While it would be tempting to continue where the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer left off, the show’s reboot needs to be different from its predecessor for any hope of success. This is especially true given that the supernatural teen drama is currently in production purgatory, which does not guarantee the reboot won’t happen. Instead, this holding pattern can give Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s writers and showrunner a chance to consider what quintessential aspects of the original must carry over into the reboot and what must change for the series to succeed.
The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran from 1997-2003 and featured the exploits of the titular Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) as she defeated monsters in her hometown of Sunnydale alongside her friends and mentor. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer show was more successful than the movie that preceded it, and Buffy’s story has continued to grow and develop in comics. But there was never any significant progress in bringing Buffy the Vampire Slayer back to the screen after a 2010 movie failed to get off the ground, until a 2018 update announced that a reboot was in development. Later, showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen announced that the project was on pause in August 2022.
The New Slayer Needs To Be Different From Buffy
Despite the Buffy the Vampire reboot’s purgatorial status, it’s important to consider what will need to change if the series is brought back to life, especially if these changes help garner enough excitement to move production forward. In particular, the reboot will need a new heroine, a Slayer that can fill Buffy’s shoes without fully replicating her. Of course, this does not mean that the new Slayer in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival cannot, and should not, embody some of the humor, wit, and strength that Buffy, and the original show, exhibited, only that these cannot be her only defining traits.
While the reboot can still be witty, the new Slayer should not feel like a carbon copy of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy. One of the character’s strongest traits was her blend of valley-girl wit and superficiality paired with deep loyalty and strength. It was a potent combination, but if the new Slayer in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is the same, she may not be compelling enough to justify a reboot instead of just rerunning the original episodes. Instead, the new Slayer needs to embody another way a young woman might cope with her sudden destiny as the Slayer.
The Buffy Reboot Must Have More Diverse Representation
Beyond recasting Buffy the Vampire Slayer show's heroine for the reboot, the character’s supporting cast must also be updated. The original gang of Scoobies was one of the show's strongest aspects, with their chemistry and development balancing the supernatural monsters and heroics they faced. However, despite the cast's success in the original show, it still largely focused on white, straight characters.
This is not to discount the LGBTQ representation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was groundbreaking for its time, nor the POC characters the show did feature. But given how much audiences have changed since the original show aired, its casting must continue on the legacy of the original and surpass it to reflect the real world better. This means that Buffy the Vampire Slayer must diversify their main group of heroes, a sentiment that was endorsed by Gellar in her support of casting Zendaya as Buffy.
The Buffy The Vampire Slayer Reboot Cannot Begin With A Dramatic Romance
However, Buffy and her friends are not the only character changes that must occur in a reboot. The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer often depicted dramatic romances between Buffy and a growing cadre of men in her life. The first of these that made a great narrative impact on the show was Buffy’s vampire lover Angel (David Boreanaz), who later left the show to star in his spinoff series. Buffy and Angel’s relationship was one of the defining characteristics of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it helped codify Buffy’s constant romantic entanglements throughout later seasons.
While the romance in and of itself isn’t an aspect that should be eliminated from the reboot, if it’s included, it must feel distinct and unique from Angel's introduction and death on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Otherwise, an immediate, high-stakes romance with another supernatural creature will feel uninteresting, reminding viewers that they could be watching the original show instead. Alternatively, foregoing a romance or indulging in a much slower romantic pace would allow the reboot for a new characterization of the Slayer and fundamentally change the stakes from the original.
The Buffy Reboot Has To Have Different Male Character Arcs
Additionally, while Buffy the Vampire Slayer displayed many solid female characters, their male counterparts, even the heroic ones, often exhibited misogynistic behaviors that the reboot must avoid. Although the original show was certainly a product of its time, this only emphasizes that the reboot needs to serve its male characters better, providing them with better characterization and development beyond Xander’s (Nicholas Brendon) casual objectification, Riley’s (Marc Blucas) cheating in season 5, and Spike’s (James Marsters) physical abuse. While these characters cannot be solely defined by these negative traits, the reboot can make them better by foregoing these aspects altogether.
The Buffy Reboot Must Change Its Villains
Finally, the other largest shift from the original that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot must consider is a change in its villains. This isn’t to say that the reboot shouldn’t do monster-of-the-week plots intermixed with an overarching story arc culminating in a climactic confrontation. But a common, recurring story beat in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was that a new villain would arrive in Sunnydale with evil plans for each season, leading to the original covering several flavors of ancient, first evils with arcane powers.
Because of this, it’s hard to imagine many grand villains with a similar modus operandi as engaging in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot. But the newer show can avoid this hurdle by taking the Slayer out of her comfort zone, pitting her against villains that escalate the story in different ways, and challenging her with plots and plans that, perhaps, don’t rely on magical power. This would help differentiate the reboot to become a strong series in its own right instead of a shadow of the original.