Warning: contains spoilers for Angel #7The Angel comics just teased the return of a fan-favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer character who has not yet appeared in the series published by Boom! Studios. Set in an alternate world in the Slayerverse, this new series has focused on the cast of the original Angel TV show, avoiding showing Buffy and her legendary Scooby Gang, until now.
In this brand-new world, Angel is still the Champion (a vampire with a soul who fights the forces of evil) and he lives in Los Angeles with Spike, Cordelia, and the local Vampire Slayer, Fred. However, the arrival of the vampire hunter Daniel Holtz alerts Angel to the existence of parallel worlds and of a version of Angelus, Angel's evil vampire self, who never got a soul and is traveling through the realities of the Slayerverse, spreading chaos and mayhem. After being attacked by Angelus in Transylvania (where he is shooting a Dracula movie), Angel comes back to his home base in Los Angeles, where he has to fight the suspicions and fears of his friends.
In Angel #7, by Christopher Cantwell, Daniel Bayliss, and Patricio Delpeche, Angel is ambushed by his allies, who think he is actually Angelus. Threatened with a wooden stake at his heart, he is asked to prove his identity by saying something that only Angel would know. The mighty vampire then spills the beans about his passion for Dungeons & Dragons and how, when he was in Sunnydale, he used to play every week with a group whose Dungeon Master is a red-haired witch, whose girlfriend is also a witch, and who sometimes fixed his laptop for free. This is a spot-on description of Willow, Buffy's best friend and resident Sunnydale witch, who is a huge nerd and computer expert, and whose girlfriend Tara also practices magic.
The whole scene is meant to be a comic relief moment, based on the discrepancy between the usually broody and serious Angel and the geeky hobby of playing Dungeons & Dragon, which even made him cry when his beloved gnome character died. However, this funny little secret also reveals that, in the universe where Angel takes place, there is also a Sunnydale and a Willow, which means that there must be a Buffy too. Until now, the series left most of what happened before the current story up for readers to imagine, which is something made possible by the multiversal concept of the Slayerverse, making every new story unique and enjoyable on its own. However, these are characters with a rich history that readers will always go back to. It feels strange to see Fred as the Slayer without knowing what happened to Buffy, if she actually exists, and what is her relationship with Angel, which was one of the most important themes in the original series.
Considering that Angel will conclude with issue #8, it is very unlikely that the authors will have the time to introduce Buffy, Willow, or other characters. However, Angel and his team end this issue in very dire straits, being surrounded by a vampire army summoned by Angelus. Perhaps, Buffy and Willow will show up to save the day, giving Angel the perfect chance to set up a sequel series.