David Boreanaz Wants Fans to Embrace ‘Buffy’ Reboot

David Boreanaz, best known for his role as Angel in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and his eponymous spinoff, hopes the in-the-works Buffy reboot proves itself a “huge” hit.

“Let’s just embrace it,” Boreanaz said during his New York Comic Con panel Friday.

“Think about it this way. I’m very happy for them. They want to embrace a new generation. Everyone wants old, they want to go back. I understand that, but things move on, times change, things evolve and I think it’s a great opportunity to show where we are in society now and what people do with technology and show that now with those same human interactions [from the original series]. You have to realize we started it, and we’re proud of that. If someone can step in my shoes and play my character that’s great, because I’m not putting that makeup back on. I hope it’s huge.”

Of his atonement-seeking vampire Angel, Boreanaz said the character “was a fantastic character to play.”

“I share him with people. I did great shows with him,” he said. “How many people have played Batman, or other superheroes?”

Whedon, who created the original hit series, serves as executive producer on the reboot, which will see a black actress assume the role formerly filled by Sarah Michelle Gellar. Monica Owusu-Breen (Alias, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) has been tapped as showrunner.

Shortly after announcing the project, Owusu-Breen said the fan-favorite supernatural horror series is her Star Wars, explaining there “is only one Buffy” but adding there is room for a new take on the character.

“Before I became a writer, I was a fan. For seven seasons, I watched Buffy Summers grow up, find love, kill that love. I watched her fight, and struggle and slay. There is only one Buffy. One Xander, one Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel… They can’t be replaced,” she wrote in a July 26 tweet.

“Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to. But here we are, 20 years later… and the world seems a lot scarier. So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer… And that’s all I can say.”

The reboot is now in development at 20th Century Fox Television.