The Buffy reboot is back again
February 3, 2025 2:51 PM   Subscribe

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is coming back to stake the undead, in a new sequel series reboot from Hulu. "Although the series is still using the title Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Buffy sequel series will focus on a new Slayer. Gellar would appear in a recurring role, rather than leading this reboot series." SMG will be around a bit. Joss Whedon will not be at all. It will be on Hulu.
posted by jenfullmoon (52 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
I really wish they gave us middle-aged Buffy, staking vampires in sensible shoes and dealing with all the middle-aged stuff.
posted by signal at 3:09 PM on February 3 [50 favorites]


Like backaches and cramps...
posted by y2karl at 3:11 PM on February 3 [5 favorites]


World-weary vampire slayer called out of retirement….
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:23 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]


I’m telling you, this wouldn’t have happened if we could have just elected Kamala Harris.

I’m convinced that until we make meaningful changes, our timeline is going to keep foisting “learning opportunities” on us.

Disco’s next people. Do you want more disco!!!
posted by ifatfirstyoudontsucceed at 3:25 PM on February 3 [7 favorites]


They have to be trying to get Anthony Stewart Head back, right? I feel like he's almost as necessary as SMG.
posted by grandiloquiet at 3:31 PM on February 3 [14 favorites]


Are we really this desperate for ideas?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:38 PM on February 3 [14 favorites]


They have to be trying to get Anthony Stewart Head back, right?

SMG's Buffy is the right age to be the new Giles.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 3:40 PM on February 3 [28 favorites]


Are we really this desperate for ideas?

Careful, or they’ll reboot Angel, too.
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:41 PM on February 3 [15 favorites]


They should reboot The Pink Opaque (some spoilers for I Saw the TV Glow: 1, 2, 3, 4).

More seriously, I hope the best for the new folks attached to this, SMG, and whatever audience they find for their show. Trying to imagine it myself, I just keep running into conflicted feelings. Like, my Buffy nostalgia level still sits at 'I remember the lyrics to OMWF in English and French,' but for a lot of reasons, I'm OK with letting that be where it rests.
posted by Wobbuffet at 3:43 PM on February 3 [7 favorites]


Careful, or they’ll reboot Angel, too.

It just seems really pitiful. The original show was on at least two years too long as it is, lol.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:44 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]


Awesome, looking forward to it!
posted by one for the books at 3:49 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]


As a show, Buffy seemed to have said everything it had to say, where a teenager worked her way through high school, college, and early life as a grown and independent adult. What new things would they say with a reboot? I'd love it if they brought back Firefly or the world it inhabited. Probably the only Whedon reboot I'd bother with.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:03 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]


Buffy in the Nursing Home a'la Bruce Campbell in Bubba Ho-tep (with Ossie Davis).
posted by aleph at 4:09 PM on February 3 [14 favorites]


when i saw this in passing i thought it would be middle aged slayer called back to the fight, and maybe anthony head also back as her watcher… that sounded like a great premise. really disappointed now, but i guess i can’t escape my millennial destiny of at least watching the pilot for this. interested to see what a buffy show is like without the whedon of it all. maybe fewer plot lines will revolve around really cringe horny teenage boys
posted by dis_integration at 4:10 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]


Whatever y'all I'm psyched for this.
posted by Navelgazer at 4:11 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]


Disco’s next people. Do you want more disco!!!

Hell, yeah!!!
posted by y2karl at 4:14 PM on February 3 [6 favorites]


I did tap out of Buffy sometime after the whole Government Zombie Cyborg... thing, but I also got my minor Comparative Religion and mystery traditions in some part because I wanted to be Rupert Giles when I grew up.

So on balance, I'll probably watch it and write long-winded litanies of criticism about it on FanFare. So everybody wins I guess?
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 4:16 PM on February 3 [18 favorites]


Once more, with feeling.

I can hope, at least.
posted by martin q blank at 4:19 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]


I'd much rather see a sequel show than a full reboot, but if Buffy's not the lead my interest level drops sharply. And why the heck are they calling it Buffy the Vampire Slayer if Buffy's not the lead? I mean, yeah, there's the name recognition, but it's weird to call a show Buffy if Buffy only shows up twice a season. Also, there was already a show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Giving your new show the same damn title will just lead to a mess like the Battlestar Galactica reboot of the early 2000s, where people have to say stuff like, "I was a big fan of Battlestar Galactica. I mean, the new one. Well, it's not new, but the one that's newer than the older one." (Every now and again there's talk of a new reboot, and I shudder to think what'll happen if that one is also called Battlestar Galactica. "I love Battlestar Galactica. I mean, not the new show, the older one. No, not the original, I mean the reboot. No, not the new reboot...")
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:27 PM on February 3 [7 favorites]


Creative bankruptcy issues aside, I can see the potential appeal of a Buffy reboot/sequel. That show is over a generation old now - I'm sure I work with people who may have heard of it (though I wouldn't put money on it) but have certainly never watched it, so the whole "high school trials and tribulations" theme that is trite and done for us is still new to them. Sure, they could track down the original series, but why would they?

Unfortunately, speaking from the experience of The Nevers on HBO, a Joss Whedon show sans Joss Whedon has a very high potential for suckitude, so I don't have high hopes for it.
posted by Pedantzilla at 4:39 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]


"Unfortunately, speaking from the experience of The Nevers on HBO, a Joss Whedon show sans Joss Whedon has a very high potential for suckitude, so I don't have high hopes for it."

Uhm, Joss W was involved with the writing and production of the show (just not the actuall showrunning towards the end) so it was very much a Joss W production.

The Never's suffered precisely because it was a Joss W wholesale production.
posted by Faintdreams at 5:04 PM on February 3 [2 favorites]


the whole "high school trials and tribulations" theme that is trite and done for us is still new to them

Every new generation of high school students deserves their own entertainment based on this incredible time in their lives.

Emphasis on their own. This isn't that.
posted by Lemkin at 5:26 PM on February 3 [7 favorites]


Uhm, Joss W was involved with the writing and production of the show (just not the actuall showrunning towards the end) so it was very much a Joss W production.

Uhm, you're thinking of "Part 1" only, which was uniformly fantastic; by "Part 2" he had been completely defenestrated, and it showed. Per Wikipedia:
On November 25, 2020, Whedon announced that he was stepping down from the series... Production on the final six episodes of the first season began in June 2021...
posted by Pedantzilla at 5:43 PM on February 3


All those Buffy Season 8/9 comic books were sold as "canonical" continuations. But they also featured substantial Whedon involvement. So I suspect they are now expunged? Which is kind of a shame, because Spike gallivanting around in a space ship was objectively funny.
posted by meehawl at 5:55 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]


SMG's Buffy is the right age to be the new Giles.

This initially made me want to throw up a little in my mouth. It's a complete inversion of Buffy's character and I don't like it!

Then I remembered that Giles was a hellraiser in his youth, and if the Ripper can become a Watcher, why the heck can't Buffy?!?

Sign me up for StuffyBuffy, who constantly harps on the new Slayer's boisterous high school highjinx, while those of us from her generation know the real story. I kinda love it. No notes.
posted by ifatfirstyoudontsucceed at 6:07 PM on February 3 [21 favorites]


Nerdist says the new show “is still using the title Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” but the Variety article they cite calls it an “untitled project.”

Perhaps they are both right and it will eventually be announced with a subtitle (Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Next Generation, or whatnot).
posted by mbrubeck at 6:23 PM on February 3


I have extremely low expectations for this. Modern reboots always suck. The OG show was always walking a tone tightrope (i.e. weaving comedy, fantasy, drama, etc.) and I just have absolutely zero faith that they could find a modern showrunner and writing team who have the ability and episode order to come remotely close to the original. It's gonna be the modern slop -- VFX over everything else, baffling storytelling, unknowable character decisions, weapons grade cringe dialog that's trying to be hip, mystery box macguffin non-payoffs, "it's a 6 hour movie" horseshit, etc.etc. Modern tv is dumb as shit you guys. I don't want to see the Buffy that comes out that factory. Sorry. Just leave it.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:51 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]


A. If this is Buffy the Watcher, I’m in.
B. Yes, I would like more disco. Where do I sign?
posted by threecheesetrees at 7:30 PM on February 3 [5 favorites]


Bored now.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:48 PM on February 3 [23 favorites]


Cautiously optimistic.

The AMC reboot of Interview with the Vampire has been pretty stunning so far, but that's a TV-serial reboot of two (separate) movies based on the same novels, so there's plenty of room left to explore. It's hard to make the same case for a Buffy reboot, after seven seasons of the original series.

Still, a Buffy reboot could benefit a great deal from a more diverse cast, if the writing/directing set them up for success, as is the case with IwtV. Perhaps more important: the IwtV reboot has an incredible ~hook~ (or central theme) that I never anticipated going in. If the Buffy reboot can find something like that that wasn't in the original series (which had several such hooks over the course of seven seasons), it may just work brilliantly.

I don't know. When I watched the Dead Boy Detectives Netflix series last year, it struck me how much nicer the show and production treated its queer/POC characters and audiences, compared to my fandom experiences with the BBC series Merlin around 2010. The queerbaiting and POC marginalization from Merlin then, and other YA-oriented shows like Teen Wolf and Supernatural around the same time ...

Not trying to re-litigate those shows/fandoms (iirc MetaFilter already did a post on that topic a while back). Just saying: I am interested to see what a Buffy series could do today, working with all the progress that's been made in the YA fantasy genre. For starters, ~kids today~ would pick up on the predatory nature of Angel/Buffy right away, and kick Xander to the curb after two episodes.
posted by fatehunter at 10:04 PM on February 3 [11 favorites]


Hmmm, I’m not optimistic but I’m willing to be surprised- I suspect that the streaming production values and style could be the biggest cramp to a new Buffy finding its style. And, yes, I would much rather watch “Buffy the perimenopausal vampire slayer”, but streaming tv is convinced that it needs wide segment appeal, and that means they can only make tv shows about beautiful young people.
posted by The River Ivel at 2:36 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]


Big dumb idea: if the copyright holders remake / reboot a work, the original work immediately enters the creative commons.

I'm playing FF7 Remake atm, and I'm glad it exists, because a big slice of stodgy nostalgia is very welcome right now. But despite it being made by the original creators, with a massive budget, my reaction is basically "well, I guess that's one take on FF7". I have so many critiques, big and small. Like, I think the polo shirts of the background characters are fundamentally misguided. But no one is ever going to create another version, so we'll never get to see other interesting interpretations of the original.

So, we either have just the original, or anyone can have a go at reinterpreting it.

With better polo shirts.
posted by Hermione Dies at 3:26 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]


they can only make tv shows about beautiful young people

To paraphrase George Carlin: There’s a prime demographic and you ain’t in it.
posted by Lemkin at 6:09 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]


I'm totally conflicted on this. Buffy was my top show of all time, I'd love to see it spread to a new generation, without Joss, because now I can't tell people to watch the show because of Joss. I want SMG back.

But calling it Buffy and not having it Buffy? Some young hottie (I agree, that's required these days, sigh) really being the lead? And frankly, I'm afraid we're gonna get "gas leak season" to have someone other than Joss running the show, even if we need to have someone other than Joss running the show.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:10 AM on February 4


I would be totally up for a 'Buffy *cough cough* many years on' show with SMG's Buffy as Watcher to a new Slayer or Slayers - they kind of kicked the 'one Slayer at a time' thing out of the park at the end of the last season (I neither know nor care about alleged comic adaptations). It would be really interesting to explore! But I don't think they're going to do that.

Would need to recast Spike though, unfortunately.
posted by ngaiotonga at 6:44 AM on February 4 [1 favorite]


I think Poker Face has shown that Nora and Lilla Zuckerman are the real deal, and I totally believe that they can bring their own sensibility to this which is distinct from Joss Whedon's but still walks the tonal tightrope here (though they might do well to bring on Jane Espenson.) I'm somewhat warier about Chloe Zhao directing the pilot, as she's a super-skilled director but I'm not sure that I've seen her demonstrate any kind of facility with comedy before, and that's a pretty necessary element here. Still, it's very possible that that's in her toolbox and I just haven't seen it yet.

I hope they have a really good casting director.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:48 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]


I like Michelle Gellar, and if this gets us more Michelle Gellar, I'm cool with that. If it gets more diversity on the tv, especially in these current times, I'm cool with that. I'll give it a chance if it gets picked up with no expectation other than the atmosphere of the show, the willingness to bounce from OMWF to "The Body" and everything in between in terms of the writing and mood. If they do something completely different with the same label, that's fine, too, but make it good, it's all I ask.

Just don't have anything to do with bunnies.
posted by Atreides at 6:55 AM on February 4 [2 favorites]


Back in the day, before we had kids, Tuesday night Buffy/Angel was a total thing for Ms. Hobnail and me and a couple of friends. One of the friends died tragically a few months after both shows went off the air, so it was one of those things where we never rewatched any of it because it brought back too many memories.

Fast-forward to a couple of years ago, when we're like OMG we have teen daughters now, they'll love it, and sat them both down. And... gentle watchers, the shows are terrible. Our kids HATED them, especially Buffy: we all agreed that Angel is much more consistent at putting out decent quality episodes. Three out of four Buffy episodes are just kind of crappy, and then the fourth one is really good. We eventually had to argue that at the time, nobody was doing anything like it, which is what made it special. And oh lord Xander is a gaping problem. What an asshole: 'heart of the team' my butt.

My point here is that in the absence of some kind of top-shelf writing team, nobody is going to watch the reboot after the first episode except a bunch of mostly-women Millennials who are not the advertisers' target demographic.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 7:19 AM on February 4 [6 favorites]


By my eye, this announcement counts as good news these days. Make of that what you will.
posted by mazola at 8:55 AM on February 4 [1 favorite]


I had a dream last night that during this reboot, they discovered an alternate timeline where Cordelia didn't move to LA and become part of Angel's squad and therefore never had all the horrible shit of season five happen to her. AUCordy was a little more blunt and less evolved than season 4 AngelCordy but god I was so happy to have her back and in the show.

Obviously my brain desperately wants to undo the horrible shit Joss did, hopefully this reboot can do some of that. Also, please lord, don't let them bring Nick Brenden back as Xander. That poor man is a mess and needs waaaaay more treatment before he's ready for primetime.
posted by teleri025 at 9:25 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]


> ifatfirstyoudontsucceed: "Disco’s next people. Do you want more disco!!!"

tbh i do want more disco
posted by mhum at 9:28 AM on February 4 [4 favorites]


They should do a continuation with all the

spoilers on a series that ended decades ago just in case...
billions of girls who now have powers. I'd love to see them develop what such a society would be like a generation later.

posted by joannemerriam at 9:54 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]


Modern tv is dumb as shit you guys.

Severance has entered the chat
posted by cooker girl at 10:22 AM on February 4 [3 favorites]


I had a dream last night that during this reboot, they discovered an alternate timeline where Cordelia didn't move to LA and become part of Angel's squad and therefore never had all the horrible shit of season five happen to her

I haven't listened to it, but there's a recent podcast drama that's kind of this, set in an alternate timeline where Buffy wasn't born, and Cordelia became the slayer. At least a few of the original actors are in it.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 10:52 AM on February 4 [1 favorite]


Also, please lord, don't let them bring Nick Brenden back as Xander. That poor man is a mess and needs waaaaay more treatment before he's ready for primetime.

Given his multiple domestic violence charges, substance abuse problems, and general health issues, I strongly suspect that Brendon is not currently employable as a working actor.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:02 AM on February 4 [6 favorites]


B. Yes, I would like more disco. Where do I sign?

Pandora has a channel called Nu Disco that I highly recommend.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:31 AM on February 4


Oh, oh, oh, oh slayin' the hive, slayin' the hive
Oh, oh, oh, oh slayin' the hiiiii-iiiiiii-iiiiiiii-iiv'e ooh!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:09 PM on February 4 [5 favorites]


a series that ended decades ago

what? surely not. i mean ... oh.

oh.
posted by Gerald Bostock at 1:16 PM on February 4 [7 favorites]


One the one hand, is it too much to ask for that this generation's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is not actually BtVS but a show that brings someone else's unique vision, milieu and characters to the fore rather than filtering Joss Whedon's as various comics, books and audio plays have already done?

On the other hand, a staggering number of revamp puns to be made.

So torn.
posted by Sparx at 1:53 PM on February 4 [9 favorites]


Don't make your decision lightly.

Too much at stake.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:30 PM on February 4 [9 favorites]


Buffy remains a formative show for me, and I'm in the camp of being excited for this, and fairly optimistic based on who all is involved. Then again, maybe it's Lucy with the football again because I was similarly excited for Veronica Mars season 4, but so be it.
posted by Pryde at 9:03 PM on February 4 [6 favorites]


Who's the GenZ writer capturing the zeitgeist for this? Who's the expected audience, and why isn't this short films on a micro-video service like Tiktok?
posted by k3ninho at 8:10 AM on February 8


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