In a time where almost every supernatural teen drama property from the ‘90s, whether in TV or film, has undergone the Hollywood knife, it's downright puzzling that we're yet to see a reboot of the iconic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which in its heyday was immensely popular. The likes of The Craft, Charmed, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, have all been rebooted in recent years, and while none of them were actually any good, and that deep down many fans don't want a Buffy reboot, it's still a question that needs answering.
In fact, it's a mystery the Scooby Gang would likely be all over. But don't worry, we don't expect you to undertake hours of reading in the dark corners of a creepy school library to find the answers - so let's go back to Sunnydale and see whether Buffy is due to come back to life (again).
"In every generation, a Slayer is born" - those are the infamous words that preceded almost every episode of Buffy during its six-year run from 1997 to 2003. The show followed cheerleader Buffy Summers, who is imbued with mystical powers when she's chosen as the next ‘Vampire Slayer'. And when Sunnydale is suddenly plagued with demonic entities of all kinds, courtesy of the town's subterranean ‘Hellmouth', Buffy must figure out a way to balance her social life with her duties as a warrior.
Enter the Scooby Gang – Xander, Willow, and Buffy's ‘Watcher' Rupert Giles. The show ran for seven seasons and even had its own spin-off show, Angel, which ran for five seasons. Angel, a character from the first three seasons of Buffy, was a vampire with a soul and was given his own show in response to Buffy's increasing popularity. But while Buffy came to an end in 2003, that hasn't stopped the stories from continuing in the form of graphic novels and other tie-ins. But even before Buffy's arrival on TV, there had been a movie of the same name five years prior, which starred Kristy Swanson as the titular character.
Now, 19 years after Buffy left our television sets, fans are still wondering if there's a reboot on the horizon. Will the stake be sharpened for the dusting of some new vamps, or is the pop culture phenomenon best left in the cemetery of Sunnydale, under a rather impressive headstone? To no surprise, talks of a reboot have been about as back-and-forth over the years as Buffy and Angel's forbidden love affair in Season 3. However, now that Disney owns the rights, it's more likely that the show will eventually be given a new soul.
Recently, it was announced that Disney Hyperion was publishing a brand-new novel titled In Every Generation by YA author Kendra Blake, which will be a sequel of sorts to the show, following the Witch-Slayer daughter of Willow Rosenberg. It's set for release later this year and will be the first in a new trilogy of novels. While novels are a very different medium to television and film, the fact that Disney has finally made any kind of move on this IP is a clear indicator that they're well aware that Buffy still has plenty of life left in it – or at least has the potential to be brought back to life.
The subject of Buffy the Vampire Slayer alone hasn't exactly steered clear of the news over the past several months, either. Earlier this year, Charisma Carpenter, who played Cordelia Chase, revealed on Twitter that Joss Whedon had bullied her on the set of Angel while she was heavily pregnant. Other cast members, including David Boreanaz, Amber Benson, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, raced to support Carpenter on Twitter. While Joss Whedon is yet to comment, last year he was also accused of misconduct on the set of 2017's Justice League, by Cyborg actor Ray Fisher.
And on August 24 this year, actor Nicholas Brendon, who played Xander Harris in the show, was arrested for prescription fraud. Sadly, Brendon has had a history with the law, having been arrested a number of times, while having also struggled with alcoholism and depression. But while these are all negative associations, there are plenty of good ones too. In a recent tweet, shared by Buffy actors Danny Strong, Tom Lenk, and Adam Busch, who played wannabe-villains Jonathan, Andrew, and Warren in Season 6, Sarah Michelle Gellar playfully superimposed herself into the image.
Several attempts at spin-off shows and reboots have been made over the years, but none have ever been greenlit. The only continuity has been in the form of the graphic novels, which in earlier years were published by Dark Horse Comics and IDW Publishing, and more recently by Boom! Studios. In July 2018, however, 20th Century Fox Television put a reboot series into development, with Monica Owusu-Breen as the showrunner, and it was suggested by Owusu-Breen at the time, that the show would focus on a new slayer and expand upon the ‘Buffyverse', indicating a sequel rather than a reboot.
Joss Whedon was slated to be executive producer, though in recent years, he has gone on record to express his fear of his show being rebooted, saying, "When something is brought back, and even if it's exactly as good as it was, the experience can't be. You've already experienced it, and part of what was great was going through it for the first time. You have to meet expectations and adjust it for the climate, which is not easily done."
Three years on, where does the future of Buffy the Vampire Slayer stand? Not dead and buried we hope, although the odds of a reboot being any good are low unless it's given the love and care it needs. That's not to say Buffy was in any way a masterpiece, but it's fair to say that Whedon has a point. Should Disney decide to move forward with a reboot, though, then it would be wise for them to turn to the graphic novels for inspiration, of which there have been plenty over the decades, and offer a wealth of material for a new show to play around with, especially if that show is intended to be a sequel.
So, perhaps a sequel is the best route. After all, Season 7 saw the introduction of new Slayers all around the world known as the ‘Potentials', which leaves an excellent starting point for a continuation, whether that's a TV show or a movie (although the last Buffy movie was dead in the ground the moment it came out). But sequel or reboot, series or movie, it's currently looking about as hopeful with a vampire who's accidentally ordered a pizza with garlic. Even a reunion along the lines of this year's long-awaited Friends get-together, or a ‘revival' episode, is unlikely, especially given the Joss Whedon controversy.
Either way, now that Disney owns the IP, having inherited it through the Fox acquisition, it's still very possible that a reboot will eventually see the light of day. Let's just hope that when it does, it doesn't turn to dust.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are available to stream on Disney+.
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