‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Reboot May Actually Be A Sequel Series With All-New Characters

By Hoai-Tran Bui/July 26, 2018 11:00 am EST

But Owusu-Breen, who has been brought on board to shepherd the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer, suggests the project may actually be a sequel series.

In a statement just posted to Twitter, Owusu-Breen touched on her own personal history with Buffy, before hinting that the series could introduce a brand new slayer played by a black actress.

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— monicaowusubreen (@monicabreen) July 26, 2018

“There is only one Buffy,” Owusu-Breen writes. “One Xander, one Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel… 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…”

While her statement remains vague on details, it seems that Owusu-Breen is clarifying initial reports that labeled the new Buffy The Vampire Slayer series as a reboot. From what she says, this new series will be more akin to Buffy: The Next Generation, following a brand-new slayer who is accompanied by a new cast of characters.

I have to say I’m much more receptive to a Buffy sequel series than a reboot. Not only will it allow Owusu-Breen to expand the rich world introduced in Buffy and its spin-off Angel, it would be a worthy follow-up to Buffy’s empowering finale, which made the radical move of distributing Buffy’s powers to all potential Slayers. It upended the show’s Chosen One mythology, and empowered girls across the world — an inspiring metaphor on par with the show’s legacy, and an exciting premise to kick off countless stories. And Buffy did just that, continuing the show in popular Dark Horse comic books that introduced new Slayers, new adventures, and even wackier fantastical twists that the show never could have tackled.

The new Buffy the Vampire Slayer series could tap into the comics’ boundless well of rich stories, or perhaps — like Owusu-Breen’s sly Star Wars nod — erase the comics from canon and build a brand new world. It’s an exciting thought, and one that I’m much more on board with than see a new actress try to out-do Sarah Michelle Gellar’s magnificent performance.