Hulu axed Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale before it ever even had the chance to grace our screens. After hearing from Sarah Michelle Gellar that the reason behind the sudden cancellation was largely because one executive “never loved the original” and claims it “wasn’t for him,” fans were infuriated. Our excitement for the next generation of Buffy was crushed in a second. Gellar expressed her anger while promoting her upcoming film Ready or Not: Here I Come at SXSW. An exclusive on Variety unveiled a closer look at what’s in store for Chloé Zhao’s Buffy reboot, and why Hulu won’t pick it up.
What Was Going to Happen in the Buffy Reboot?
Rather than centering on Buffy herself, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale was going to introduce a new set of characters making up the next generation of Slayers. Gellar would return to the universe to guide a 16-year-old named Nova, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong. The pilot for the series was shot in Los Angeles over the summer, with Buffy appearing only briefly at the end in the original draft.
The Variety exclusive looks closer at Zhao’s script, prodding for reasons as to why Hulu passed on the show. To us, and Buffy fans everywhere, it seems like a missed opportunity. You have a highly dedicated fanbase standing behind the IP, the return of a beloved legend, and a wildly popular director at the reins. Zhao, of course, has the success of the Oscar-nominated film Hamnet. That’s clearly a recipe for success. So why did Hulu kill it so early on? Sources say that, apparently, the reboot wasn’t “mainstream enough.”
The pilot is written as follows: Introverted 16-year-old Nova discovers she’s a Slayer. In Sunnydale, the mythology of what Slayers are is largely unknown. Nova takes down two vampires during a “Vampire Weekend” celebration. The pilot wraps with all the vampires that were buried in the 2003 finale coming back. Gellar only has one line in the original script, but her cameo sets her up to be an integral part moving forward. It’s everything we could have wanted for a Buffy sequel.
The Real Reason Why Hulu Scrapped the Buffy Reboot
Gellar shared the news about the Buffy reboot cancellation on her disappointment on social media, blaming Hulu and praising Zhao. It has since been confirmed that the aforementioned executive behind the decision is Craig Erwich, the head of Hulu Originals.
“That’s very hard when you’re taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé,” said Gellar. “So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn’t watch it.”
Sources close to the show sang a different song to Variety, claiming the reboot was “unsalvageable.” Despite her prowess, Zhao proved to be a mismatch for the series. Furthermore, the pilot was undershot and didn’t make a strong enough impression. Another possible issue was that there wasn’t enough Buffy. According to Hulu, the Zuckermans’ recent rewrite wasn’t good enough to turn things around, so they scrapped it altogether. Gellar continues to defend Zhao for her contribution.
“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,” she said.
While we may never know for sure the exact reasoning behind the death of Buffy: New Sunnydale, we will mourn its loss. There’s always the hope that a new creative team can revive the reboot sometime in the future. Other distributors have also shown interest in the IP, but 20th Century doesn’t look like it’s loosening its grip anytime soon. We don’t even know if Gellar would want to return without Zhao, especially with tensions still high. For our sake, we hope the dream isn’t dead yet.