History Main / ContinuityReboot

->'''Sheldon:''' Wait - the new Hulk movie is NOT a sequel??
->'''Arthur:''' Nope. They're admitting the first movie was tempestuous bat-guano, and starting again.
->'''Sheldon:''' So basically, they're calling cinematic do-overs.
->'''Arthur:''' 100 million dollar do-overs, yeah.

** Following the original four ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' movies directed by Creator/TimBurton and Creator/JoelSchumacher, the series was rebooted in 2005 with Christopher Nolan's ''Film/BatmanBegins'', the first installment of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. This movie retold Batman's origin story in a new, grounded, gritty and "realistic" style. It was possibly the first movie to really popularise the term "reboot", with the filmmakers stressing that it was ''not'' a [[{{Prequel}} prequel]] to Burton's 1989 movie.

** Then there's ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'', which has its own AlternateContinuity. Affleck's Batman has not been abandoned however, as he's set to appear in, at the very least, ''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}''.
* ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'' is a very clear continuity reboot of the ''Film/JamesBond'' series, showing Bond as a 00 agent on his first mission, and giving the movie a much more [[DarkerAndEdgier realistic and serious]] setting and style than those before it as well as more continuity, to the point of forming a MythArc with ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'', ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' and ''Film/NoTimeToDie''.
* ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'' (2008) was, at the time[[note]]it has since been beaten out by both ''The Punisher'' and ''Spider-Man''; see their entries below[[/note]], possibly the quickest a franchise has been rebooted. To give you an idea of how fast: 5 years and after a ''single'' [[Film/{{Hulk}} movie from the previous "continuity"]]. They had been trying to do it in a way that the first film could be counted or discounted as the audience saw fit, but Creator/EdwardNorton insisted on changing the details of the origin to make them incompatible.

** Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001''. The story was entirely unconnected to [[Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968 the 1968 film]] and its sequels & prequels, with only loose similarities between the two. Despite including a SequelHook at the end, [[StillbornFranchise it never spawned sequels of its own]].

* The 2006 version of ''[[Film/ThePinkPanther2006 The Pink Panther]]'' starring Creator/SteveMartin as Inspector Clouseau starts with a clean slate and only two characters held over from the original series (Clouseau and Dreyfus). Its 2009 sequel is simply titled ''Film/ThePinkPanther2'', avoiding the original series' IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' has had three films, none of which are connected to the others in any way. It also beats out ''[[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]]'' for turnaround time, four years to Hulk's five. This was largely because [[Film/ThePunisher2004 the second film]] was actually successful. ''Film/PunisherWarZone'' was intended as a direct sequel, and became a reboot only when Thomas Jane dropped out. The Punisher's subsequent appearance in the Netflix ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' series rebooted him a third time.

* The {{Creator/Netflix}} ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' series is set in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, and ignores the events of the [[Film/{{Daredevil}} live-action movie]] and its [[Film/{{Elektra}} spin-off]].

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' is one for the ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'' franchise, disregarding the continuity of the short films that came before it entirely in favor of starting over from the very beginning. According to creator Yoh Yoshinari, this was done to better flesh out the world and have it be easier to understand. The title of the first episode subtly alludes to the series being a reboot, as it's titled "Starting Over" (or "A New Beginning" in Japan).

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', the first ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' game published by Creator/WarnerBros, mixes this trope with AlternateContinuity: picking up right where ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'' left off, Raiden is about to be killed by Shao Kahn and thus invokes the TimeyWimeyBall by sending a telepathic message to his younger self, warning him of events to come. The game thus visits altered versions of the [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 first]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombat2 three]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 games]] as twisted by a Raiden with knowledge he wasn't supposed to have back then, attempting to prevent [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Armageddon]] from even happening.

* ''Film/TheKarateKid2010'', starring Jaden Smith as the titular kid and Creator/JackieChan as the old mentor. It borrows elements from the [[FirstInstallmentWins first film in the series]]. Interestingly enough, the original continuity would eventually be resumed with ''Series/CobraKai'' eight years later, leaving the reboot in an assumed AlternateContinuity (both are set in different countries, making a crossover pretty unlikely).

A close relative of the regular {{Retcon}} and CosmicRetcon and {{Retool}}. Overlaps with FixFic if the reboot's intent is to repair perceived problems with the original version. Compare also SoftReboot which skirts the line between reboot and sequel.

** The ''My Little Pony'' animated adaptations have been rebooted three times: once with ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'', again with the DirectToVideo [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3 movies of the 2000s]], and once again with the series ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' in 2010. A fourth reboot, to begin with a CGI animated film, will take place in 2021.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' has the ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016'' reboot. It is set in the 2010s, is somewhat LighterAndSofter, and features [[TheOtherDarrin new voices]] for the titular sisters.

* After the release of ''Smurfs: The Lost Village'', Sony Pictures lost to film rights to the franchise and was moved to Creator/{{Paramount}} and Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} where both studios are currently working on a new series of Smurf animated films set in that film's universe as [[WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs2021 the 2021 animated series.]]

* ''Unico: Awakening'' is an upcoming manga by Creator/{{Gurihiru}} and Samuel Sattin that is a re-imagining of the [[Manga/{{Unico}} original Unico manga series]] by Creator/OsamuTezuka. While taking cues from the original series (and [[Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico film]] [[Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic adaptations]]), ''Unico: Awakening'' will give major characters (such as the West Wind) and other characters more [[AscendedExtra fleshed out personalities and bigger roles]], alongside the manga getting [[AdaptationExpansion some newer stories]] and [[AdaptationalAlternateEnding a brand new ending]].

** After the release of ''Smurfs: The Lost Village'', Sony Pictures lost to film rights to the franchise and was moved to Creator/{{Paramount}} and Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} where both studios are currently working on a new series of Smurf animated films set in that film's universe as [[WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs2021 the 2021 animated series.]]

* After going through a very turbulent TroubledProduction driven in large part by CreativeDifferences and the writing team splitting up, ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' received a reboot in the form of ''Fanfic/{{SPECTRUM}}'', which serves as not only a continuity reboot of the universe but to also [[AuthorsSavingThrow fix the more controversial and problematic aspects of the original]].

* ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' rebooted the relatively unknown stealth game ''VideoGame/CastleWolfenstein''. The series was rebooted again with ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein''.

** Then there's ''Film/{{The Batman|2022}}'', which has its own AlternateContinuity. Affleck's Batman has not been abandoned however, as he's set to appear in, at the very least, ''Film/{{The Flash|2022}}''.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was somewhere between a SoftReboot and a full continuity reboot, with the severity depending on whether you grew up with the diverging Japanese or western continuity. Starting with that game, the western versions of the games began to follow the Japanese continuity; thus, for example, Sonic now lives on Earth instead of the distant planet Mobius, and "Eggman" is adopted as the antagonist's primary name instead of "Robotnik". ''Sonic Adventure'' does make it clear that the events of the classic Genesis games still occurred in this universe, but only indirectly through flashbacks or {{Continuity Nod}}s.
** It's said that ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' was meant to have been a reboot (or at least lead ''into'' a reboot) of the ''Sonic'' games for the modern age. However, with how bad the game was thanks to being ChristmasRushed, the only thing the game did was {{Retcon}} itself out of continuity. Even this is also thrown out the window with ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', which treats ''Sonic 2006'' as canonical as well as every other 3D ''Sonic'' game.

->'''Sheldon:''' Wait - [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008 the new Hulk movie]] is NOT a sequel??
->'''Arthur:''' Nope. They're admitting [[Film/{{Hulk}} the first movie]] was tempestuous bat-guano, and starting again.

->'''Sheldon:''' Wait - [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk the new Hulk movie]] is NOT a sequel??

* ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' (2008) was, at the time[[note]]it has since been beaten out by both ''The Punisher'' and ''Spider-Man''; see their entries below[[/note]], possibly the quickest a franchise has been rebooted. To give you an idea of how fast: 5 years and after a ''single'' [[Film/{{Hulk}} movie from the previous "continuity"]]. They had been trying to do it in a way that the first film could be counted or discounted as the audience saw fit, but Creator/EdwardNorton insisted on changing the details of the origin to make them incompatible.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' has had three films, none of which are connected to the others in any way. It also beats out ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]]'' for turnaround time, four years to Hulk's five. This was largely because [[Film/ThePunisher2004 the second film]] was actually successful. ''Film/PunisherWarZone'' was intended as a direct sequel, and became a reboot only when Thomas Jane dropped out. The Punisher's subsequent appearance in the Netflix ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' series rebooted him a third time.

* The ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' was a reboot of the tangled continuity of the ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness''.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' is a reboot of the ''VideoGame/XCom'' series, showing a new take on the war between the eponymous planet-protecting army and alien invaders while taking advantage of new technology to create a game that looked better and remained tough, but fair (in comparison to the NintendoHard ''VideoGame/XComUFODefense''). The narrative in ''Enemy Unknown'' would go in a different direction to the original series with ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'', which takes place after XCOM is [[TheBadGuysWin defeated]] and reduced to a ragtag insurgent army.

* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' has had four core reboots. All four gens take place in different continuities from the looks of it. G3 received a soft reboot near the end which [[FanNickname fans call]] the "Core 7", which removed many ponies from production and revamped the existing ponies slightly. In 2021, the toy line will be rebooted again, the fifth time the toy line has done so.

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia2017'' is one for the ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'' franchise, disregarding the continuity of the short films that came before it entirely in favor of starting over from the very beginning.

[[caption-width-right:330:What [[Film/BatmanAndRobin camp]] [[FranchiseKiller killed]], [[Film/BatmanBegins grit]] revived.]]

* ''Videogame/SaintsRow2022'' is a reboot of the ''Videogame/SaintsRow'' series. Since ''Videogame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'' had the Saints take over both the universe and the afterlife, there was no where else to go in the main continuity (though the AlternateContinuity title ''Videogame/AgentsOfMayhem'' tried).

* After ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' ended in 2014, the Franchise/Ben10 franchise was rebooted as ''WesternAnimation/Ben102016'' in 2016 with a new style to return to its roots. Though Creator/TaraStrong reprises her role as Ben, there are [[TheOtherDarrin new voice actors]] for Gwen and Max. When compared to the original, the reboot has 11-minute episodes and borders on comedy and slapstick.

* ''Manga/SteelBallRun'' is set in a new universe separate from the first six parts of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', though it has some characters, locations and concepts named after those from the original. However, while [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Part 6]] ends with [[spoiler:BigBad Pucci activating his final Stand, Made in Heaven, to reset the universe]], it would appear the ''Steel Ball Run'' universe [[spoiler:isn't created by his actions; he's killed before his universe takes effect, prompting his reset to be undone (with new incarnations of those who died prior to the reset and Pucci himself having never existed)]].

* Film/JamesBond: ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}''. The film is a very clear continuity reboot of the series, showing Bond as a 00 agent on his first mission, and giving the movie a much more [[DarkerAndEdgier realistic and serious]] setting and style than those before it.

* Film/JamesBond:
** ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}''. The film is a very clear continuity reboot of the series, showing Bond as a 00 agent on his first mission, and giving the movie a much more [[DarkerAndEdgier realistic and serious]] setting and style than those before it.
** Considering [[spoiler:[[TheHeroDies the ending]]]] of ''Film/NotimeToDie'' and the "James Bond Will Return" message, a new continuity reboot will be inevitable going forward.