Here's Everything We Know About HBO Max's 'Gossip Girl' Reboot

It's time to start checking your phones again, Upper East Siders, because Gossip Girl is back to spill all the most intimate secrets of a brand new generation of NYC teens. The original Gossip Girl ran from 2007 to 2012 on The CW, inviting viewers into the sordid love lives of Serena van der Woodsen, Dan Humphrey, Blair Waldorf, Chuck Bass, Nate Archibald, and more of New York's young elite. But a new group is taking over for the revival, and these details about the Gossip Girl reboot for HBO Max will prepare you for all the ways the new series will be different from the original show — and all things that will be very familiar for Day 1 fans.

HBO Max first announced a Gossip Girl reboot back in the summer of 2019, and fans of the hit teen series have been hungry for specifics about the new cast and plot. Now that the show is just a couple months from premiering. fans have more details about what the new Gossip Girl series will look like than ever before, and it’s safe to say the reboot sounds like it will be the same treat as before, just with some different flavors.

HBO Max just dropped the first teaser trailer for the reboot, and if fans were expecting to learn new juicy plot details, then they may be disappointed. The 1-minute clip is skim on the details as it mainly introduces the new cast. But in a sea of new faces, the trailer welcomes back an OG — Kristen Bell — who returns to voice the elusive Gossip Girl.

“You’ve gotten so comfortable. Thinking you’re in control ... that you forgot one thing. I can see you.”

The trailer closes off with the show’s signature “XOXO.” Fans will have to wait until July 8, 2021 when Gossip Girl premieres on HBO Max to see what’s in store for the cast.

Here’s everything we know about the reboot so far:

1. It’s set 8 years after the original series' ending.

Nearly a decade will have passed since Serena van der Woodsen and Blair Waldworf caused drama when the new cast takes to the streets. The time change is fitting, since the original Gossip Girl ended in 2012 and the new version will premiere in 2020, eight years later.

2. The Gossip Girl website had gone dark, but now it's back.

Gossip Girl's anonymous blog was the central element of the original series, as scandalous tips of New York's elite teens' misdeeds would get blasted out to everyone's phones at random times. After the identity of Gossip Girl was revealed in the series finale, the website apparently went dark. Eight years later, though, GG is back online, seemingly with someone else posting all the latest rumors.

3. Social media will play a much bigger role.

Getting scandalous texts from a blog may have been on the cutting-edge back in 2007, but the reboot series can't just ignore how much social media has evolved. The new series promises to make social media a much bigger factor, which makes sense given that Gossip Girl lives online.

4. Nine stars have the reboot have been cast already.

A whole new crop of stars have already been announced to helm the reboot. The new series will star the following actors: Emily Alyn Lind, Tavi Gevinson, Whitney Peak, Eli Brown, Johnathan Fernandez, Jason Gotey, Thomas Doherty, Adam Chanler-Berat, and Zion Moreno. Only Lind's character has a name as of yet — she'll be playing Audrey, who is in a long-term relationship and wondering if there is more out there.

5. There will be much more diversity, including queer storylines.

The original Gossip Girl was pretty straight and white at its core, but showrunner Joshua Safran promised the reboot would be much more diverse, citing nonwhite leads and queer storylines as two examples of what fans can expect.

6. It will feature more adult content than the original show.

Although the original Gossip Girl series was famous for its steamy scenes, now that the reboot will be on HBO Max rather than network TV, it has even more freedom to turn up the heat. Executive producer Josh Schwartz confirmed the new series will take advantage of the opportunity to swear and include more explicit sex scenes, but also said he did not want it to feel too gratuitous.

7. Kristen Bell will return as Gossip Girl's voice.

There's only one original cast member who is confirmed to return for the reboot... even though you won't see her. Kristen Bell will narrate the show as Gossip Girl once again.

8. The door is open for original cast members to return.

While none of the original leads are confirmed to reprise their roles in the reboot, Safran did confirm that revisiting OG characters in the new series is a total possibility. The reboot will be set in the same world as the first Gossip Girl, and characters will even reference past faves like Serena and Blair in conversation. Safran likened the connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where stories shift from one set of characters to another, but oftentimes cross over — so there is hope for Blair, Serena, Chuck, and the rest to possibly come back as adults.

9. The first season will have 10 episodes.

HBO Max has yet to announce a release date for the reboot, but it has been revealed that the streaming service has ordered 10 episodes.

HBO Max is set to launch in May 2020, so hopefully the network will announce a premiere date for Gossip Girl around then. While you wait, all six season of the original Gossip Girl are streaming on Netflix, and now is the perfect time to revisit it before the reboot comes out.