Sarah Michelle Gellar Wants to Bring Back Every Dead Buffy Character in Reboot — Who Do You Want to Return?
During the Filming Italy Sardegna Festival, Sarah Michelle Gellar let a few new details slip as to what fans can expect from the forthcoming series. 'It will be lighter than the last few seasons of the original,' the actress said at the festival, per Vanity Fair. 'We will try to find a balance between new and old characters. My dream is to bring back everyone who has died, but space will have to be made for new stories as well.'
More from TVLine
Meet the Buffy Reboot's New Slayer: Ryan Kiera Armstrong to Play The Chosen One Opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sequel Series Would Make Our Current Hellmouth a Little Easier to Face
Wimbledon 2025: How to Watch the Tennis Matches Live Online
Dead characters? Returning?! Guess anything goes if you're living on a Hellmouth.
Gellar also discussed the creative team's attempt to modernize the series for today's social media-obsessed world.
'One of the surprising aspects of Buffy is that it's always been a crossover series,' she added. 'We're trying to figure out how to modernize the themes of the series, especially what it means to feel like an outsider in a world dominated by social media. What we want to explore are the space-time boundaries that affect society today.'
Gellar was lured back into Buffy's knee-high leather boots by Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), whose original pitch forms the reboot's basic premise. 'For so many years, I said no to a possible return of the series,' said Gellar. 'I didn't want to reintroduce something we had already seen. I waited for the right time to come. Then Chloé, a big Buffy fan, proposed the project to me and I accepted. The gestation was long. It's been three years and we're still working on it.'
The Buffy follow-up was officially announced back in February with Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face) attached as writers, showrunners and executive producers. Zhao is attached to direct and executive-produce, with additional EPs including Gellar, Gail Berman, Fran Kuzui, Kaz Kuzui and Dolly Parton. (Berman, the Kuzuis and Parton all executive-produced the original series.) Gellar will reprise her former role in a recurring capacity rather than a leading one.
In May, Ryan Kiera Armstrong was announced as the series' new slayer. Armstrong's character's name was not released. In March, TVLine exclusively reported that the character was a brainy and cerebral teen named Nova, though we noted that the intel was preliminary and subject to change.
So, let's talk, Scoobies. Which characters to be back for 2.0? Let us know all of your thoughts by dropping some comments below!
Buffy's 20 Best Episodes, Ranked!
View List
Best of TVLine
'Missing' Shows, Found! Get the Latest on Ahsoka, Monarch, P-Valley, Sugar, Anansi Boys and 25+ Others
Yellowjackets Mysteries: An Up-to-Date List of the Series' Biggest Questions (and Answers?)
The Emmys' Most Memorable Moments: Laughter, Tears, Historical Wins, 'The Big One' and More
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
5 hours ago
- CNET
Hulu to Fully Combine With Disney Plus and Expand Globally: What We Know So Far
More than a year after launching its "Hulu on Disney Plus experience" in the US, Disney announced plans Wednesday to completely integrate Hulu into its Disney Plus streaming service. Additionally, Hulu will become available internationally once the merger happens next year, the company shared in its third-quarter earnings report. The Hulu tile was added to Disney Plus in March 2024, allowing subscribers who have both services to watch Hulu content within the Disney Plus app. The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said today that this fall, the Hulu tile will replace the Star tile on the service for international customers. He added that the new offering will give customers more choice and convenience. Pricing details and exact timeline were not discussed, nor do we know what new bundling options might open up down the road, but changes are on the way. "Over the coming months, we will be implementing improvements within the Disney Plus app, including exciting new features and a more personalized homepage," he said, "all of which will culminate with the unified Disney Plus and Hulu streaming app experience that will be available to consumers next year." Disney Plus viewers can watch movies and shows from brands like Star Wars and Marvel, a suite of live channels that includes ABC News and The Simpsons, and if they're subscribed to Hulu or ESPN, a selection of content from both services. According to an executive summary (PDF) shared ahead of Wednesday's earnings call, the merged version of the streaming app will offer "family programming, news, and industry-leading live sports content." Though Iger did not explicitly state whether Hulu will be phased out completely, he mentioned that the merge will result in "efficiencies when these are together. It will be on one tech stack, for instance, one tech platform." He hinted that the Hulu and Disney combo may result in new -- or more -- bundles for customers. "I imagine down the road, it may give us some price elasticity as well that we haven't had before," said Iger. "And it also provides us with a tremendous bundling experience because when you have the one app that has a significant amount of all of the Disney and the other Disney-branded programming with the general entertainment programming bundled, for instance, with the ESPN direct-to-consumer app." The media giant's new standalone sports streaming service -- dubbed ESPN -- will replace ESPN Plus and launch on Aug. 21 (rather than the fall) and be included in current Disney bundle offerings with pricing that starts at $36 a month to watch with ads. Once the Hulu and Disney Plus merger happens next year, customers may see new streaming packages from the company.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why Ice Cube's ‘War of the Worlds' Has a 0% Rotten Tomatoes Score: ‘Hilariously Awful' and ‘Generationally Bad'
The H. G. Wells adaptation, starring the rapper and taking place entirely on screens, was panned on social media, too Move over, Steven Spielberg. There's a new 'War of the Worlds' in town. Actually, you're probably fine. More from TheWrap Disney+, Hulu Swing to Combined Third Quarter Profit of $346 Million Francis Ford Coppola Assures Fans He's 'Fine' After Being Hospitalized in Rome: 'I Am Well' 'Weapons' Review: Zach Cregger's Chiller Asks Scary Questions (Too Bad About the Answers) Francis Ford Coppola Hospitalized in Rome After Scheduled Cardiology Visit A new adaptation of H. G. Wells' seminal sci-fi classic 'The War of the Worlds' released on Amazon Prime in late July, making waves on social media for all the wrong reasons. The movie takes place entirely on various screens, following Ice Cube's Will Radford (a surveillance expert for the Department of Homeland Security) as he witnesses the alien invasion from his computer. It currently sits at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes with 14 reviews. The audience score, with more than a thousand reviews, is a mere 14%. Many have latched onto a text card in the film's trailer that reads, 'IT'S WORSE THAN YOU THINK' as a sign of the movie's quality (or lack thereof). The trailer itself, which released in mid-July, became a mini online phenomenon for its bizarre tease of the screenlife adaptation. You can watch it below. 'YOU ARE YOUR DATA,' one text card in the trailer reads. 'DATA IS THEIR FOOD. YOU ARE THE HARVEST,' two more text cards follow. It's not dissimilar to the cadence found in an 'I Think You Should Leave Sketch' where Tim Robinson proclaims, 'The bones are the skeletons' money. In our world, bones equal dollars.' Things picked up once the movie itself began streaming on Amazon Prime, with scores of social media users dogpiling the latest adaptation of the sci-fi classic. 'I can't believe this is real,' one X user posted. Others mocked the film's frequent Amazon product placement, including a scene where 'Prime Air' saves the day. 'It's the future of delivery,' one character says. You can see the reactions below. 'War of the Worlds' (2025) was directed by Rich Lee and written by Kenneth A. Golde and Marc Hyman. Alongside Ice Cube, the film stars Eva Longoria, Clark Gregg, Andrea Savage, Henry Hunter Hall, Iman Benson, Devon Bostick, Michael O'Neill and Jim Meskimen. This adaptation isn't without precedent. The 'screenlife' genre has continued to develop over the past few years, with movies set entirely on computers and phones as a method of conveying the story. Pre-pandemic entries in the genre include 'Searching' and 'Unfriended,' while post-pandemic screenlife films include 'Host' and 'Missing.' H. G. Wells' novel also has a history of distinct adaptations. Steven Speilberg famously took a big-budget sci-fi approach, centering the story on a working class man trying to keep his children safe among the invasion. In 1938, Orson Welles, in contrast, helmed and narrated a radio production of the story on Halloween night, infamously causing a panic among some viewers who believed the story to be real. The post Why Ice Cube's 'War of the Worlds' Has a 0% Rotten Tomatoes Score: 'Hilariously Awful' and 'Generationally Bad' appeared first on TheWrap.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hulu isn't shutting down: What's going on with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN
Don't say goodbye to Hulu just yet. Disney isn't axing its streaming service like some reports suggest, but the company will further integrate Hulu and Disney+ in 2026 amid rough terrain in the streaming business. During an earnings call Wednesday, Aug. 6, Disney CEO Bob Iger explained what the future will hold for the company's two streaming services, which are currently available by themselves, as a bundle with ESPN+ or together in a single app via "Hulu on Disney+." Iger hyped a newly integrated app debuting in 2026 on the call, saying "this will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest-caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app." The mention of live sports suggested that content from the company's ESPN brand could play into the new app. Currently it is available as a cable subscription and will launch as its own app later in August. Disney confirmed to USA TODAY that Hulu is not going away − Hulu and Disney+ will continue to each be available to purchase as standalone products. But both apps will be rolled into a vaguely-described unified app "experience" next year now that Disney officially owns all of Hulu. Hulu on Disney+ launches today: What is it? What can I watch? Your questions, answered After years of back and forth on the details of the sale and price, as of June, Disney officially acquired full control of Hulu (once split among Disney, Fox and Comcast), after finally completing the purchase of Comcast's remaining stake. While more specifics about the new app "integration" were not available from Iger or Disney, the company has slowly gone about bringing Hulu and Disney+ closer together over the past few years. Starting in February 2024, Disney+ subscribers were able to upgrade to a bundle that put the Hulu app right on the Disney+ home screen, marrying the streamer known for Marvel and kids' shows with the one known for post-apocalyptic nightmares like "The Handmaid's Tale" and the Kardashians. Disney's choice marked the latest example in a consolidation trend among streaming services in a new landscape marked by fewer services, fewer new shows, password-sharing crackdowns, rising prices and lots of commercials. Disney also revealed Aug. 6 that its standalone ESPN streaming service will be available on Aug. 21 for the previously announced price of $29.99 a month. It can also be bundled with Disney+ and Hulu for $35.99 monthly with ads on Disney+ and Hulu (discounted to $29.99 for the first 12 months). For no ads on those two streamers, the plan costs $44.99 per month (ads will be included on any tier of the ESPN app). Contributing: Gary Levin This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Hulu shutting down? What to know about new Disney+ changes
