The Slayer Is Back: What Will Hulu’s Buffy Reboot Be About?

If two deaths couldn’t keep the Slayer down, surely a few decades of retirement are no big deal!

Recently, news broke that a Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival is nearing a pilot order at Hulu, marking the return of the one and only Sarah Michelle Gellar as everyone’s favorite Chosen One. While the actress has often held firm on having no desire to return to the role, when introduced to director Chloé Zhao’s vision for the project, she changed her mind. And it’s a perfect time to bring back the absolutely iconic character for audiences new and old.

Buffy Summers has been stomping the patriarchy and a Hellmouth’s worth of demons since the late ’90s in her stylish yet affordable boots. She and her gang of Scoobies held fast against insurmountable odds, even when death and defeat were practically promised in the prophecies.

Now, the series hasn’t aged as flawlessly as a 200-year-old vampire, but the new revival (and not a direct reboot of the already-existing material) has no involvement from Joss Whedon. Writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, two of the minds behind Peacock’s Poker Face, are set to pen the pilot script. Dare we say this is already shaping up to be as magical as one of Willow’s spellbooks? (And not the totally evil ones from season 6.)

What’s the Story?

All that’s left is for fans to wonder just what the series will be about — and which additional stars could return to their roles. And while those details are under wraps as tight as an Inca Mummy Girl, fans have some ideas, hopes, and speculation about the source material that could be used.

If you haven’t kept up with all the post-series Buffy books that could line Giles’ library, never fear! Let’s dust off a few Vampyr volumes and take a look at some notable storylines that could serve as inspiration for the Slayer’s return to our televisions.

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Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer

Let’s begin with what is, in my humble opinion, the single most must-read entry on this list for any Buffy fan. Published by Boom Studios, Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer is a comic series written by Casey Gilly and illustrated by Jose Johann Jaro. In the vein of “grizzled mentor teaches young upstart” stories like The Last of Us and The Witcher 3, Buffy is retired from the Slaying life after climate disaster blots out the sun and gives vampires full daywalking privileges. When a young new Slayer with connections to her past appears in need of training, Buffy comes face to face with things about herself she considered long dead.

The book truly comes from a place of respect and reverence for Buffy, while also acknowledging the way the world discards older women past their prime. It evokes subjects like the quiet way friends grow apart and how it’s easy to let ourselves believe we’re all alone in the world. After all, isn’t that how the saying goes? She alone is the Slayer — and the Slayer is always alone. Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer focuses more on its characters and their burdens than how awesome it is to be chosen to kill vampires, accomplishing what few Buffy spinoffs manage to do: show her truly human side.

This may be the most ready-made example of an exciting and dramatic middle-aged Buffy story that evolves the franchise with new characters while bringing closure and evolution to others. It would be no surprise to see this serve as heft inspiration for the revival.

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In Every Generation

Another way to continue a franchise is by passing the torch entirely to a new generation of heroes. And the world of BTVS is all about those generations! Buffy Summers takes a big backseat in In Every Generation by Kendare Blake, the first of a trilogy of books focused on a new group of Scoobies. That isn’t to say Buffy’s legacy isn’t present in the story, but when the elder Slayer leads a training retreat that gets ambushed and leaves no survivors, the newly awakened Slayer can’t sit around and wait for someone to beep her if the apocalypse comes. Or rather … text her? This story is modern, after all.

Frankie Rosenberg is the witchy daughter of witchier Willow, whose allies in Slayerdom come to include Hailey (half-sister of Felicia Day’s Slayer Vi), Jake the werewolf (nephew of Daniel “Oz” Osbourne), and other interesting figures who add a nice twist to the familiar series formula. The older cast has a heavy presence in the story here without completely smothering the young characters — though Buffy’s notable absence is what drives most of the action. Even Spike cements himself a place as a Watcher-like figure, humorously glamoured so he looks a little older and more human to excuse the passage of time. James Marsters, ready for your close-up?

The entire book trilogy, entitled The Next Generation, has been solidly regarded as a fantastic continuation for Buffy fans, straddling more of a line between the OGs and the legacy characters. This might provide the perfect bridge to get new audiences invested in the beloved series.

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Buffy: Season 8

A perhaps very polarizing inclusion on this list, Buffy the Vampire Slayer did technically already receive a “continuation” series from Dark Horse Comics. Classed as seasons 8-12, several years worth of extended comics storytelling from Joss Whedon and a bevy of the series’ original writers were considered the de facto canon post-series for quite some time.

But many plots aged poorly and don’t hold up to scrutiny given the revelation of the series creator’s own personal politics — from Buffy being drugged and having her brain put in a robot, to Dawn and Xander infamously having a child, to Faith (like, the several-time-murderer with a terrible record with authority) ending the series by becoming a cop. Oh, and don’t even get me started on Twilight (no, not that Twilight) and the hippos.

Still, given the continuation from the season 7 finale, these comics do establish a bevy of concepts that could be carefully utilized as inspiration for a revival. Willow’s spell has activated every potential Slayer to step into her full power, leading to a global network of monster hunters. The temporary loss of magic in the world leads to some interesting changes with the way vampires, demons, witches, and even Slayers operate. And not every Slayer chooses to play by the rules of heroism. These cumulative 100+ issues (not even counting Angel & Faith) tried a little of everything, for better or worse.

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Slayers: A Buffyverse Story

You think the MCU was the first franchise to show us a proper multiverse? BTVS didn’t dive into the concept often in its original run, but season 3’s “The Wish” gave us a look at a universe where vampires ruled and Buffy was a scarred Slayer devoid of her usual quips. But even more recently, Audible gave us an alternate universe via audiobook (still a book!) with Slayers: A Buffyverse Story. Canceled after one season, it featured a large amount of returning cast reprising their roles in new and surprising ways, with an original story penned by Amber Benson (Tara Maclay herself) and repeat Buffy scribe Christopher Golden.

Slayers isn’t expressly canon, but it doesn’t contradict what we know about the original series. The spell to make more Slayers persists, and rebellious Spike is reluctantly dragged into a mentorship role for rookie Indira. What’s more, an older Cordelia Chase emerges from an alternate reality where she alone is the Slayer, fighting her greatest foe Drusilla — Spike’s ex. In fact, Buffy Summers doesn’t even exist in her universe. And while many familiar faces (or in this case, voices) like Tara, Anya, Giles, and even Jonathan make their return, the multiverse makes it clear that no one is who they seem to be.

Knowing that Sarah Michelle Gellar is already attached to the revival makes a Buffy-less universe a little antithetical. But the sheer number of original cast members who returned for this project could give hint to who would be available and interested in the future.

Could we see more multiversal shenanigans that include beloved characters who died in the original series? Dear Hecate, we hope so…

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Big Bad: A Novel

Remember what we said about alternate universes? Now, bear with us, this one is tricky but not impossible to pull from. Written by Lily Anderson, Big Bad: A Novel takes place in an alternate 1999 from the perspective of the villains in a world where Mayor Wilkins succeeded in blocking out the sun and turning Sunnydale into Demondale. To them, the titular “Big Bad” is a Buffy who has been cast through multiple universes by magic. Slaying her way back to her reality, destroying worlds one by one, the Slayer becomes almost like a boogeyman to all the vamps, demons, warlocks, and evil nerds enjoying their day in the not-sun.

Because this novel takes place in the past with a younger Buffy (and a younger everyone, immortals included), it might be hard to adapt exactly for the upcoming television revival. However, if the new story comes from a place where Buffy has been retired, missing, or even presumed dead for some time, where better to begin than with a world already overrun by monsters?

This totally-not-relatable metaphor for modern times could be just what the prophecy ordered, so long as a Slayer, or Slayers, can save the day.

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Oh! Or maybe the revival will take place in the World Without Shrimp! Probably not. But maybe. Even more likely, it’ll be something totally different from all of these stories and will surprise us all. Us BTVS nerds simply can’t wait to sink our fangs into whatever comes next.

What are your hopes for the Buffy reboot at Hulu? Join the conversation with other Buffy fans over at Sideshow Social Network or in side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!