James Marsters Reveals Joss Whedon's Negative Reaction To Spike's Popularity

Things don't always go according to plan when it comes to television, and even the most thought out series and plans can be thrown out the window depending on the reaction fro the audience. Time and time again we've seen this play out in successful shows, and that's exactly what happened on Buffy The Vampire Slayer when the character of Spike (played by James Marsters) caught fire with fans. Spike was only supposed to pop up in season 2, and was not planned to become a romantic interest with Buffy, but that all changed because of his popularity, and as Marsters revealed on the new episode of the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast, Joss Whedon was pretty frustrated with that popularity and how it altered his vision for the show (via ScreenRant).

Spike was never meant to be a romantic character in any way and was certainly never going to be romantically linked to Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), but that's indeed what ended up happening, as during Spike's season 2 tenure he became a hit with fans. His story was pretty much done after the season 2 finale but was brought back because of how much fans loved him, and Marsters remembers one rather tense moment with Whedon as a result.

"I came along and I wasn't designed to be a romantic character, but then the audience reacted that way to it," Marsters said. "And I remember he backed me up against a wall one day and he was just like, 'I don't care how popular you are, kid, you're dead. You hear me? Dead. Dead!' And I was just like, 'Uh, you know, it's your football, man. OK.'"

Well, despite what Whedon wanted, he was far from dead and would go on to become a Buffy staple as well as a member of the final season of Angel's spinoff series. It seems Whedon got over it, but when Marsters was asked if Whedon was joking in that initial moment, Marsters said: "No, hell no." He was then asked if Whedon ever apologized, and he did not.

As for if Whedon was angry at him at the time, Marsters doesn't think so, saying "He was angry at the situation." Whedon wanted vampires on the show to be ugly and not portrayed as possible love interests, but that just didn't work out in the end. We can agree that was for the better though.

What do you think of Marsters' comments? Let us know in the comments and feel free to talk all things Buffy and Angel with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!