Posted in: Audio Dramas, CW, streaming, TV | Tagged: Audible, btvs, buffy, buffy the vampire slayer, joss whedon, slayers

Buffy: Carpenter on "Justice for Cordelia"; Benson on Collaboration

Charisma Carpenter (Buffy) on Slayers: A Buffyverse Story bringing "Justice for Cordelia;" co-creator Amber Benson (Tara) on collaborating.

With only two days to go until the Audible Original audio drama debuts, the cast & creative team behind Amber Benson, Christopher Golden & Kc Wayland's Slayers: A Buffyverse Story are offering "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" fans some insights into how the project came together. During a sit-down with Variety that was posted earlier today, it was confirmed that series creator Joss Whedon had given the audio drama's creators permission to use the characters (though did not respond the a request for comment). Whedon is a topic that tends to come up when anything "Buffy" is discussed, considering the controversies surrounding his time on the series (as well as the spinoff series Angel), usually bringing a difficult question with it. Can you separate the creator from their creation… the artist from their art? While not addressing Whedon, the original series, or its spinoff series directly (mainly due to current SAG-AFTRA strike-related restrictions), series star Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia) discusses how Slayers does right by the importance behind #JusticeForCordelia by giving certain characters more of a chance to shine while emphasizing the point that the "Buffyverse" has always been about more than one person. It's a point that Benson also emphasizes while explaining how the project allows them to "have a little bit of a little tiny, tiny piece of ownership" of the "Buffyverse."

Carpenter on How "Slayers" Brings "Justice for Cordelia": One of the most important things to me about 'Slayers' is that it is an opportunity to give the 'Buffyverse' fandom permission to enjoy the show, enjoy these characters again in a way that is representative of perseverance, of work ethic, of the familiar. It has really been made clear to me how much entertainment in general and the previous show and what this future show will do to provide comfort, empowerment, self-belief, and reminders of our purpose. I think it will be an opportunity to give credit and justice to Tara, to Anya, to Cordelia. Because that show involved hundreds of people to make, and it wasn't about just one person. So I feel like it's really a beautiful thing to have this opportunity to bring her back to life – Cordelia specifically – and have her live out a very empowering life and share her wisdom from that battle. I just feel like it's very poetic in a lot of ways."

Benson on Being Able to "Love This World and These Characters" Again: "We can't really talk about this stuff because of the strike [how the rights were secured] and because also, sometimes, the creation is the creation, and the creators are totally removed. And for me, just personally, I will say this, I always had trouble going to conventions and not being honest about certain situations. And now that all of that is sort of grist for the mill, I feel this relief that I can love this world and these characters and have a little bit of a little tiny, tiny piece of ownership in them. I love this world, I love the family I have because of it. I love the fans I have in my life. A show is not always just the person that came up with a show. A show is a collaboration for us on 'Slayers.' Speaking broadly about ownership of creative material, it really is a collaborative media. It's not one person. The auteur theory does not apply here. It takes a village."

Written by series star Benson & Golden and directed by Benson, Golden & Wayland, the original audio drama Slayers: A Buffyverse Story is set 20 years after the finale of the beloved Gellar-starring series, with the spotlight shifting to James Marsters' Spike. Joining Marsters and Benson on this return trip to the Buffyverse are Charisma Carpenter, Anthony Head, Juliet Landau, Emma Caulfield Ford, James Charles Leary, and Danny Strong – along with newcomer Laya DeLeon Hayes (as Indira). Here's a look at the series overview:

The Slayers story begins as Spike has gone deep undercover in Los Angeles, convincing the forces of darkness that he's back to his evil ways. But when his cover is compromised by 16-year-old Indira Nunnally (Hayes), Spike finds himself on baby-slayer-sitting duty once more. While he attempts to track down a watcher for his eager new protégé, their paths collide with the veteran Slayer of a parallel reality where Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) never existed, and Cordelia Chase (Carpenter) is the one-and-only Slayer. And Cordelia needs Spike's help with a classic big bad terrorizing her world… his old flame, Drusilla (Landau).

Set to premiere on October 12th, the team behind Slayers: A Buffyverse Story will be taking part in a panel at New York Comic Con on October 13th for "Buffy" fans – with much more available about the audio drama at Audible's weekend-long activation.

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