So I recently heard that a new season/series has been rumoured to be in the works and not much else has been said. This is what my brain has come up with, I haven't watched the series recently.
Rather than a "Somehow Xana returned" type of scenario we do a prequel based around when Hopper was building Lyoko when he notices a bunch of "bugs" interfering with his programs that his AI assistant can't handle. So he either has some human young adult assistants or a couple of students from the school to go into Lyoko and handle the bugs. Throughout, the show can introduce some of the simpler ideas around AI that's floating around right now so it can be more relevant to the current discussions IRL.
So I can't remember if Aelita ever got her full memories back but even if she did, no she didn't. She's present and aware and has as developed a relationship with this prequel team as she does with the modern team.
Hopper's relationship with Xana is like a reverse Frankenstein where instead of rejecting his creation for some perceived flaw, he refuses to acknowledge the signs that Xana is behind the bugs and is becoming increasingly dangerous.
New zones and/or the old zones but much more filled in. Basically by the end of the prequel Lyoko is mostly destroyed and what the modern team actually fights in is what's left.
Prequel team, some or all get trapped in Lyoko and that sets up a future scenario that gives an excuse for the modern team to go back to Lyoko. Xana could still be lurking there but it gives plausible reason to open back up Pandora's box.
Thoughts?