Reboot (fiction) in the context of "World of Darkness"

Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams, and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. It is the 11th film in the Star Trek franchise, and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek television series portrayed by a new cast, as the first in the rebooted film series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard the USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan from their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The story takes place in an alternate reality that features both an alternate birth location for James T. Kirk and further alterations in history stemming from the time travel of both Nero and the original series Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate reality was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuity constraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements.

The idea for a prequel film which would follow the Star Trek characters during their time in Starfleet Academy was first discussed by series creator Gene Roddenberry in 1968. The concept resurfaced in the late 1980s, when it was postulated by Harve Bennett as a possible plotline for what would become Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but it was rejected in favor of other projects by Roddenberry. Following the critical and commercial failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, the franchise's executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen wrote an unproduced film titled Star Trek: The Beginning, which would take place after Enterprise. After the separation of Viacom and CBS Corporation in 2005, former Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman convinced CBS to allow Paramount to produce a new film in the franchise. Orci and Kurtzman were soon approached to write the film, and Abrams was approached to direct it. Kurtzman and Orci used inspiration from novels and graduate school dissertations, as well as the series itself. Principal photography occurred between November 2007 and March 2008, in locations around California and Utah. Abrams wanted to avoid using greenscreen, and preferred sets and locations instead. Heavy secrecy surrounded the film's production and was under the fake working title Corporate Headquarters. Industrial Light & Magic used digital ships for the film, as opposed to miniatures used in most of the previous films in the franchise. Production for the film concluded by the end of 2008.

X-Men is an American superhero film series based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment from 2000 to 2020.

Fox obtained the film rights to the team and other related characters in 1994 for $2.6 million. They first produced the X-Men film trilogy consisting of X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). After each film outgrossed its predecessor, further films were released, set in the same shared universe. These included three spin-off films centered around Wolverine (X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, The Wolverine in 2013, and Logan in 2017), two films centered around Deadpool (Deadpool in 2016 and Deadpool 2 in 2018), and the spin-off The New Mutants (2020). A prequel series to the original trilogy began with X-Men: First Class (2011), and was followed by X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), which also served as a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand and a soft reboot for the series as a whole; the prequel series continued with X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Phoenix (2019). In addition to the thirteen films, four of the films received a total of five additional cuts, and two television series – Legion (2017–2019) and The Gifted (2017–2019) – were released.

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the Kong family of apes. Donkey Kong games include the original arcade game trilogy by Nintendo R&D1; the Donkey Kong Country series by Rare and Retro Studios; and the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series by Nintendo Software Technology. Various studios have developed spin-offs in genres such as edutainment, puzzle, racing, and rhythm. The franchise also incorporates animation, printed media, theme parks, and merchandise.

Miyamoto designed the original 1981 Donkey Kong to repurpose unsold arcade cabinets following the failure of Radar Scope (1980). It was a major success and was followed by the sequels Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) and Donkey Kong 3 (1983). Nintendo placed the franchise on a hiatus as it shifted focus to the spin-off Mario franchise. Rare's 1994 reboot, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game Donkey Kong Country, reestablished Donkey Kong as a major Nintendo franchise. Rare developed Donkey Kong games for the SNES, Game Boy, and Nintendo 64 until it was acquired by Microsoft in 2002; subsequent games were developed by Nintendo, Retro Studios, Namco and Paon. After Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014), the franchise went on another hiatus, which ended with Donkey Kong Bananza (2025).

Adora, known by her alter ego She-Ra, is a superheroine in the Masters of the Universe franchise. She is introduced as the protagonist of the 1985 Filmation series She-Ra: Princess of Power, which reveals her to be the long lost twin sister of He-Man. She-Ra again appears in the 2018 reboot She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. A series of toys under her name was produced by Mattel in 1984. She has also appeared in a number of Masters of the Universe comic books, most notably in DC Comics' 2012–2018 MOTU comic series, a roughly 1,000 page single story arc, collected in the 2019 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Omnibus hardcover release. In these comics and in the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline, she also has an evil persona called Despara. As Despara, she makes an appearance at the end of Rob David and Kevin Smith's 2024 Netflix release Masters of the Universe: Revolution, the third installment of the 2021 Masters of the Universe animated series. She's also featured in multiple story books, mainly Golden Books and Ladybird books, and in some MOTU games.

Her first published appearance was in the 1984 minicomic "The Story of She-Ra", which, like the subsequent He-Man and She-Ra animated feature film, introduced her as He-Man's twin sister, Princess Adora, kidnapped by Hordak in her infancy. That minicomic, which features He-Man, the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, and Castle Grayskull itself, also features one of the first published appearances of both Hordak and Catra. The minicomic was shipped with the 1985 released original She-Ra action-figure/doll.

The Man of Steel is a 1986 comic book limited series featuring the DC Comics character Superman. Written and drawn by John Byrne, the series was presented in six issues which were inked by Dick Giordano. The series told the story of Superman's modern origin, which had been rebooted following the 1985–1986 series Crisis on Infinite Earths.

DC editors wanted to make changes to the character of Superman, including making him the sole survivor of his home planet Krypton, and Byrne's story was written to show these changes and to present Superman's origin. The series includes the embryonic Kal-El rocketing away from the destruction of Krypton and his birth upon landing in Kansas when he emerged from the artificial womb, Clark Kent as a teenager in Smallville learning that he was found in a crashed space ship, him being hired at the Daily Planet in Metropolis, the creation of his secret identity of Superman, his first meeting with fellow hero Batman, and how he finally learned of his birth parents and from where he came. The series also included the reintroduction of a number of supporting characters, including fellow reporter and love interest Lois Lane and archenemy Lex Luthor, who was re-branded from a mad scientist to a powerful businessman and a white-collar criminal.

Superman is a 2025 American superhero film based on the eponymous character from DC Comics. Written and directed by James Gunn, it is the first film in the DC Universe (DCU) and a reboot of the Superman film series. David Corenswet stars as Clark Kent / Superman, alongside Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, and Isabela Merced. In the film, Superman faces unintended consequences after he intervenes in an international conflict orchestrated by billionaire Lex Luthor (Hoult). Superman must win back public support with the help of his reporter and superhero colleagues. The film was produced by Gunn and Peter Safran of DC Studios.

Development on a sequel to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Man of Steel (2013) began by October 2014, with Henry Cavill set to return as Superman. Plans changed after the troubled production of Justice League (2017), and the Man of Steel sequel was no longer moving forward by May 2020. Gunn began work on a new Superman film around August 2022. In October, he became co-CEO of DC Studios with Safran, and they began work on a new DC Universe. Gunn was publicly revealed to be writing the film in December. The title Superman: Legacy was announced the next month; Gunn was confirmed to direct in March 2023; and Corenswet and Brosnahan (Lois Lane) were cast that June. The subtitle was dropped by the end of February 2024, when filming began in Svalbard, Norway. Production primarily took place at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, with location filming around Georgia and Ohio. Filming wrapped in July. The film's influences include the comic book All-Star Superman (2005–2008) by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely.

Man of Steel is a 2013 superhero film based on the DC character Superman. Directed by Zack Snyder and written by David S. Goyer, who developed the story with producer Christopher Nolan, it is the first film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), and a reboot of the Superman film series, depicting the character's origin story. The film stars Henry Cavill as Superman, alongside Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, and Russell Crowe. In the film, Clark Kent learns that he is a superpowered alien from the planet Krypton and assumes the role of mankind's protector as Superman, making the choice to face General Zod and stop him from destroying humanity.

Development began in 2008 when Warner Bros. took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters, and directors, opting to reboot the franchise. In 2009, a court ruling resulted in Jerry Siegel's family recapturing the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's copyright. The decision stated that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, but if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Shuster and Siegel estates would be able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film. Nolan pitched Goyer's idea after a story discussion on The Dark Knight Rises, and Snyder was hired as the film's director in October 2010. Principal photography began in August 2011 in West Chicago, Illinois, before moving to Vancouver and Plano, Illinois.

Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer, the film stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman in supporting roles. The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of Bruce Wayne from the death of his parents to his journey to become Batman and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul (Neeson) and the Scarecrow (Murphy) from plunging Gotham City into chaos.

After Batman & Robin (1997) was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office, Warner Bros. Pictures cancelled future Batman films, including Joel Schumacher's planned Batman Unchained. Between 1998 and 2003, several filmmakers collaborated with Warner Bros. in attempting to reboot the franchise. After the studio rejected a Batman origin story reboot Joss Whedon pitched in December 2002, Warner Bros. hired Nolan in January 2003 to direct a new film. Nolan and Goyer began development on the film in early 2003. Aiming for a darker, more realistic tone compared to the previous films, a primary goal for their vision was to engage the audience's emotional investment in both the Batman and Bruce Wayne identities of the lead character. The film, which was principally shot in the United Kingdom, Iceland and Chicago, relied heavily on traditional stunts and miniature effects, with computer-generated imagery being used in a minimal capacity compared to other action films. Comic book storylines such as The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween served as inspiration.

The Batman is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Matt Reeves from a screenplay he wrote with Peter Craig, it is a reboot of the Batman film franchise. Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne / Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The film sees Batman, in his second year fighting crime in Gotham City, uncover corruption with ties to his own family while pursuing the Riddler (Dano), a mysterious serial killer targeting the city's elite. Reeves and Dylan Clark produced the film for DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures.

A Batman film for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise was announced in October 2014, with Ben Affleck starring as the character. He signed on to also direct, produce, and co-write The Batman by 2016, but had reservations about the project and stepped down in January 2017. Reeves took over the following month and reworked the story, removing the DCEU connections to focus on a younger version of the character earlier in his vigilante career compared to Affleck's portrayal. Reeves worked on the script with Craig and Mattson Tomlin, and sought to explore Batman's detective aspects more than previous films, drawing inspiration from the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the New Hollywood era, and comics such as "Year One" (1987), The Long Halloween (1996–97), and Ego (2000).

Hideaki Anno (Japanese: 庵野 秀明, Hepburn: Anno Hideaki; born May 22, 1960) is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, actor, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Evangelion franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industry and Japanese popular culture. Anno's style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions.

Anno's other directorial works include Daicon Film's Return of Ultraman (1983), Gunbuster (1988), Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990), Kare Kano (1998), Love & Pop (1998), Shiki-Jitsu (2000), Cutie Honey (2004), Re: Cutie Honey (2004), Rebuild of Evangelion (2007–2021), and Shin Godzilla (2016), with the latter film marking the beginning of the Shin trilogy of tokusatsu franchise reboots, followed by Shin Ultraman (2022) and Shin Kamen Rider (2023). Several of Anno's anime have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award, including Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water in 1990, Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995 and 1996, and The End of Evangelion in 1997.