For those of you hoping that Sarah Michelle Gellar might pick up the vampire killing stake of Buffy Summers once more, we’re sorry to dash those hopes for you. While doing a recent interview with SFX Magazine (via Syfy) promoting the series Wolf Pack, Gellar told the magazine that fans shouldn’t hold their breath that she would ever return for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer potential reboot series. When asked if she’d be down for a return, she was fairly blunt with her answer. Here’s what she had to say:
I’m not. I am very proud of the show that we created, and it doesn’t need to be done. We wrapped that up. I am all for them continuing the story, because there’s the story of female empowerment. I love the way the show was left: ‘Every girl who has the power can have the power.’ It’s set up perfectly for someone else to have the power. But like I said, the metaphors of Buffy were the horrors of adolescence. I think I look young, but I am not an adolescent.
This has more or less been Sarah Michelle Gellar’s stance for two decades. The original Buffy ended 20 years ago in 2003. Since then, fans have asked about some kind of comeback. The world of Buffy (and its spinoff series Angel) continued in comic book form for years. In 2018, we heard that Alias and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. veteran Monica Owusu-Breen was going to spearhead a Buffy revival or possible reboot of some kind—one with an African-American lead. She even made a statement saying this new continuation would honor what came before, suggesting it was some sort of legacy sequel.
With the original series finale’s main storyline activating thousands of girls around the world as new Slayers, maybe a new teenage Slayer, maybe named after the “Prime” Slayer Buffy Summers, could be the focus of the potential show? That way it’s still “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” just not the same one we knew. There is potential for something like this to work and not just be a nostalgia grab. But there’s been no movement on the series since that announcement.
This lack of movement on any new Buffy very likely has to do with the recent allegations of on set abuse and unprofessional behavior from Buffy’s creator and showrunner, Joss Whedon. Almost the entire original cast has had something to say regarding their unpleasant time working on the series. Even if there was no direct Whedon involvement, as the franchise creator, he would no doubt receive some kind of financial reward for any kind of continuation, which is something a lot of folks might not be comfortable supporting. In the end, it might be best to leave Buffy alone. It represented such a specific time in pop culture. At the very least though, how about a proper HD remaster for the classic series for Disney+? That’s something everyone can get behind.