Before Dark Shadows, the notion of a romantic, reluctant vampire simply wasn’t as mainstream as it is now. Starting on April 18, 1967, Jonathan Frid embodied the character of the immortal vampire, Barnabas Collins, on the gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows. And now, 59 years after his debut, Barnabas — patient zero for storylines like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries — will return in a new animated series that reboots the original show. During the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Warner Bros. has announced that Barnabas will, indeed, return for a new animated reboot of Dark Shadows, the first new version of the franchise since the 2012 remake film directed by Tim Burton.
According to the press release from WB: “Warner Bros. Animation is resurrecting tormented vampire Barnabas Collins as it is currently in development on an adult animated series based on the classic gothic sensation Dark Shadows.”
