'Cobra Kai to Gladiators and Hollywood – why we need to give the reboot boom a chance'

Cobra Kai is back with a bang on Netflix today (September 9, 2022), as the popular Karate Kid franchise continues its story of the fight for the valley.

It is just one of the franchises that have been rebooted for a new generation – ahead of recent announcements heralding the return of popular TV series including Gladiators, and the return of The Lord Of The Rings to our screens.

Yet while it might seem that everything is a “reboot” recently, I take a closer look at the so-called TV and film “reboot” boom, how it has always been here and why we should give more reboots a chance.

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Starting with the series I will most certainly be binge-watching this weekend – Cobra Kai.

In all honestly when Cobra Kai first launched on Netflix, I did not know what to expect.

Was it going to be as good? Is it just going to follow the same story as the original films?

The answer was – it was everything I could have hoped for it to be and more. It was phenomenal.

As a fan of the original Karate Kid films, it was more of a continuation than what I would consider a “reboot.”

Yes, all the original characters were there, but hearing the story of the original film from Johnny’s side was quite the eye-opener.

I instantly warmed to a character I had not been fond of in the film – a sentiment other Cobra Kai fans have shared with me too.

Cobra Kai was fresh, and funny and introduced a whole new generation to not only the original films, but my generation to an entirely new story too as the battle for valley commenced.

That is one of the joys of the reboot boom – bringing generations of fans together in a shared love of a TV show or film.

Further films and TV series have also followed suit, with Ghostbusters Afterlife and the Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi series all continuing a story, or in the latter’s case, filling in the history of a particular character or universe.

Yes, the term “reboot” is used often, but in my opinion, these recent productions have not felt like a “reboot” at all.

Of course, the term “reboot” can instead be applied to the recent announcements that TV icons Gladiators and Big Brother will soon be returning to our TV screens.

With no particular story to continue, these are of course traditional TV “reboots” – so why has there been such a boom in them recently?

One reason could be nostalgia.

It is no secret that if we see an article about a TV series or film we loved growing up, you cannot help but click on it.

TV shows like Gladiators remind you of a particular place in time, or time spent with family and friends, with the memories feeling like a warm blanket wrapped around you.

This is a sentiment shared by fans on social media, who took to Twitter to share their memories of watching the show and obvious approval for the reboot.

One fan tweeted: “Yes! Original Gladiators was must-watch TV on Saturdays when I was a kid with rolls from a Safeway bakery savoury wheel and bits for dinner.”

So it is no surprise then that TV producers must feel that they are on to a good thing if demand for a particular reboot is high among fans – and other producers and channels are sure to follow if the demand is there.

Another reason for the boom in TV and film reboots could also be the argument that there is a lack of “original programming.”

In the past few years we have seen huge brands such as Disney remake their popular animations as live-action films, such as The Lion King, Mulan and Beauty And The Beast, to name a few – but all to critical acclaim, with new songs and takes on the stories that audiences, including myself, have loved.

There have also been countless sequels to film favourites including Home Sweet Home Alone, The Matrix Resurrections, Mary Poppins Returns and The Halloween movies – but again, these can be considered continuations of the stories, rather than “reboots.”

So while some may argue that there is a lack of “original” programming, it can be considered that the stories and popular franchises are instead being reinvented for a new generation, with new and original ideas from their own creators.

As such, they will never be the same as what has come before.

There are also plenty of new TV shows that are constantly being brought to our screens every day too, including Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things, meaning there are still plenty of new shows and films out there, in addition to a lot of brilliant reboots and remakes.

We also need to remember that the sudden boom in reboots is not a new phenomenon, and has always existed throughout history.

TV has a long history of rebooting popular series, whether that is the critically acclaimed BBC drama Poldark or the new Prime Video Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power series.

Hollywood is the same – there was itself a Lord Of The Rings cartoon film in the seventies, years before Peter Jackson’s trilogy.

You only have to look at Hollywood’s love of remakes and reboots in the early noughties too, which saw the likes of The Italian Job, The Ladykillers and Freaky Friday head back to our screens, to see that reboot booms are not anything new.

Speaking about the reboot phenomenon to Cosmopolitan, Dr Matthew Jones, Film Studies lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester and a specialist in 20th-century British cinema and audiences, also echoed similar sentiments.

“Remake and reboot culture is not new.

“It’s often framed as something novel and unique to our postmodern times, but there is actually a rich tradition of remakes in Western film culture that runs back to the earliest days of cinema (arguably as far back as 1896).

“The interesting thing about remakes isn’t really that they exist or are significant in number, but rather that there are more of them at certain moments in history. And we’re certainly in one of those moments now.”

So whether you, like me, will be binging the next series of Cobra Kai, or eagerly awaiting the new Gladiators series, the reboot boom is here to stay.

Or to put it another way, reboots have always existed – so let’s enjoy them and see what awaits us. We may just be pleasantly surprised.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk