The 90s have somehow become a graveyard we keep digging up. Every few months, another studio exhumes a logo, dusts it off, and insists that our childhood will be incomplete without a reboot, a legacy sequel, or a “reimagining” . The problem is a reboot will likely burn through 200 million dollars and still feel lifeless. Nostalgia, my friends, has become a business model where memory is nothing more than merchandise.
I am of the opinion that, not everything from the 90s deserves to come back. Some stories ended exactly where they should have, while others never knew what they were actually aiming for in the first place. I do agree though, that there are a few, not many, just a few, that still have something unfinished humming beneath the surface.
So then, the question is which franchises still matter… and which need to stay buried?
Deserves a Comeback
The X-Files
Not because of aliens. Because of the doubt that it has firmly implanted. At its best, The X-Files wasn’t about monsters of the week. It was about paranoia, mistrust, and the slow realisation that the institutions meant to protect you might be lying. In the 90s, that felt edgy. Today, it feels like the truth that gets swept under the carpet far too often.
But then again, a real comeback would need restraint. No bloated mythology or conspiracies upon conspiracies. Just two people trying to find truth in a world designed to blur it. A quieter, sharper X-Files that understands ambiguity instead of chasing spectacle.
And the irony of it all is that the world finally caught up to what the show was warning us about.
Batman (the animated universe, not the endless live-action resets)
Batman: The Animated Series treated its audience like thinking humans, not just kids that were looking for a distraction. It trusted us to handle grief and regret with a moral compromise. It understood that villains aren’t always born evil. Some are broken in specific, relatable ways.
So no, we definitely aren’t looking forward to another gritty reboot with a gravel-voiced billionaire. What we do want is, it’s philosophy. Animation that doesn’t talk down. Stories that sit with sadness instead of rushing a healing. We don’t need more Batman content. What we do need is more Batman-level care that trusted us with moral ambiguity and silence.
Jurassic Park (but only as a cautionary tale again)
The original wasn’t about dinosaurs. It was about the arrogance of the human species. About humans mistaking capability for wisdom. Every sequel after that seems to have forgotten that. A worthy comeback would take it back a notch. Maybe fewer dinosaurs with more consequences. Less spectacle, more silence, if you know what I mean. The terror of realising you shouldn’t have done this, and now it’s too late, makes a formidable stance.
If the franchise can just remember that it’s a warning, not a theme park ad, it can make a great story.
Should Stay Dead
Friends
Friends worked because it was a product of its moment. Pre-social media coupled with pre-algorithmic loneliness. A time when hanging out was a default and adulthood felt like a shared hallway rather than a competition. Reviving it would expose what we don’t want to admit. Those dynamics don’t exist in the same way as they did before. The jokes would seem outdated and the lack of diversity would feel loud. The fantasy of endless free time and giant apartments would feel cruel instead of comforting. As I always say, some things don’t age poorly. They age honestly.
Let it be what it was and leave it there.
Indiana Jones
Mystery, is what makes adventure thrilling. And the thrill quickly fades, when it is over explained. Indy was never built to survive past his own time. He belonged to an era of pulpy adventure and cliffhanger myths. A leather-jacketed daydream from a world that still believed there were blank spaces left on the map. Dragging him forward turns magic into obligation. When a character becomes a brand ambassador for their own past, you know the adventure is already over.
Let him ride into the sunset. Again. For real this time.
Space Jam
Now I wouldn’t describe this as a franchise. It was more of a moment really. It worked because it was weird, unrepeatable, and completely unbothered by coherence. Trying to recreate that in an era obsessed with IP synergy and cinematic universes misses the point entirely.
You can’t reverse-engineer lightning. Especially not with focus groups.
The Hard Truth About Comebacks
The franchises that deserve to return aren’t necessarily the loudest or the boldest. They are the ones that still have something unresolved that needs to be answered. Something that still warrants airtime. As for the ones that should not be resurrected? They already said everything they had to say, so what more could there possibly be. The problem I think is that, we’re just afraid to let them rest because letting go feels like admitting time passed and we’ve grown old.
Guys, not everything needs a sequel or an update or for that matter to be monetised. Sometimes the most respectful thing you can do for a story is close the door gently… and walk away.
