Original star Sarah Michelle Gellar delivered the devastating news over the weekend to Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans everywhere when she confirmed that the reboot series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, wouldn’t be moving forward at Hulu. With reports of a revival series circling for the two decades since the series concluded, knowing that Gellar herself would reprise her role in the project and even serve as a producer, it seemed like the stars finally aligned for the series to make the comeback fans have been clamoring for. Hulu’s decision not to pick the pilot makes everything feel all the more baffling.
Complicating matters further is the fact that Chloé Zhao was a director and producer on the project, who won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for her Nomadland. Between the talent involved and the support of Gellar, it seemed like a no-brainer. While speaking with Variety, Zhao has addressed the unexpected decision from Hulu:
“I had an incredible, incredible time with Sarah, with all the cast and crew doing this. And we, first and foremost, see ourselves as the guardians of the original show
“Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans.”
Luckily, Zhao’s reaction wasn’t entirely grim, as she teased, “So, things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery. And what this might lead us to.” When asked if this might mean the show could be picked up somewhere else, Zhao reiterated, “Welcome the mystery.”
When it comes to disappointing updates about Buffy, this one is at least a little better to take than various other controversies that have surrounded the fan-favorite series, especially compared to various allegations made about series creator Joss Whedon.
After Buffy, Whedon went on to create Firefly and directed The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron. With him then leaving Marvel to finish production on Justice League when Zack Snyder left, Whedon was seemingly living every nerd’s dream. In 2020, though, Justice League star Ray Fisher made accusations about Whedon’s unprofessional, toxic behavior, resulting in Warner Bros. launching an investigation into the matter, and various of Fisher’s costars supporting the actor’s remarks.
Then, in 2021, Buffy and Angel star Charisma Carpenter shared her own accusations of Whedon’s toxic behavior, with her costars Amber Benson and Michelle Trachtenberg supporting these claims and sharing details of similar encounters with the figure. Whedon had no involvement in the Buffy reboot.
Even with the shock that Hulu decided not to revive Buffy, this isn’t the first time that a revival series seemed like an obvious win, only to have the rug pulled out from the creators. In 2017, Kevin Bacon reprised his role as Valentine McKee from the original 1990 movie Tremors for a SYFY series. While the show earned a pilot, the network opted not to move forward with the series in 2018. Despite the star power of Bacon and his own enthusiasm for the revival, the project has never seen the light of day.
Though there might be inherent dangers in a Buffy series seeing the light of day, hopefully fans get to see it in some form without it bursting into flames.
