Why A Buffy The Vampire Slayer Reboot Is A Terrible Idea

In every generation...

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Spike
Mutant Enemy Productions

Coming back from the dead is kinda Buffy's thing.

When The Master bit her and left her to drown, she was resuscitated by Xander. When she jumped to her death to close the portals between worlds, she was brought back by Willow. When the show was ended after seven seasons, it was eventually rebooted by Fox.

Wait, what was the last one?

After initially being talked about by Fox's TV Group Chair, Gary Newman, in March, where he said (via Variety) it was "the most ripe show we have for bringing back", a Buffy reboot was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend.

Joss Whedon has previously ruled out bringing the show back but, with him departing the Batgirl movie and going back to the Buffy comics, there's was always the chance he'd have a change of heart, and along with Fox's obvious desire for it, he's now onboard as executive producer, with Lost and Agents of SHIELD writer Monica Breen serving as showrunner. There's no casting yet, but it will be a reboot with a black actress in the titular role.

Not much stays dormant any longer, with TV revivals, remakes, reboots, and every other sort of 're' you can think of happening across the board. And when it's a) such a beloved, marketable IP as Buffy, and b) a show that is every bit as relevant in the modern climate, if not more so, than when it first debuted, then you can see the appeal and why it's being called ripe for a return. But that doesn't mean it should be brought back.

Continued on next page...

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Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.