A Buffy The Vampire Slayer return is in the works, but the show’s new iteration should be a revival rather than a total reboot. Way back in mid-2018, disgraced director Joss Whedon announced his most famous creation Buffy The Vampire Slayer would soon be revived, and that the new incarnation of the classic 1990s teen series would star a Slayer of color to add more diversity to the original show’s cast.
Monica Owusu-Breen was also confirmed as the new showrunner but over two years later, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot’s status is currently unknown. Whatever plans the creators currently have for the show, the return should be a revival rather than a reboot, so that any new version can still incorporate the original star, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Like most highly anticipated series finales, the ending of Buffy The Vampire Slayer proved divisive among the show’s loyal viewers. Unlike shows such as How I Met Your Mother or Dexter, Buffy's ending was not roundly reviled by critics or fans. Still, the (spoilers) deaths of fan-favorite Anya or the titular heroines’ on-off love interest Spike proved controversial, and with Gellar’s snarky, badass iteration of Buffy being central to the show's success, a revival would give the creators a chance to revisit the original Buffy The Vampire Slayer and right some wrongs instead of starting anew with a reboot.
The recent news that HBO hit Sex & The City is set to be revived with much of the original cast sans Kim Cattrall’s Samantha was met with dismay, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was even more key to the original Buffy’s success. Even if the new iteration of Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a legacy show that brings in new slayers, the series doesn’t need to completely wipe the slate clean when Gellar’s character is still one of the most iconic heroines of the 1990s. Buffy could be the perfect mentor for a new, more diverse set of slayers, and the character could help bridge the gap between the original and the revival. Unfortunately for fans of Buffy, it looks unlikely that Gellar will want to reprise her most famous role any time soon. The actress said in a 2019 interview her time on the series was done and her story with Buffy has been told and has reiterated those remarks more forcefully when she supported former Buffy cast members exposing Whedon’s history of abusive behavior.
Saying she was proud to be associated with Buffy but didn’t want to be associated with Whedon, Gellar has effectively confirmed she wants nothing to do with any revival. Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Charmed have both proven new takes on fantasy TV staples from the 1990s can work whether they take on a wholly different tone or stick to the style of the original show. That said, the Sabrina reboot needed a new cast to demarcate its darker tone, while Charmed always relied on an ensemble rather than one lead star. In contrast, any Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot will likely sink without the original’s funny, edgy, scary tone, something it’s unlikely to recreate without the original star in her most iconic role.