Merlin star Colin Morgan has provided a frank response to calls for a potential series revival. Produced by the BBC, the hit fantasy series centered on Morgan’s titular character, a younger version of the famous wizard from Arthurian legend. Forced to hide his magical abilities in a world where sorcery had been outlawed, the young Merlin discovered he was fated to guide the brash Prince Arthur toward his destiny as Camelot’s once and future king. Running for five seasons between 2008-12, the show’s passionate fanbase has long since called for a series reboot or revival.
Now, Morgan himself has weighed in on the chances of a Merlin revival series, speaking with RadioTimes.com about whether he would be interested in returning as the famous wizard. Suggesting that while he remains proud of the work he did on the series, he equated the possibility of returning for a revival with remounting a previous stage play where he had already “wrung the towel dry” and “rinsed what [he] could out of it.” Check out his comments below:
I think most actors are more about progression and moving forward and don’t often look back. Even on stage, sometimes plays I’ve done have wanted to remount and come back again, and I often found I don’t take up those opportunities because I’ve wrung the towel dry and I’ve rinsed what I could out of it.
That’s certainly what I’ve tried to do with every project, it’s like I invest every 110 per cent into it so hopefully by the end of it, I feel like I’ve done all I could. And certainly on projects like Merlin, I felt like yeah, we definitely did that together as a team and it’s certainly [something I] look back on and feel very proud of the work that I and everyone did.
Why Merlin Remains One Of The Best Arthurian Adaptations
From Disney’s 1963 animated classic The Sword In The Stone to Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Arthurian legend has long proven itself a ripe source of material for countless movies and television series. Over the years, studios have reworked, rewritten and reinvented the stories of Camelot and its legendary monarch into everything from musicals and comedies to family favorites and face paced action-adventures. Yet among all these various adaptations, the BBC’s Merlin still stands apart as one of the more popular and beloved takes on the well-known story.
Much like the Superman prequel series Smallville, Merlin introduced audiences to some of the world’s most famous characters before they became the men they were destined to be. Yet far more than a simple origin story, Merlin also sought to strengthen and redefine the bond that existed between its titular wizard and future king. Shifting away from portrayals that depicted Merlin as Arthur’s distant and all-knowing advisor, the show instead centered on their developing friendship, loyalty, and devotion. Mordred actor Alexander Vlahos even once described the show’s heartbreaking finale as a “platonic love story” between the two.
It was this emphasis on the relationships between the show’s core characters that provided Merlin with the kind of audience appeal that persists over a decade after its finale. While many viewers might be disheartened by Morgan’s comments, the actor is right in suggesting that there is nothing more to be gained by returning to the series. With the original finale seeing Arthur meet his fate at the hands of Mordred, and Merlin living on to await his return as the once and future king, the show provided a fitting ending without any need for amendment or further continuation.
Source: RadioTimes.com
