Over 20 years later, Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The hit series is being revived at Hulu, with a pilot ordered from director Chloé Zhao and writers Lilla and Nora Zuckerman. Titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, the focus will shift a little to a new Slayer, Nova (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), and her own Scooby Gang as they face the undead and myriad other demons, but Buffy Summers will be right there with her.
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While we’ve known about the revival for some time, it still feels shocking that it is actually happening. And perhaps no one is more stunned than Gellar herself. The idea of a Buffy continuation or reboot of some kind has been discussed a lot over the years, and the actress had previously always shot down the notion. Speaking with ComicBook‘s Bryan Cairns ahead of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Gellar was reminded that she’d previously told him “never,” regarding a potential return. When asked what had now changed, and why she was attracted to New Sunnydale, the actress explained:
“I actually like when people bring up that I said ‘never,’ because I really felt that way. So, lesson learned, first of all, young children… Never say never. Say, ‘I don’t see it happening,’ but don’t say ‘never,’ because then you have egg on your face.
“But I truly thought that’s where I was at. I never heard a take or a reason to do it. Then Chloé Zhao came to me, and she had the reasons, and she had the take. Also, I was in a different place. The world was in a different place. With that being said, it’s still taken us four years to get to this place because I would say, ‘Yes,’ and then I would call a month later and say, ‘No. No, no, no. I can’t.’ I’m Cameron Frye from Ferris Bueller. ‘Again, again, again…’
“I just asked people to give me the time and understand that it took us six years to get a sequel to Ready or Not. When you want to do things right, it takes time. Mind you, I also said no to Chloe many times in the beginning, as well. Her passion, and her reasoning for wanting to do it, and why now, and why it is necessary.”
Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Return Is A Great Sign For Buffy: New Sunnydale
I’ll admit that I was apprehensive about the idea of Buffy the Vampire Slayer coming back. Like many, I grew up with the show, and it’s firmly among my all-time favorites. There’s such a strong legacy there, and reboots so often get things wrong. But Gellar’s return, and reasoning for coming back after years of saying no, ease almost all concerns. As she tells us, “This is not a cash grab to have a job.”
It’s clear as day just how much she cares about the role, the show, its fandom, and its legacy, and that Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale will be respectful of all of that. It’s also clear that, if there weren’t a great idea here, one she herself wasn’t extremely passionate about and strongly believed in, then it wouldn’t be happening at all. With those things in mind, it’s difficult not to be excited about the potential of a new Buffy show.
Hopefully, it’s one that will strike the right balance between old and new, which seems to be the case so far. There are plenty of new characters, which is how it should be: it’s baked into the premise of Buffy that this is generational (even with the spell calling all the Potentials at the very end), so it makes sense to follow a new Slayer. It seems most likely that Gellar’s Buffy will be a mentor to Armstrong’s Nova, guiding her through her Slayer journey, while also facing her own challenges.
Even the return of Sunnydale fits with this. It appears as though there’s going to be the old ruins of the original town, and then the newly rebuilt version. The past will be there to inform the present, but it’s by mixing that with something new that Buffy the Vampire Slayer can stake out an exciting future in the TV landscape, and if Gellar is so optimistic about it, then who am I to disagree?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is available to stream on Hulu. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come hits theaters on March 20th.
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