Life’s a show, and we all play our parts — though sometimes, those parts get a little more complicated when you find yourself in a reboot of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
As reported by Variety, a new chosen one is about to step into the fray, with a reboot of the beloved ’90s TV series nearing a pilot order on the streaming platform Hulu. “Buffy” fans know the drill: Every generation, a new slayer is called. And although sources confirmed to Variety that Sarah Michelle Gellar will be making a return, she won’t be the lead. Instead, Gellar will appear in a recurring role, while the new series will focus on a fresh new champion. The reboot, originally announced in 2018, was set to feature a Black actor in the lead role.
Variety also reported that screenwriters Nora and Lilla Zuckerman will serve as writers, showrunners and executive producers for the series.
As for Joss Whedon, who once wielded the creative reins of the original show, he will not be involved. Whedon, who led both “Buffy” and its spinoff series “Angel,” was accused of being emotionally abusive on set by actor Charisma Carpenter in 2021.
Carpenter, who appeared in both series as Cordelia Chase, spoke out about Whedon’s “casually cruel” behavior on set and stated that while he “found his misconduct amusing,” his actions left her traumatized.
“Joss Whedon abused his power on numerous occasions while working together on the sets of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel,’” the actor wrote in a statement on X, formerly called Twitter, at the time. Carpenter also claimed that Whedon occasionally threatened to fire her in a “passive-aggressive way.”
Although Gellar didn’t elaborate on her own experiences on the “Buffy” set in a 2023 profile with The Hollywood Reporter, her husband, fellow actor Freddie Prinze Jr., did.
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“She had to deal with a lot of bullshit on that show for all seven years it was on,” Prinze told the outlet. “The stuff they pressed upon her, without any credit or real salary, while she was often the only one doing 15-hour days … yet she was still able to get the message of that character out every single week and do it with pride and do it professionally.”