The Hollywood Reporter has it that 20th Century Fox Television is rebooting one of the most beloved series of the late 1990s: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Monica Owusu-Breen — who worked with creator Joss Whedon on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — has been hired as writer and showrunner.
Whedon is set to serve as an executive producer on the reboot, as will Gail Berman, Joe Earley, Fran Kazui and Kaz Kazui, the people who executive produced the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. We’re guessing those will mostly be ceremonial positions, although Whedon is reportedly working with Owusu-Breen on the pilot script. Still, he’s got a new show called The Nevers in development on HBO, so he probably won’t be too involved when things get rolling.
Per THR, the new show will be set in the here and now, but like the old show, will feature the characters dealing with monsters that are metaphors for real-life problems. Social media demon, anyone? As for casting, no one’s been nailed down, although the script has a black actress taking on the title role.
Reboots are in vogue right now, with the second comings of shows like Charmed, Dynasty, Roswell and many more all on the way. 20th Century Fox Television CEO Gary Newman previously saying that “[Buffy] is probably our most ripe show for a remake.” I’m not a huge fan of reboots in general, and this one in particular makes me nervous, since Buffy was the result of such a singular vision and isn’t that old. Whedon, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 about his fear of doing a reboot or reunion of the show, might even agree with me. “I see a little bit of what I call monkey’s paw in these reboots,” he said. “You bring something back, and even if it’s exactly as good as it was, the experience can’t be.”
"You’ve already experienced it, and part of what was great was going through it for the first time. You have to meet expectations and adjust it for the climate, which is not easy. Luckily most of my actors still look wonderful, but I’m not worried about them being creaky. I’m more worried about me being creaky as a storyteller. You don’t want that feeling that you should have left before the encore."
Reaction online — and by “online,” I mean “random sampling of Twitter” — has been mixed. Cast member James Marsters (Spike) was excited:
Shannon Purser, who’s gained fame as fan-favorite Barb from Stranger Things, is already angling for a role:
So the industry loves it! What do fans think?
Faith&Buffy have feelings about the #Buffy reboot too 😉😉 pic.twitter.com/qUanthHBpR
— Nina's Geeky Corner (@Buffy_Ringer) July 22, 2018
The charmed and buffy fandoms have to join forces and get the reboots cancelled
— cam (@buffysprue) July 21, 2018
Plenty of fans seemed to have the same idea:
this whole Buffy reboot concerns me only because I do not want the story retold with a new "Buffy." There's only one of those. Continue by telling another slayer's story in the same universe and leave Buffy's legacy alone please and thank you. #btvs #buffy
— nat ☕️ (@theMagicalTweet) July 23, 2018
I’d be on board with that last, by the way.
There’s no network attached to the Buffy reboot as of yet; Fox plans to pitch it to streaming services and cable channels this summer. hasn’t been a date or network/streaming service set for the Buffy reboot, but with fan-favorite shows like Charmed — which Monica Owusu-Breen also worked on — making its triumphant return to The CW this fall, one shouldn’t expect it to be in development for too long before being snatched up.
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