As the saying goes, “To every generation a slayer is born,” and as of right now, we are two decades overdue for a Buffy sequel with a new titular badass to fight the baddies.
Since its conclusion in 2003, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has been a pop-culture staple, with its cultural cache even surviving its creator’s “outing” as a sexual harasser and predator, albeit with a slightly tarnished reputation. But with the news that not only will original Buffy actor Sarah Michelle Gellar be returning to show the new slayer the old ropes, Buffy fans can begin our frothing at the potential for more beloved characters reappearing after more than twenty years away.
While details about the new iteration of Buffy are sparse — Cordelia actor Charisma Carpenter noting she’d love to return and the placeholder name for the new slayer Nova revealed to Newsweek — this gives us fans free license to imagine all the wonders that might be.
Starting with: Who else of the old cast will be returning? Our friendly neighborhood demon-turned-human Anya (Emma Caulfield) was tragically lost at the end of Buffy’s final episode “Chosen” when the team squared off against their most formidable foe in the First Evil. But might she return in spirit or memory? Spike (James Marsters) was presumed dead in Buffy, but reappeared in Angel — could this fan favorite antihero reprise his role? Please say yes. While we’re at it: Might Angel (David Boreanaz) himself return to the Buffy-verse too? Don’t make me beg.
This also leaves the fates of the rest of the Scoobies up for grabs in a sequel too, including beloved Giles (Anthony Head), Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicholas Brendan), and aforementioned Cordelia to bring into the mix. Even just one appearance of these original cast members would be enough for me. For better or worse, I’d love to see where my old friends have ended up, even though sometimes this can be a curse in the form of a blessing. *I’m looking at you, Sex and the City reboot with your boatloads of nonsense.*
With Michelle Trachtenberg’s shocking and untimely death earlier this year, let’s just hope the show doesn’t CGI Buffy’s enchanted sister Dawn back into existence, and instead offer a suitable off-camera ending for that complicated (and contentious) character.
When Buffy the Vampire Slayer aired its final hour, we also had a huge host of potential slayers come into power when Buffy Summers briefly died during the showdown with the Master, including Faith (Eliza Dushku), who also lived to fight another day. Might some of them join the new members of Nova Slayer’s cadre?
And another huge question becomes: Will all of the slayer powers bestowed on all the potentials by Willow during her megawitch moment still have persisted? If yes, then this could offer us an entirely different world of slayers than we were first introduced to with Buffy and her crew — one that isn’t as hierarchical or even patriarchal at all with a sisterhood of slayers working together to fight evil. That would be amazing and meaningful. Not to mention optimistic amid an active Hellmouth, even if the women are all still bound together in a battle against wicked forces of murder and destruction.
Speaking of evil forces: Buffy and her crew’s last knockdown-throwout was against the First Evil. Might we predict that — especially given the current political climate — it would make sense that the Big Bad of the Buffy sequel might be the Newest Evil, something political in nature rather than fundamentally supernatural? This is a show that has never failed to call out toxic masculinity in all of its grotesque forms, from the Master (Mark Metcalf) to Mayor Wilkins (Harry Groening) and the First Evil himself. Yes, it’s ironic given Buffy creator Joss Whedon’s own penchant for toxic masculinity. But taking a new iteration of the story into overt political satire territory would be timely and important. A key way to fight fascism is through art, and horror media has always done just that. Here’s wishing that the new Buffy will stay the course.
Buffy was always ahead of the pack when it came to queer representation when it offered us Willow and Tara’s (Amber Benson) epic love affair, so let’s take it next level with the sequel show with some solid trans representation into the mix. This could also be a sociocultural countering o f the gruesome wave of anti-trans sentiment being espoused by the current real-life political regime.
Of course, I have to mention my yearning for at least one musical episode to echo one of the best hours in television history, Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Once More with Feeling.” None of us long-time fans have forgotten the absolute wonder as this episode unfolded in song and dance and has continued to shape television shows across genres in the years since, from The Umbrella Academy to The L Word. Please let the new iteration follow suit.
But I think the most important thing on my mind for an impactful fresh start to the Buffyverse would be more women of color in actual three-dimensional roles. The original series might have done a lot for empowering white women, but it failed Black women especially egregiously — I’ve broken down all these terrible missteps here — and a sequel show is a perfect opportunity for sociocultural reparations. One of the key ways to accomplish this is by having writers of color behind the scenes, making sure these characters come out right on screen. My biggest hope is for representation across the board, not lip service.
And finally, let’s pray this sequel is simply good. We don’t need any more half-baked follow-ups cashing in on fan goodwill without offering anything of substance to the community. Keep it smart, snappy, and creative, and this Buffy reboot could be the highlight for an entirely new generation of viewers.
