The apocalypse must have come because Buffy Summers has been beeped. A sequel series set in the world of the beloved 1990s supernatural program Buffy the Vampire Slayer is officially in the works. So far, the only star confirmed to return is Sarah Michelle Gellar with no word yet on whether her former co-stars will also be appearing.
Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff series Angel clamored for decades after both series had ended for a new show or even a movie to follow more adventures. While Joss Whedon’s short-lived Western/Sci-Fi Firefly garnered enough of an outcry from fans to elicit a 2005 feature film entitled Serenity, both Buffyverse series did not receive similar treatment.
Buffy Sequel Series Recruits Oscar-Winning Talent
The official sequel series set in the Buffyverse, which has yet to be titled, will feature Sarah Michelle Gellar in a “recurring role” according to a report from Variety. The show will reportedly follow a new slayer as the lead character. Chloé Zhao, the two-time Academy Award-winning director of films such as Eternals and Nomadland, has been tapped to direct a set number of episodes. She also was an executive producer of the series through her production company Book of Shadows.
As of now, the only crew members from the original series officially slated to return are executive producer Gail Berman, who also held the same title on the series Angel, and husband and wife producing duo Fran and Kaz Kuzui, who retain some of the rights to the character of Buffy Summers. Another returning executive producer that may surprise some fans is the legendary singer-songwriter Dolly Parton.
Is Joss Whedon Involved?
The once-lauded writer-producer went on to work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to direct the first two Avengers films after both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel ended. He also worked with DC on the 2017 Warner Bros’ Justice League movie after director Zack Snyder stepped away from the project due to a family tragedy. Shortly after the release, Cyborg’s actor, Ray Fisher wrote what he experienced while Whedon was on set.
His co-star Gal Gadot, Buffy alums Charisma Carpenter and Michelle Trachtenberg, and others who had worked with Whedon publicly gave allegations soon after. In an interview Gadot had with Israeli news outlet N12, she shared that Whedon “kind of threatened my career and said if I did something, he would make my career miserable.”
While the Avengers filmmaker did publicly respond to most of the comments, his reputation in Hollywood was tarnished by the revelation. There is a batch of comics set after the events of the two Buffyverse series that he and many of the same writers under his Mutant Enemy production wrote. Many diehard fans didn’t consider them to be canonical.
According to Variety, he appears to not be involved with the project. Sister writing duo Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, who previously worked on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Rian Johnson’s streaming sleuth series Poker Face, will both serve as staff writers and the series’ showrunners.
What to Expect for Buffy Sequel
Both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, despite a few hit-or-miss episodes, were great staples of television back in the late 90s to mid-aughts. They ended on a cliffhanger for viewers to create their idealized version of what their favorite characters went on to do.
The powers that be potentially bringing the Buffyverse back does sound trite but there was some love for the recent audiobook for Slayers by Amber Benson and Chris Golden that featured the voices of Anthony Stewart Head and James Marsters. The production team sounds talented enough to make something special; hopefully, a strong cast alongside Gellar helps it truly be special.
