So Maybe That 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Reboot Won't Be About Buffy After All ...

By Tori Preston | TV | July 26, 2018 |

By Tori Preston | TV | July 26, 2018 |

Just yesterday the Overlords discussed the news that the classic, totally realistic teen coming-of-age story Buffy the Vampire Slayer would be getting a reboot, courtesy of Midnight, Texas creator Monica Owusu-Breen (her other writing credits include Fringe and another Whedon-related venture, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). But other than her involvement, not a lot of other information was available. As Deadline put it:

The new version, which will be pitched to streaming and cable networks this summer, will be contemporary, building on the mythology of the original. Per the producers: “Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today.”

According to sources, the diversity in the show’s description reflects the producers’ intention for the new slayer to be African American. The sources cautioned that the project is still in nascent stages with no script, and many details are still in flux.

In our discussion, the Overlords expressed certain concerns regarding rebooting the series, but generally were optimistic. Buffy has already existed as a movie, a TV series, and in comic book form for many years — and to be fair, certain aspects of its earlier iterations haven’t aged well. If done with a sense of purpose and a unique perspective (i.e. not just pandering to our nostalgia), there certainly could be room for a new Buffy to fit the times we’re living in. Or, better yet — a completely new Vampire Slayer.

Turns out, Owusu-Breen is on the same page.

pic.twitter.com/Sdz4oKh3gM

— monicaowusubreen (@monicabreen) July 26, 2018

Today she posted a note to her Twitter, reassuring Buffy fans that she “wouldn’t try to” replace the core characters of the original series. And then she goes on to say:

But here we are, twenty years later… And the world seems a lot scarier. So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer…

Introducing a new Slayer into the established Buffy-verse is feasible, given that the series ended with Buffy sharing her powers to awaken a whole buncha Slayers (a storyline that then was developed further in additional “seasons” of the story, told in comic book form). And doing so might go a long way toward resolving justifiable concerns that simply rebooting Buffy herself as an African American character would be handing down the role, rather than creating a new role for an African American actress to inhabit without being compared to Sarah Michelle Gellar.

As ever, we’ll have to wait and see what shape this new Vampire Slayer story will take.