01-08-2025
A Guide To The "Buffy The Vampire Slayer " Reboot
It's been over 20 years since we said goodbye to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but the iconic show's legacy still lives on today.
The supernatural YA drama series, which aired from 1997 to 2003, stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, a teenage girl who's chosen by fate to battle vampires, demons, and other supernatural forces. With a little help from her friends, she juggles her life as a Sunnydale High School student along with her sacred destiny as the "Slayer."
Now, there's a new generation of slayers on the way. A Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is officially in the works at Hulu.
Michelle Trachtenberg will always hold a special place in Buffy fans' hearts.
While details about the series are still largely being kept under wraps, there's already plenty to get excited about. Here's everything we know about the Buffy reboot so far:
Sarah Michelle Gellar will reprise her role as Buffy Summers and serve as an executive producer.
Here's a behind-the-scenes update she shared. It looks like a table read for the pilot! 👀
"I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit Buffy and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right," Gellar wrote in an Instagram post in February. "This has been a long process, and it's not over yet. I promise you, we will only make this show if we know we can do it right. And I will tell you that we are on the path there.'
"Thank you to all the fans who never stopped asking for this," Gellar added. "This will be for you."
Ryan Kiera Armstrong has been cast as the lead Slayer. Per TVLine, her character Nova (which may be a placeholder name) is described as a "cerebral" 16-year-old who is "very smart and a bit of a loner."
Gellar's role is expected to be recurring, with 15-year-old Armstrong serving as the new protagonist. Armstrong has previously had roles on Anne with an E, American Horror Story: Red Tide, and the Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
In May, Armstrong took to Instagram to celebrate her big news, writing, "i'm so beyond thankful and excited to share that i am going to be apart of the BTVS universe!!! i am so excited for this journey with you @sarahmgellar i am in awe of you. ... i'm still in so much shock and disbelief."
"From the moment I saw Ryan's audition, I knew there was only one girl that I wanted by my side," Gellar wrote in an Instagram post of her own. "To have that kind of emotional intelligence , and talent, at such a young age is truly a gift. The bonus is that her smile lights up even the darkest room."
In July, five new cast additions were announced: Faly Rakotohavana as Hugo, Ava Jean as Larkin, Sarah Bock as Gracie, Daniel di Tomasso as Abe, and Jack Cutmore-Scott as Mr. Burke.
Viewers might recognized Bock from Severance and Cutmore-Scott from Frasier and Oppenheimer (2023)!
Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who's known for her work on Nomadland (2020) and the MCU's Eternals (2021), will serve as the director and co-EP.
Additional executive producers attached to the pilot include Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, OG Buffy EPs Gail Berman and Fran and Kaz Kuzui, along with Dolly Parton (whose production company Sandollar was a producer on the original series).
Gellar, who was previously against doing a Buffy revival, credits Zhao personally for changing her mind. "Every pitch I heard was just like, 'Let's just do Buffy again,'" she said in an interview with Elite Daily. "Why? But the passion that [Zhao] came to me with, what she wanted to do with the show and the character, and why Buffy is needed now — it was the first time where I thought, 'OK, there's a reason.'"
"Three years ago, I got a call from my dear friend and mentor, Gail Berman," Gellar wrote in an Instagram post. "She told me that she wanted me to sit down with Chloé Zhao to hear her take on a potential Buffy revival. I was blown away that Chloé even knew who I was, but, as I've always done, I told Gail that I just didn't see a way for the show to exist again. We'd always been aligned on that, but this time I heard something different in her voice. I eventually agreed to go (mainly just to meet Chloé) and our twenty minute coffee quickly turned into a four hour adventure. We laughed, we cried, but mostly we both talked about how much this show means to us."
4. Buffy creator Joss Whedon will not be involved with the reboot.
Christina Carpenter wants to reprise her role as Cordelia Chase after her character's "unjust" ending on the spin-off Angel...
"I am so excited for fans, and I know it will be fantastic because of who's involved," Carpenter said of the reboot in an interview with IGN. "To see this actually happen for the fans makes me thrilled. I am so hopeful to be included, for Cordelia to be a part of this new iteration."
...which may work out, because Gellar wants to bring characters back from the dead! "We will try to find a balance between new and old characters," she said in an interview with Vanity Fair. "My dream is to bring back everyone who has died, but space will have to be made for new stories as well."
Expect the tone to be different. "It will be lighter than the last few seasons of the original," Gellar told Vanity Fair.
"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," Gellar added. "What we want to explore are the space-time boundaries that affect society today."
The reboot will honor the late Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy's sister Dawn. "We'll be able to do something," Gellar said in an interview with Parade. "We'll do what's appropriate."
It hasn't yet been confirmed which original cast members will return. But, based on this cryptic Instagram post, fans think there's a pretty good possibility Alyson Hannigan will reprise her role as Willow Rosenberg.
IYKYK. 💔
Finally, Gellar revealed that the children of some OG cast members auditioned for the reboot. 👀 "I know somebody who was on the show whose child auditioned on the show,' she teased to US Weekly. "I know a few people from the show whose children came in."
All seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are available to stream on Hulu.
