Today marks the 20th anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s debut. Recently, creator Joss Whedon spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about a possible reboot or reunion of the WB/UPN series.
The supernatural drama starred Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers, a young woman chosen to battle evil forces such as vampires and demons. The cast also included Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Head, James Marsters, Emma Caulfield, Michelle Trachtenberg, Kristine Sutherland, Charisma Carpenter, and David Boreanaz. The series ran on The WB from 1997 to 2001 and then moved to UPN for its final two seasons.
In the interview, Whedon said he’s weary of a Buffy reboot:
I think because a lot of people are doing it. And there’s a lot of head-scratchers. I’m sure they’ll be rebooting According to Jim soon. Is the nostalgia bank so goddamn secure that we can just keep withdrawing from it? And this is coming from a man who’s made a movie or a comic book out of every show he’s done. Somebody has to move on. We have to create new things for people to try to reboot. It’s something we all dreamed about. But then what happened? The sudden ending of My So-Called Life is only slightly less painful than the sudden ending of Firefly for me. I understand that feeling of, “We love this, and we can have it.”
I was pitching a fan-funded Firefly to my agent before that was a concept. I see a little bit of what I call monkey’s paw in these reboots. You bring something back, and even if it’s exactly as good as it was, the experience can’t be. You’ve already experienced it, and part of what was great was going through it for the first time. You have to meet expectations and adjust it for the climate, which is not easily. Luckily most of my actors still look wonderful, but I’m not worried about them being creaky. I’m more worried about me being creaky as a storyteller. You don’t want that feeling that you should have left before the encore. I don’t rule it out, but I fear that.”
What do you think? Are you a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Do you want a reboot and/or reunion?
