The new Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot will see Sarah Michelle Gellar returning as an older Slayer, working to train the next Chosen One. This will follow a similar storyline that started in the final season of the original series, as well as the idea of Buffy training new Slayers in the comic book run that continued the storyline. When speaking about the returning show, Gellar said that there were plenty of chances for former stars to return to the new series, and she said this could include characters who died in the original series’ run. This could provide some great surprise returns.
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However, while there are plenty of dead characters that could be fan favorite returns for the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, there is one character who should never return.
Joyce Should Stay Dead on Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot Series
Kristine Sutherland starred in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer series as Joyce Summers. As a character, Joyce appeared in 58 of the 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She was mainly there to provide Buffy with a secure home life she could return to when not slaying, although she also provided Buffy with a lot of stress because she knew she had to protect her mom from her life as the Slayer. Even when Joyce learned Buffy was a Slayer, she remained a source of stability for the young woman.
However, Joyce died, and the saddest part of her death was that it wasn’t from a vampire attack or a supernatural threat. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 5, a new sister showed up who never existed before, named Dawn, although the show indicated she had always been there. Joyce then contracts a brain tumor, and that is how she learned Dawn was not really her daughter, but a mystical creation. Joyce was still willing to be her mother, showing her purity and greatness.
However, the brain tumor was not going away, and in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode, “The Body,” Joyce dies. Joss Whedon later explained that the brain tumor represented nothing but cancer, and that this is a deadly disease that can take anyone’s loved one away. Buffy spent the entire series fighting vampires and monsters, and there was nothing she could fight to save her mother’s life. This episode was so hard to take because it cold-opened with Buffy coming in and calling for her mom, only to find her on the couch, already dead, and Buffy could only say, “Mommy?”
This extremely sad Buffy episode then played out with Buffy and the Scooby Gang struggling to understand what happened. It is one thing to bring back someone who died when a vampire attacked them. However, Joyce’s death was meant to force Buffy to grow up fast, as she was now responsible for raising her new sister, and she lost the one thing that gave her a home to return to. This was Buffy’s coming of age, and the reboot undoing this would ruin that moment.
Who Could Return from the dead in the Buffy Reboot?
While Joyce is the one character the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer should never bring back, several choices could be great, and one of them could solve a problem fans had with the finale. This would involve bringing back Anya. She was a demon who fell in love with Xander, had an irrational fear of bunnies, and Anya ended up as a fan favorite in the final seasons. Then, in the final episode, she died in the final battle, and no one said anything, mourned for her, or even seemed to notice. As a demon, she could return, and she should return because Anya deserves justice.
Another option to bring back is someone else who was killed without fanfare, even though she deserved so much better. Charisma Carpenter had an incredible transition, from the mean girl bully on Buffy to an ally to one of Angel’s greatest allies on the spinoff series. However, Cordeial died in one episode in Season 5, and that ended her time on the show in a way that her character did not deserve. There are several ways that Cordy could be brought back, and she would be a welcome addition.
There is one more character who could return from the dead, but it might have the same problem as Joyce’s return. Tara was murdered by the evil trio of nerds, and this was what caused Willow to go dark and almost kill everyone. This changed Willow, and her character had to learn to move on after her death. Bringing back Tara might undo Willow’s character development, but a return could give Willow her happily ever after moment that the original show robbed her of.
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