Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Brian Richards | TV | March 15, 2026
This past Tuesday marked the 29th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiering on The WB, a.k.a. the greatest television network in all of existence. After five seasons on The WB, two seasons on UPN (You remember UPN, right? The network that gave us Veronica Mars, but also blessed us with Shasta McNasty and America's Next Top Model?), and five additional seasons told in the pages of comic books, it was announced in February 2025 that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival series was coming to Hulu. Titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, it would be developed with the participation of Sarah Michelle Gellar, and without any involvement by Joss Whedon, whose career and reputation have been ruined for too many reasons that have already been written about elsewhere, and for reasons that are entirely of his own doing.
Unfortunately, yesterday brought some bad news for everyone who was looking forward to seeing how the revival series would turn out, as it was announced that Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale was no longer moving forward at Hulu.
From Variety:
The Buffy sequel series was first announced in February 2025 as a pilot order at Hulu. Hamnet director Chloé Zhao was set to direct and executive-produce the new iteration, which was set up at 20th Television and Searchlight Television.The project, titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, would have starred Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new slayer, with original series star Gellar reprising her role as Buffy in a recurring capacity. The pilot also starred Faly Rakotohavana as Hugo, Ava Jean as Larkin, Sarah Bock as Gracie, Daniel di Tomasso as Abe, and Jack Cutmore-Scott as Mr. Burke.
A source close to the show indicated that despite the reboot not moving forward, there is a "lot of love" for Buffy, and the streamer will still consider future iterations on the IP: "Basically, the door is still open."
Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman were attached to write, showrun and executive produce New Sunnydale, with EPs Gellar, Gail Berman, Fran Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui, and Dolly Parton. Original series creator Joss Whedon was not involved in the reboot.
Sarah Michelle Gellar used her Instagram page to break the news to her fans and followers, while also expressing both her disappointment and her hope that there would soon be better news regarding the future of Buffy.
It remains unknown as to why the development of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale was suddenly brought to a halt. Did Disney and Hulu lose their faith in what the series would do, and how they would do it? Was there trouble in the writers' room regarding the quality of the scripts? Should the pilot have been directed by someone other than Chloé Zhao? (Yes, there are some people on social media who are actually saying this.) Was this another Daredevil: Born Again-type situation where the studio wasn't happy with what the showrunners were doing, and felt it necessary to kick them to the curb and start all over again from scratch? Until cast and crew members involved with New Sunnydale begin spilling some tea off the record to entertainment journalists looking into the matter, questions like these will remain unanswered for now, but it sure as hell won't stop people on Wunmi Mosaku's Internet from coming up with their own theories as to why this happened.
Much like when Warner Bros. shelved Batgirl and prevented it from ever seeing the light of day, some people are suspecting that Hulu pulled the plug on New Sunnydale because the pilot was incredibly bad, though they're still hoping that it somehow gets leaked so they can decide for themselves. Others are of the belief that Buffy should be left alone, and that this recent news about its attempted revival is a good and necessary sign that the days of television shows constantly being rebooted and revived are finally coming to an end. (That end won't be here before the arrival of Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair; The X-Files revival series developed by Ryan Coogler; the Desperate Housewives reboot Wisteria Lane; the reboot of Prison Break, which will hopefully include another main character named after a sex act, and the censors just shrugging in response. And let's not forget that Scrubs returned to television just last month.)
There is still the possibility that Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale will find a new home with another streaming service or network. But until we find out if that happens, all we can do is wait and wonder if yet another beloved slayer of vampires will ever have good luck in making a successful return with new adventures for fans to watch and enjoy.
