Buffy is back y’all…
That’s right, a revival, reboot, continuation, or remake is in the works at Hulu, according to Buffy Anne Summers herself (yes, that is her middle name), Sarah Michelle Gellar. Via Instagram, she confirmed that she is working with Chloe Zhao on a follow-up to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
My first reaction, of course, was to be super-hyped about this return to the Slayerverse. However, it also gives me a sense of existential dread. I want to believe that it can hit the same heights as its original run, but there are definitely reasons to be nervous.
Here’s why.
OK OK OK, so I know this is a controversial topic but Joss Whedon was a big reason why Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a success in the first place. His writing was quippy before quippy was cringe. It was packed full of pop culture references, humor, drama, and great storytelling. Joss was never afraid of killing main characters, swerving expectations and making you empathise with survivors. The finale of Season 5 still gets me to this day.
However, Joss has been well and truly cancelled. There were those Ray Fisher bullying accusations, echoed by Charisma Carpenter’s experiences. On top of that, he was put under the spotlight for his adulterous actions whilst married to Kai Cole. Weirdly, this was antithetical to his overarching messages in Buffy. According to reports, he was just kinda a dick.
But, man, could he write great scripts. Buffy, Angel, Firefly and The freaking Avengers. Bangers. I hope that the Buffy reboot doesn’t miss his vision too much.
This one is pretty raw. RIP Michelle Trachtenberg, the 39-year-old actress who played Dawn Summers in the show, Buffy’s sister. This one hit me really hard. Although Dawn wasn’t the most popular character, she was integral to the later seasons. I’m just really sad that someone so young and talented is gone too soon.
Aside from that, other legacy characters will be difficult to bring back for varied reasons. Xander actor Nicholas Brendon has had troubles with the law, and it is unlikely Hulu will want that kind of heat. Eliza Dushku (Faith) has retired from acting to become a medical psychedelics advocate. There are also people who may not want to return because of reported toxicity issues under Whedon.
And then there’s just the sands of time. All of the immortals in the show are, for good reason, showing their age. I mean, it’s been over 20 years! For however good they still look, James Marsters, David Boreanaz and the other classic vampires no longer look like they did when the show was in its heyday. The cast is going to look majorly different unless they use some weird CGI bs.
In every generation, a Slayer is born… She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires…
ALONE being key here. At the conclusion of Season 7, Willow used the power of the Hellmouth and a kickass axe to spread the love, as it were. That is, every potential Slayer became a full-fledged card-carrying Slayer. No longer alone, Buffy could effectively retire or at least take a prolonged vacation in Europe.
However, for all the cool possibilities this could provide a reboot storyline, it dilutes the premise. Buffy was pretty much isolated in her fight against the forces of evil. Yeah, she had her friends, and they helped a bunch, but it was her sole responsibility. Now that she has an army of young girls fighting for her, it presents a massive problem.
They’re too powerful.
This means either the writers need to find a foe bigger and badder than THE FIRST EVIL AND AN ARMY OF UBERVAMPS for them to fight, or they need to find a reason to separate a few from the pack with no chance to call the cavalry. You’ve got to find a threat worthy of the people who closed a freaking Hellmouth lest the Big Bad Villain look like a bunny rabbit… which, granted is damn scary, but still.
Go Woke, Go Broke.
We’ve heard that plenty of times over the last few years, right? It generally gets said when there’s inclusivity, whether it be gender, race or sexuality. I don’t think I remember a time when we’ve been more polarised as a society. Pffft, liberal elites and media pushing agendas. Pffft, racist fascists who don’t tolerate our way of life. It’s a nightmare out there.
So, how will Buffy fare? It originally aired in the mid-nineties, during the height of Girl Power. The Spice Girls were taking over the world, but there weren’t that many TV shows led by strong women. We had Xena, but not much else. Buffy filled that gap, the embodiment of female empowerment. And it was f*cking great.
But in this climate, will it run afoul of the woke police? I worry.
The short answer is yes. But should it?
When I think of the reboots from the last decade, there are examples of great ones, and there are examples of OH GOD MY EYES, TURN IT OFF, TURN IT OFF! And there are examples of everything in between. Sometimes these build on what has come before and sometimes they’re almost standalone.
For example, the Charmed reboot was objectively terrible but it doesn’t really link to the original series (or at least it didn’t by the time I stopped watching it). It didn’t taint the memories of the Halliwell sisters one bit. The Prison Break continuation, though? Woof. It retconned some pretty gnarly stuff to the point that it made the original run worse. That show was already losing its way in the final season, but OMG, what they did was unforgivable.
However, you could just ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist like I do with Rocky 5. Who said Rocky 5? That’s nonsensical. It goes from Rocky 4 straight to Rocky Balboa. No, you’re being weird.
