Sarah Michelle Gellar has no plans to reprise her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and step into Buffy Summers’ shoes again, and she is right about her ideas on how the Buffyverse should continue. Gellar became a staple for the supernatural genre with her iconic role as the vampire Slayer and earned serious acclaim for her performance, but the actress has no interest in coming back to the series. However, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t think the Buffyverse shouldn’t continue without her.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a fan-favorite supernatural drama series created by Joss Whedon, based on the failed 1992 Buffy movie. It had a seven-season run between 1997 and 2003, focusing on a teenage girl who is chosen to fight vampires and other monsters in order to protect the world. In the series, Slayers were chosen and had no say in their fate. When coming of age, a Slayer also develops supernatural strength and increased healing powers in order to keep up with the monsters. During the entirety of the show, the main Slayer was Buffy, but there were several others that could keep the Buffyverse going.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Ending Set Up An Easy Way To Continue The Story
Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s ending left the door open for a new continuation that doesn’t need Buffy anymore, as she created an entire army of Slayers that have lots of stories left to explore. Although there are many ways Buffy’s story could continue, the series already did a great job developing her character. Besides fighting vampires and demons and stopping the Apocalypse several times, Gellar’s character struggled with accepting her duty to save the world, while still dealing with regular problems involving friendship, loss, and falling in love. Going back to the character would only be a disservice to all the growth Buffy went through during the series.
Initially, a Slayer was only created if the previous one died. However, following the finale, all the potential Slayers turned into real ones, thus expanding the lineage and potential of the Buffyverse beyond Buffy Summers’ story. The same idea was explored in the canonical book-bound eighth book of the Dark Horse’s Season Eight comic book series and subsequent seasons, where Buffy and her team worked to train and prepare the potential Slayers for a life of demon hunting. Therefore, the comic book showed that Buffy didn’t have to bear the weight of being the only Slayer.
A Buffy Continuation Or Spinoff Is Better Than A Reboot
Buffy the Vampire Slayer still has a huge audience who would likely tune in for a reboot, but Sarah Michelle Gellar has a point when it comes to turning the idea down, especially since no reboot does not mean the universe shouldn’t live on. Granted, Buffy has several topics that wouldn’t fly today, as the series debuted in the late ’90s, but that alone isn’t a reason for a revival. There is no need to go and establish the Buffyverse again or cast a new Buffy since Gellar doesn’t want to return and would be too old to play a teenage Buffy.
The only way to honor the legacy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and its spin-off Angel, for that matter) is not a reboot, but a continuation or a spin-off. Given that any upcoming project, whether it’s a sequel or a new spin-off, would have a lot to live up to as is, a revival would feel like a disservice to its legacy and everything created so far. Instead, a sequel or spin-off could take what already happened and build on that.
The new audio series sequel, Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, is proof that there are a lot more characters worth hearing about. Sarah Michelle Gellar is not part of series, but it does come with an exciting cast reunion. James Marsters (Spike), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia), Anthony Head (Giles), Juliet Landau (Drusilla), Emma Caulfield Ford (Anya), Amber Benson (Tara), James Charles Leary (Clem), and Danny Strong (Jonathan) have all returned, and the audio series comes with new stories for their characters.
What Happened To Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Reboot?
There have been multiple discussions of a possible Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, but nothing materialized. In 2018, disgraced creator Joss Whedon announced his plans for a revival, where he would serve as executive producer. Monica Owusu-Breen was set to become the new showrunner, and there were a lot of discussions and rumors regarding casting a Black actor to play Buffy Summers.
However, In 2022, executive producer Gail Berman announced that the project is currently “on pause,” a dangerous sign for it ever getting made. Since then, there have been no more details or release dates confirmed for a revival. However, if Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, the Audible audio series sequel, ends up being very successful, there are many chances the conversation about a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot might start again.
