Martin Lawrence Addresses Possibility of ‘Martin’ Reboot, Says Classic Show Was ‘Lightning in a Bottle’

This month's reunion special on BET+ has revived questions about the possibility of a full-blown reboot. Here, Lawrence himself shares his thoughts.

June 28, 2022

With the recent release of BET+’s Martin reunion special, discussions among fans about whether or not a reboot should be pursued have been revived. According to star and co-creator Martin Lawrence, however, it’s not likely the same “lightning in a bottle” could be recaptured.

When speaking with Jimmy Fallon on Monday’s Tonight Show, Lawrence was first asked about the aforementioned reunion special.

“It felt great, man, just to see ‘em again and get back together,” Lawrence said, as seen in the video up top. “It felt like we was going back to work. The only thing that was missing was our brother Tommy Ford but we got to honor him in the right way.”

Ford, of course, played Martin’s friend Tommy Strawn on the original series. In 2016, Ford died at the age of 52.

Elsewhere in Monday’s Tonight Show appearance, Lawrence was asked directly by Fallon—who also cited the Martin character Dragonfly Jones as being responsible for one of his favorite scenes on the show—about whether he would “ever do the show again.”

While Lawrence is open to working with his Martin co-stars again in the future, he’s not convinced a full-on revisit of the original world of the beloved series would be as fruitful as fans might think.

“I think, well, you know, the Martin show was like catching lightning in a bottle and I don’t think we can redo that again,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind working with the cast again on something but I don’t think we can do that again.” Instead, Lawrence proposed, he would love to see a film centered on his Sheneneh character.

For more, see above. Fallon and Lawrence also discussed Snoop Dogg’s cameo in the original Martin series. See that below.

Lawrence’s co-star Tisha Campbell also recently spoke out about the chances of a Martin reboot, telling Entertainment Tonight this week that imagining such a scenario was “too hard” following Ford’s death.

“We would miss him so much,” Campbell said. “Well never say never, like Martin [Lawrence] says, but it’s just too hard to see ourselves without him.”

Martin: The Reunion is available now on BET+.