Posted in: CW, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: btvs, buffy, cruel intentions, sarah michelle gellar, wolf pack

Buffy Finale "Set Up" Reboot (But Not With Her): Sarah Michelle Gellar

Sarah Michelle Gellar on how the "Buffy" finale left the door open for the universe to be revisited from the perspective of a new slayer.

Published Wed, 19 Apr 2023 19:20:12 -0500

by Ray Flook

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During an interview with Variety that went live earlier today from Canne, where she received the Canneseries Icon Award for her contributions to the medium over the years, Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed that she's not involved with Amazon's planned Cruel Intentions series (and why she doesn't plan on being involved). Of course, as we've mentioned previously… when your resume has a show as iconic as Buffy the Vampire Slayer on it – and you were the lead? You can expect to be asked about it for the remainder of your career (and retirement). And in this day & age of reboots, revivals, spinoff series & sequel series, the question about a "Buffy" reboot is always going to come up. As we've covered in the past, series creator Joss Whedon and the accusations leveled against him by "Buffy" & Angel star Charisma Carpenter and others regarding improper on-the-set behavior and creating a toxic environment have muddied the waters when it comes to a series return. But if it did, has Gellar's position changed since the previous times she was asked about returning for it? No… but Gellar's response drove home the point that the series ended in a way that could serve as a creative sandbox to play in by focusing on a new slayer or slayer. Just not Buffy. Just not Gellar.

"That's an interesting question. I think that the way we left the show was set up for that. There was a reason why the idea was that instead of 'into one generation there is one Slayer,' why not share the power among women," Gellar shared when asked about her thoughts on how a reboot could be approached. In S07E22 "Chosen," the long-running series ends with the destruction of Sunnydale and the Hellmouth – while slayers around the globe had their powers activated in a concerted effort to take down the First. "That's one of the biggest issues with women is, we so often don't support the other women around us. And so I think it's a perfect way to tell the story through a modern lens. I just don't think it should be me because of those inevitable comparisons. But I think that if somebody has a way in through those other Slayers – like, we left that there for a reason. We could have just ended it, but we didn't. So I'm all for it; if someone has that story, I just don't think I'm the person that's – no, let me rephrase that. I know I'm not the person to tell that story," Gellar added – and that includes even behind-the-scenes involvement like executive producing.

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