The Buffy reboot saga continues. Sarah Michelle Gellar has voiced her opinion over the disappointing cancellation of Chloé Zhao’s Buffy spin-off. And for fans, it is truly disappointing, indeed. Now, she’s praying the pilot they shot never sees the light of day.
Appearing on Page Six’s P6 Radio show on March 18, Gellar explained she hopes the pilot of Buffy: New Sunnydale never leaks for fans to see.
“I actually hope it doesn’t,” she said. “Because then everyone’s going to have an opinion on this and that, and pilots are not finished. It wasn’t done, right? It’s not like we did a season and finished it and then they shelved it. It’s not like when they made Batgirl the movie, right, and then didn’t show it.”
For a little bit of context, let’s recap some of this Buffy drama. We saw reports a while back that director Chloé Zhao would tackle a Buffy reboot. It would continue the story and introduce a new generation of Slayers. The fandom was delighted to hear that Sarah Michelle Gellar would return to her iconic role as Buffy Summers, a character she hasn’t played for more than 20 years. They shot the pilot over the summer in 2025, which Hulu then picked up. To much dismay, Hulu dropped the series for reasons that remain unclear. Gellar shared her disappointment on social media during Oscars weekend, a time when she was celebrating the premiere of her new movie Ready or Not: Here I Come at SXSW, and Zhao was celebrating the success of Hamnet.
Gellar blamed the decision on one of the show’s executives, while a Variety exclusive revealed that Zhao’s take may not have been “mainstream enough” for Hulu. Whatever the real reason may be, one thing rings true: it is a huge loss for Buffy fans everywhere. In the interview with P6 Radio, Gellar said a version of the pilot script that’s circulating right now isn’t even the correct one. She urges fans not to read it.
“That stuff is really unfortunate, and I ask fans, if you see scripts, if you see it leaked—don’t watch it. Because you’re not getting our vision and all of that,” she said. Gellar reflected that for fans, Buffy is more than just a show. And she’s right. Although it’s tempting to see what could’ve been, the pilot would likely fall short of any expectations we had. Who knows, Hulu could always pick the reboot back up with a new creative team. For now, it lives on in our hearts as a dream.