In the modern age of Hollywood, reboots are commonplace. From popular TV series to long-lost movies, the constant wave of reboots seems to be endless. Yet, the concept of the reboot actually goes back way further than audiences may realize.
In fact, reboots have always been apart of the film industry, so interwoven that they constantly appear and pop up as the years go by. From the ever-growing field of superhero flicks and a mish-mash of classics to reimagined horror icons and monsters coming and going, the number of reboots is seemingly inexhaustible, for good or ill.
Batman
The hero known as Batman has populated the world of film and TV dozens of times over the years. From TV series to long-spanning franchises, the hero has been rebooted and remade time and time again, ever since the Adam West era.
After West's time as the caped crusader came to a close, Micheal Keaton took over in the 1989 Batman and Batman Returns, before the dark time arrived with Kilmer and Clooney with Batman Forever and Batman And Robin. Thankfully, The Dark Knight revitalized the hero for a new era.
Spider-Man
The multiple Spider-Man series are reboots that audiences know pretty well, like with Superman. It all started with the classic Sam Raimi flicks that put Spidey on the map and the series could've continued with Tobey Maguire, but the missteps of the third movie caused the series to come to a halt.
What followed was the Amazing Spider-Man series with Andrew Garfield in the lead, which only lasted for two movies before Tom Holland took over and joined the MCU as the web-slinger, for what may be a sizable amount of pictures, assuming the upcoming third movie goes well.
James Bond
Since he graced the silver screen in Dr. No, Bond, James Bond, has been the superstar spy of Hollywood, with reboots coming and going in the form of changing the actor who plays the iconic spy.
It all began with the late, great Sean Connery, moving on to the somewhat smarmy yet likable Roger Moore, to the brief times of Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby, the redefining age of Pierce Bronson, and finally, to the modern days of Daniel Craig. Bond his films have been through many changes over the years.
Planet Of The Apes
After the first classic movie about apes taking over the world came out in 1968, Planet Of The Apes saw one sequel come out after another, and many fans of the franchise felt that each one degraded in quality. It all came to a head in 2001 when an unfortunate attempt to remake the franchise misfired.
For 10 years, the series remained dormant, until 2011, when the prequel Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes was released. What followed was a trilogy of films that increased in action, acting, and storytelling abilities, jumpstarting the series once again.
Terminator
The history of the sci-fi and tech-noir classic series, Terminator, is a confusing one for sure. Since it started in 1984 and subsequently elevated by what many felt was its superior sequel, the series has pumped out one sequel after another for a total of six with two reboots.
Terminator: Genisys was an attempt to jumpstart the franchise as a whole, but many fans of the franchise felt that it failed. Then, in 2019, the series tried again to do a soft reboot, ignoring all but the original and sequel films, making for a strange yet intriguing reboot.
Halloween
Like with Terminator, the horror classic Halloween has a very strange franchise track record. Since its origin in 1978, the series saw a number of sequels and reboots, starting with H20, which retconned most of the sequels and tried to wrap up the series before the Rob Zombie reboot in 2007.
With the poor performance of the Zombie films, the series went dormant for years before it was given new life with the 2018 soft reboot that will lead into two sequels before the series finally (maybe) ends.
Evil Dead
It's funny the kind of reboots that can come out of movies. When the now iconic Evil Dead series was rebooted in 2013, fans were skeptical about the need for a reboot. However, some forget that Evil Dead II was a reboot of its own.
Given the low-budget of the first movie, the sequel served as a sort of reboot, while adding a comedic element to the series. By making Ash Williams more of a bumbling comedic badass, the series was able to take off in a groovy fashion.
King Kong
As far back as audiences can remember, there has always been King Kong. The massive ape who tore through New York and into the minds of audiences has been around for a long time, since 1933, and has been reborn throughout the decades.
From the 1976 remake starring Jeff Bridges to a musical adaptation in 1998 and then Peter Jackson's masterpiece of a monster mash in 2006 and finally, the most recent Kong Skull Island in 2017, this King of Monsters has had many revivals.
Godzilla
King Kong isn't the only King of Monsters who's been through many rebirths, though. The green-scaled beast, Godzilla, the other King, has seen just as many remakes as the big monkey since his origins in 1954.
Beginning with the classic Japanese films, Godzilla turned towards the U.S. for the 1998 movie before getting the spark he needed with the 2014 remake. Add that to over 30 films of sequels and soft reboots and Godzilla could be considered greater than Kong, something the upcoming Godzilla Vs Kong will settle.
The Universal Monsters
Among all the franchises and reboots, there's one that stands out for a number of reasons. The Universal Monster universe, considered to be the first cinematic universe, has so many reboots and remakes it's almost ridiculous.
Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein, Wolfman, the Invisible Man, and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde have seen dozens of reboots over the years. From the humble beginnings in the '30s and the colorized 1950s to the late '90s and early 2000s, which switched the genre from action to horror, to, of course, the fallen Dark Universe, the Universal Monsters are the masters of reboots.