Posted in: CW, streaming, TV | Tagged: btvs, buffy, buffy the vampire slayer, joss whedon, sarah michelle gellar

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot Being "On Pause" Is Not A Good Sign

Published Fri, 19 Aug 2022 19:25:11 -0500

Just to give you a sense of how dramatically things have changed in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" universe over the past four years? Back in 2018, 20th Century Fox Television announced that it was developing a reboot of the Sarah Michelle Gellar-starring series with Monica Owusu-Breen (Midnight, Texas; Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) serving as showrunner… and Joss Whedon co-writing & executive producing. Since that time, Whedon would see his past on-the-set conduct being called out in public as his popularity began to creep downward. Buffy & Angel star Charisma Carpenter went public with accusations against Whedon that involved years of unprofessional and abusive behavior, prompting many others connected to both shows to voice both their support as well as their own accusations. Whedon would go on to make matters worse via "The Undoing of Joss Whedon" by Lila Shapiro for New York Magazine, which appeared to many to be Whedon's attempt to "play the victim" instead of addressing the accusations leveled against him in a reasoned, honest manner. And while all of that was going on, the plans for a reboot remained in limbo. And based on what we heard today, its status doesn't look to be changing any time soon.

During the most recent edition of The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg (West Coast TV editor) & Daniel Fienberg (chief TV critic)-hosted television podcast TV's Top 5, the show cuts to a "Mailbag" segment (around the 39:10 mark). Towards the end of the segment, the issue of the "Buffy" reboot first announced in 2018 is brought up… in particular, what its current status was after four years. That's when we learned that executive producer Gail Berman updated THR's Katie Kilkenny with the word that the project is "on pause." Now, if you're looking for a sliver of a silver lining, at least Berman isn't saying the project is dead. That said? Being listed "on pause" is pretty much like being in a coma that you could wake up from, but no one knows of or when it will happen.

In Evan Ross Katz's Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts, the author had a chance to speak with Gellar about the idea of rebooting the series. In the following excerpt, Gellar shares her idea on the best way to approach a return to the "Buffy" universe, as well as who she believes would be the best Slayer for this generation (clue: fans of Euphoria and Spider-Man: No Way Home will be very, very happy). "I think they've left the door open in a wonderful way because I do think it would be interesting to see how someone born with that power does fend in this modern world and what the new demons are. The way 'Buffy' was left- that every girl who wants the power has it- you can still tell the story of a Slayer, but maybe it's not Buffy," Gellar explained. "Because Buffy's story was of that time. So maybe it's a different Slayer, and in that case, I'm all for it because I'd be certainly interested to see how you handle being a Chosen One now and what injustices you are fighting and what the demons represent." And who does Gellar see as being this generation's main Slayer? "I vote ['Euporia' star] Zendaya," she responded.

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