It appears Buffy the Vampire Slayer is being rebooted after 15 years off the air. Joss Whedon will be the executive producer and Monica Owusu-Breen (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Alias, Charmed) has been hired to write the series.
The rumor is that the new series will feature an African American actress as Buffy, with an all new cast to play the Scoobies. There has been no mention of any original cast members being involved, as of yet.
As a die-hard Buffy fan, I am not terribly excited about this reboot. The fact is, we got Roseanne back with the original cast. We got Arrested Development back with the original cast. Hell, we even got Gilmore Girls back with the original cast, but Buffy has to be brand new? Why, when there are so many angles they could take for the new show?
For example, they could’ve followed Buffy’s life after she stopped the Uber Vamps and The First from destroying the world. Maybe Buffy now works with those slayers to protect whatever new town she lives in and maybe, just maybe, has a child of her own. She could be a killer single mom, just like the amazing Joyce was. That would be such a great tribute to Kristine Sutherland who, for obvious reasons, couldn’t come back to the show, but was like a second mother to us all.
I would suggest perhaps following the post series comic storyline, but I fear the cast has aged too much to pull off a story taking place so soon after the show’s ending.
Let’s not ignore the fact that we, the fans, still have questions. Did Willow stay with Kennedy? Because we all know they didn’t fit well together. Fact: Kennedy < Tara.
How is Xander functioning in construction with one eye? Did he find love after Anya? Has Dawn gotten less annoying? What happened to Andrew? Is there even enough evil left in the world now that every potential slayer has gotten their powers and what is that female empowered world like?
Look, if they couldn’t get the original cast to sign on, they would have focused on one of the potential slayers and made a spin-off. I feel like fans would embrace a spin-off much better than a complete reboot, but instead they decided to ignore the seven seasons of female empowerment that Buffy created, that Sarah Michelle Gellar created, and start over fresh.
Keep the African American slayer! I’m all for it. Hey, Rona (Indigo) was a great potential slayer. Show us what she’s got! Hell, team her up with her own set of Scoobies for all I care, but I feel it is a mistake to ignore the original show all together.
There is room here for new fans and a new generation of young females who will feel the empowerment that Buffy gave us all, just don’t forget about those of us who still need it and could benefit from seeing an aged Buffy kicking ass to remind us that age doesn’t diminish our strength.
