Jennifer Garner Confirms an ‘ALIAS’ Reboot is in the Works
We may actually get a TV reboot worth watching: Jennifer Garner’s return to the J.J. Abrams sci-fi/spy thriller ALIAS.
ALIAS aired for five seasons on ABC, beginning in 2001, and made stars out of Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan, and some guy named Bradley Cooper. The critically-acclaimed show even managed to attract stars like Quentin Tarantino, Roger Moore, Rutger Hauer, Ricky Gervais, Christian Slater and Ethan Hawke.
In its fifth season, however, a storyline sidetracked by Jennifer Garner’s pregnancy and declining ratings led to the show’s cancellation.
Now, with the reboot craze hitting TV, it seems the “spy-fi” show is getting a second look.
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Garner about her new HBO show “Camping,” and “ALIAS” came up. Surprisingly, she dropped the reboot bombshell, which hadn’t even been hinted at before now.
“I’ve heard that there’s an Alias reboot happening, but no one’s talked to me about it,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I mean it would be totally different. But if they didn’t have me on as a guest, I would be very, very angry. But I can’t imagine it being that serious yet because I haven’t heard anything about it at all.”
The comment marks a change from her past remarks, in which she said that she feels like a revival of the spy series is up to creator J.J. Abrams, and comes as Garner will soon be back on TV.
The actress has mostly focused on film since Alias ended its five-season run in 2006, but she tells THR that didn’t see the switch in format as a big change for her.
A reboot could mean several things: ideally, it would be a continuation with Garner in the lead, minus the actors whose characters perished in the finale. That would be a bit of a damper, as those characters (if you haven’t seen it, we won’t spoil it) were key elements to the show’s success.
Second, we could see a continuation with mostly new characters, with Garner and the rest of the original cast in supporting or cameo roles. This seems to be what Garner is referring to, as she mentions being a “guest.”
Third, we could see an entirely new cast and premise, with only the name to connect the two.
In 2010, Abrams tried to do another spy show focused on personal relationships: “Undercovers.” It starred Gugu Mbatha-Raw and focused on former CIA spies who were now married. Though it had a definite “ALIAS” vibe, it only lasted one season. That would imply any ALIAS reboot would have to include the original characters to have any chance of success.
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