It's been 13 years since Veronica Mars burst onto TV screens and introduced audiences to Kristen Bell. The show ran for three seasons across UPN and The CW until 2007, but cancellation couldn't keep the snarky blonde private eye down. Bell and creator Rob Thomas (with the help of fans) brought the beloved character back to life with a partially fan-funded 2014 feature film. Following the movie, two books were released and then more talk about more live-action life on Mars. However, it's remained just talk, despite the best efforts of Bell and Thomas. Is there a future for Veronica Mars?
"In my world there is," Bell told E! News. "I mean, I'm going to be blunt: It's tough, for a variety of reasons I can't get into, but, Rob and I are trying and we will continue to try."
E! News spoke with Bell and Thomas for a profile on Bell's second act, and no talk with either would be complete without touching on Veronica Mars.
"We thought we were incredibly close not too long ago and a couple of business things got in the way, that neither Kristen nor I could control," Thomas said about reviving the property. "So we're biding our time, but we have an idea for what we want to do and we're eager to do. Yeah, we're both right now in a little bit of heartbreak because we thought we were so close, but that's Hollywood."
Thomas declined to discuss further details about the project. And now we wait.
Bell is currently starring in NBC's The Good Place, the critically acclaimed comedy from Parks and Recreation's Mike Schur. Bell plays Eleanor, a dead woman, who is learning how to be a better person in the afterlife. Thomas said it's been great watching Bell develop since the Veronica Mars days.
"There's a certain pride that I have, which I have no right to have because I have done none of that. But Kristen is somebody who would've been discovered had she never done Veronica Mars, she would be doing just fine right now. It's huge fun," he said. "There's a small part of me that always hopes she doesn't become so huge that she'll never play Veronica Mars again, that is the one thing I kind of keep an eye out on…"
It's safe to say there will always be room for Veronica Mars for Bell.
"Veronica Mars was very, very special because she was somewhat of a superhero outcast. It's very, very difficult to write someone with all of those qualities, as layered as she was. I think maybe it's just that I've never found anything like her since. She was incredibly unique," Bell said.
Whether or not the plans the two have been working on actually come to fruition, perhaps this could make you rest easy: "Hell yes!" Veronica Mars would be in The Good Place (heaven), Bell said. "Well…The real Good Place? Yes. Yeah, I do. Veronica had her s--t straight, you know?"