Yes, slayers, slayerettes, and assorted members of the Scooby Gang: We’ve been here before. The news has said “Buffy sequel!” or “Buffy reboot!” and some of us—the most optimistic or cynical, depending—have braced for impact. But nothing has come of these potential (sorry, I had to) shows.
This one seems like it might be different. Sources told Variety that “a sequel series to the beloved show Buffy the Vampire Slayer is nearing a pilot order at Hulu.”
“Nearing a pilot order” is closer to being a real thing than “in development,” though it is still not “greenlit to series,” which is when we really get excited and/or full of dread. Hulu, of course, did not comment, but Variety has a lot of details, including that many of the producers from the original series would return (including, yes, Dolly Parton, executive producing with her company Sandollar).
Also in a producing role would be Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar, who would return to her iconic role. But she wouldn’t be the star this time; Variety says the show “would focus on a new Slayer and Gellar would appear in a recurring role rather than leading the series.”
This is good. Buffy as mentor is perfect. Buffy as mentor is kind of what the end of the series promised. (Also I’d just like to see a slayer grow older, you know?) And then, of course, there’s the question of how much of the comics this show might consider as canon. And the question of what the rest of the gang are up to.
This series has a pretty excellent creative team on board: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals) will direct and produce, while Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman will serve as writers, executive producers, and showrunners. The Zuckerman sisters are also the showrunners of Poker Face, and their shared resume includes time writing for and/or producing shows including Fringe, Human Target, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Haven. Joss Whedon is not involved.
Gellar has, in the past, resisted the idea of returning to Buffy, but her tone changed recently; in December, on The Drew Barrymore Show, she said that seeing things like Dexter: Original Sin (in which she stars), “definitely does get your mind thinking, ‘Well, maybe.’”
Buffy herself posted the most promising hint that this new addition to the Buffyerse may be real and may come to a screen near you: A picture, captioned only with a sushi emoji, of herself in Buffy’s iconic yummy sushi pajamas.
