Sarah Michelle Gellar has backed up her former costar David Boreanaz's support for Monica Owusu-Breen's Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot. Boreanaz voiced his endorsement over a jeering crowd, when asked about the revival at New York Comic Con this week. Gellar, star of Joss Whedon's original series, previously stated that she wasn't confident in a revival happening, but appears to have joined a growing list of former Buffy cast members who are cheering it on.
Gellar and Boreanaz played the star-crossed lovers, Buffy and Angel, on the original Buffy TV show. Boreanaz eventually left to star in the noir detective spinoff Angel. Since news of the reboot broke in July, former cast members Alyson Hannigan (Willlow Rosenburg) and James Marsters (Spike) have both come out in support of it, citing the show's influence across generations of fans. Although Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel ended in 2003 and 2004 respectively, the canon has carried on in a Dark Horse comic series that recently concluded. In addition to reportedly casting a black actress for the central role, Owusu-Breen has clarified that the new show will add its own repertoire of Slayers, vampires, and 'Scoobies' to the universe, rather than replicating the originals.
Related: David Boreanaz Supports Buffy Reboot & Angel Recasting
Gellar, who was asked for comment hours after Boreanaz said "I'm with David," of her friend and former costar. She went on to echo his sentiments on the Buffy reboot controversy (via People):
“At the end of the day, it’s all about great storytelling. If a story lives on, then I think it should be told in any incarnation it can be told in.”
The cast has also backed the decision for new talent to take over. Boreanaz gave his blessing for another actor to take on the role of the Angel. Gellar commented that the now middle-aged actors reprising their initial roles as teenagers battling the metaphorical and literal horrors of adolescence wouldn't make sense during the show's 20th anniversary celebration last year. Marsters, who currently stars in Marvel's Runaways, reported an interest in returning to show, but also referenced the age issue. Owusu-Breen has yet to confirm approaching any of the original stars about re-entering the series in a different role.
As in the case of the Charmed reboot, fans continue to be divided on the topic, with some praising a re-imagining that celebrates women of color, and others criticizing the idea of tampering with the show's legacy instead of creating something new. Owusu-Breen, who called Buffy "My Star Wars" pointed out that the Buffyverse is inherently structured to be open to character fluidity. Buffy herself is only one in a now enormous line of Slayers with their own unique storytelling potential. Given the original cast's deep, personal recounting of the show's lasting impact on audiences, it's entirely possible that they'll show up to support the reboot in front of the camera or otherwise. Of Buffy's legacy Owusu-Breen said, "Here we are twenty years later, and world seems a lot scarier." As Buffy herself once said "There's only one thing on this Earth more powerful than evil. And that's us."
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Source: People