The new Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival has officially been slayed.
Sarah Michelle Gellar was set to reprise her iconic role as Buffy Summers in the sequel series, Buffy: New Sunnydale, with actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong cast as the new Slayer. Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) had a clear creative vision for the project and directed the pilot episode. Despite the high‑profile talent and strong legacy behind it, Hulu ultimately decided not to move forward with the series.
Disney, which owns the rights to Buffy, seemed like the perfect home for the revival—especially with Hulu under the Disney umbrella. Instead, the new series was metaphorically staked through the heart before it had a chance to truly begin.
So what went wrong?
At this point, all we have are rumors and speculation. Gellar has since revealed that one of the executives involved was openly hostile to the project from the start. According to her, the executive—who she described as male—was not a fan of the original series and made it known repeatedly.
“We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn’t for him,” Gellar said. “That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one.”
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
Other reports suggested that the original script and pilot episode were not particularly strong. A major rewrite reportedly took place, but even that wasn’t enough to save the series.
Whether this was the result of creative issues, executive resistance, or a combination of both remains unclear. It’s also possible that Disney and Hulu simply chose to cut their losses quietly.
Whatever the reason, the result is the same: fans—myself included—are left disappointed and once again longing for more Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
(Via THR)
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