better critically received than the movie- Whedon’s concept was “high school as a horror movie” and the show used supernatural happenings as metaphors for the struggles of adolescence in an intriguing way. The main character, Buffy Summers, also became one of the iconic heroes of pop culture. She was funny, smart, deeply flawed and powerful in a way that appealed to many.

    This is definitely a case of the reboot outshining the original in fame and also doing the things the original story sadly wasn’t capable of. It’s a good thing that Whedon got the opportunity to start over and share his original vision.

  5. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

    It pretty much goes without saying that the modern My Little Pony reboot was incredibly successful. Sharp writing, distinct and well-drawn characters and an interesting setting that combined fantasy and slice-of-life in one pony package won the series legions of adoring fans among kids and adults alike. I never really got into it, but from what I saw it really is a good show for kids to be watching- good lessons, a sweet storyline, nice animation and more awesome female characters than little girls usually get to see in one show. It’s charming enough that it’s not surprising it caught on with adults.

  6. Battlestar Galactica (2003)

    The original Battlestar Galactica was a television series from 1978, focusing a rag-tag band of survivors from a devastating war traveling through space in search of Earth. The series was remade in 2003 to great success. The new Battlestar Galactica was darker, more modern and included more female characters along with other elements. Entertainment Weekly called the show “one of television's very best dramas […] because it so utterly transcends both its genre and its source material.”

  7. The DC Animated Universe

    While you could argue it’s more just another adaptation, when looking at the animated series that preceded it, the DC Animated Universe could be considered a reboot that disregards previous DC superhero cartoons like Superfriends to create an entirely take on the comic book source material. And to say it was successful was an understatement: Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated series, Justice League and Batman Beyond are still considered the be the pinnacle of great superhero cartoons to this day. They condensed the source material to create a streamlined universe that had lots of darker elements, character development and great action. 

  8. Marvel Cartoons

    Much like the DCAU, you could consider later Spider-Man cartoons a reboot of the hilariously low budget 1967 cartoon and also consider X-Men Evolution and so on to be a reboot of the original X-Men cartoon. Quite a few of these shows were very successful and bought fresh new ideas to the table.

  9. Archie Comics (2015)

    Archie comics sometimes do sci-fi/fantasy things like superheroes and time travel, so I say it counts for this list. Archie rebooted their line entirely last year and as a long time Archie fan, it’s great. With talented creators like Mark Waid and Fiona Staples, the new Archie has characters that feel more real than they previously did, with consistent backstories and histories and continuity. Riverdale finally feels contemporary, but without losing the sweet and simple charm of the original Archie comics. 

  10. Daredevil (and other Marvel Cinematic Universe properties)

    The 2003 Daredevil movie was pretty poorly received, but the new Netflix show is considered a complex and well-made delight.  The same can be said for many properties of the new Marvel cinematic universe- hardly anyone remembers the direct-to-video Captain America movie and it’s low-budget kitsch, but the current Captain America movies have captured the hearts of fans everywhere.

  11. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (1989)

    You might not know this, but the original Mystery Science Theater was aired at a low-budget local television station called KTMA. The show was in many ways similar to the one that would take Comedy Central by storm, but when that network picked it up, some changes were made. Comedy Central’s MST3K retooled its concept a bit and disregarded elements of the first season for a new start and that season is treated as the official first season in many respects, so I’d say it counts as a reboot. It became the beloved cult classic that mocks sci-fi films we know today. Another reboot is planned for the near future, and has been funded on Kickstarter.

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