Wow, really unexpected news tonight as it seems we won’t be returning to Sunnydale after all.
Taking to social media, below, star Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed that Hulu has passed on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale series after they financed a pilot.
The series was set to be showrun by The Marvels and Hamnet’s Chloé Zhao, a self-confessed massive Buffy fan.
“I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me. Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale,” Gellar said on her social pages.
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“I want to thank Chloé Zhao, because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots. And thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you.”
Gellar was set to reprise the iconic 90s role of Buffy Summers in the new series, which would also star Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the new, up-and-coming slayer – Armstrong took to her social pages too to share our first, and likely only, look at her look in the show, left.
Continuing in the video, Gellar says: “I promise if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”
Ok, so a couple of things. Firstly, this is a real surprise. The show has been talked up for a few years now, with Gellar reluctant to return to the role, however, Zhao’s take on the character convinced her to return and, not going to lie, as such a big fan of the original show (and its sister series, Angel), I was excited to see an older Buffy and how her and her friends were now dealing in a world that moved on, but not beyond, from monsters and vampires and ghosts and demons and werewolves and witches and… you get the point.
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So it’s sad in that respect; however, it might be for the best, Buffy the Vampire Slayer was very much a show of its time, and we all know that the urge to bring back popular franchises and then destroying them is very strong these days, so perhaps it’s better to let the past stay precious.
On a different note, that means there is a whole new episode of Buffy in existence that we’re not allowed to see. Let’s hope the internet does its thing.
Thoughts? I know you have them and I wanna hear ’em all.
Watch: Gellar announces show’s cancellation:
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Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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