It looks like a new Chosen One won’t be patrolling the streets for vampires and ghouls anytime soon.
Back in 2018, it was revealed that a reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a Black lead was in development – with original series creator Joss Whedon and Fringe alum Monica Owusu-Breen attached as executive producer and showrunner, respectively.
At the time, the announcement was slammed by fans and critics – which resulted in Owusu-Breen confirming that it would be a revival instead of a full-blown reboot.
“Before I became a writer, I was a fan. For seven seasons, I watched Buffy Summers grow up, find love, kill that love. I watched her fight, and struggle and slay. There is only one Buffy. One Xander, one Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel…” she said.
“They can’t be replaced. Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to. But here we are, twenty years later. And the world seems a lot scarier. So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer… And that’s all I can say.”
Four years after the reboot announcement, however, the prospects of viewers returning to Sunnydale or any other Hellmouth now look pretty slim.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s TV Top 5 podcast, producer Gail Berman revealed that the show was “on pause.”
She then clarified her comment further by stating that the term on pause was “industry speak for purgatory, make of that what you will.”
Berman, who worked on the original Buffy series and its spin-off Angel, was attached to the revival as one of its producers.
The recent Buffy news comes a few weeks after Sarah Michelle Gellar shared her pick on who the next slayer should be.
In an interview with Evan Ross Katz for his introspective new book, Into Every Generation a Slayer is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts, the Scooby Doo star nominated Euphoria’s Zendaya for the role.
“I vote Zendaya,” she revealed, to which Julie Benz – who played Darla on the groundbreaking fantasy drama – replied, “That would be amazing.”
Buffy, which aired for a groundbreaking seven seasons from 1997-2003, is often referred to as one of the best TV shows in history, and its title character is also recognised as one of the most iconic female characters of all time.
The show influenced series such as True Blood, Charmed, Veronica Mars, The Vampire Diaries, iZombie, Jessica Jones and pretty much anything fantasy related with a strong female heroine at the helm.
Buffy was also commended for its portrayal of gay characters, becoming the first ever television show to broadcast a lesbian sex scene.
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