Cue the Nerf Herder. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is reportedly returning to TV with a reboot-sequel series that will see Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising her role as the SoCal slayer of the supernatural. According to reports from Hollywood trades Deadline and Variety, a new Buffy series is “nearing a pilot order” at Hulu, and that pilot will be directed by none other than Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals).
According to Variety, while Gellar will return as Buffy, the series will focus on a new slayer. Gellar would appear in a recurring role, not as its lead star.
Sister writing team Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, showrunners on Poker Face, are said to be writing the pilot, executive producing, and showrunning the sequel series. Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon is reportedly not involved.
“[Buffy] was everything for me for a few years in college,” Zhao told Google in a 2022 interview, describing herself as a “fangirl” of the show. “Vampires, witchcraft, teen romance, I mean what else do you want?”
The character of Buffy Summers first appeared in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was written by Whedon and starred Kristy Swanson as the titular high schooler/slayer. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was reimagined as a television series in 1997, and ran for seven seasons — the first five on The WB and the final two on UPN. The series amassed a fervent fanbase, thanks to its humor, LGBT themes, melodramatic twists, and memorable villains.
Gellar has previously dismissed returning to Buffy, but left the door open for another slayer to take up the mantle. “I am all for them continuing the story, because there’s the story of female empowerment,” Gellar told SFX magazine in 2023. “I love the way the show was left: ‘Every girl who has the power can have the power.’ It’s set up perfectly for someone else to have the power.”
In addition to Gellar, the Buffy TV series also starred Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Stewart Head, David Boreanaz, Seth Green, and James Marsters. Boreanaz’s character Angel was spun off for his own series, which ran for five seasons. After Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s seven-season run, Whedon oversaw three more “seasons” in comic book form. Publisher Dark Horse released dozens of Buffy comic stories, and the character has been further explored in audio series and young-adult novels.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is currently streaming on Hulu.
