Alias Stars Michael Vartan and Carl Lumbly Want a Reboot

It’s been 20 years since the iconic J.J. Abrams-created spy thriller series Alias debuted on ABC, but while it’s been two decades since the world was first introduced to Jennifer Garner’s Sydney Bristow and 16 years since they said goodbye, fans are still clamoring for more. For years, fans of Alias have been asking for a reboot of the series and it turns out that should a reboot or sequel ever manifest, two of its stars are all in to return. Speaking with ComicBook.com recently, Michael Vartan and Carl Lumbly, who played CIA agent Michael Vaughn and Sydney’s partner Marcus Dixon respectively, both said they’d love to return for a new iteration of the series.

“Yes. I would be there in a nanosecond. It would be an amazing experience to get to work with all these people again,” Vartan said. “They better hurry, though, because those running down the hallway and fight scenes… I’ve got 53-year-old knees here who might not agree with the physicality of it. But no, in terms of just the vibe and the opportunity, it would be amazing.”

Lumbly also said that he would be ready to come back, joking that he’d bring his knees anywhere for Alias.

“I would bring… I don’t want to put an age on my limbs, but I’ll bring these knees anywhere we’re doing that,” Lumbly said.

Vartan and Lumbly aren’t the only Alias stars who would be down for a reboot either. Garner herself said in 2021 that not only is she open to it, but she’d try to bring Bradley Cooper, who played Will Tippin on the series, with her.

“Sign me up,” Garner said before joking that she’d “grab Bradley by the scruff of his neck.”

The eagerness the stars have to come back to Alias is a testament to the continued closeness between the cast and crew. Last year, Garner threw a 20th anniversary gathering for the series to bring people together again and in speaking with ComicBook.com, both Vartan and Lumbly reminisced about their time on the series and just. how enjoyable it was not just in terms of the work, but in how everyone involved became a real family. Those relationships included some good-natured pranking and Vartan revealed that there was one time he managed to get Lumbly, someone he described as a “consummate professional,” to crack up while filming.

“The cameras were rolling, and the director was about to yell, ‘action,’” Vartan said. “And I texted Carl on his phone, ‘My pee pee hurts.’ And I finally broke him. Took me three years to try. He was just the consummate professional And that one time I got into that armor, and I broke it up. I was so pleased with myself. They could have fired me from the show after that and I would have been fine.”

All five seasons of Alias are now streaming on Disney+.