New Buffy: The Vampire Slayer series will be sequel, not reboot
by Doc on Jul.28, 2018, under Television
When news broke about a potential new Buffy: The Vampire Slayer series last week, there were hints/assumptions that it would be a “reboot”, which naturally for any show with a deeply devoted following began a backlash storm on the Internet.
The term reboot many times gets used where it probably shouldn’t. A “reboot” to me means you are starting over, with the same basic story idea. Like telling a new origin story. You forget any previous version exist, at least it terms of telling the story – paying homage is still OK. The new Battlestar Galactica was a reboot. In this case the only thing we knew from the original announcement is that cast will be diverse and it will be set in the present day.
However, showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen was adamant that this is not a “reboot”, but a sequel. It will feature a different cast, but is set within the same world 15 years after the original series ended and build on the mythology that is already there:
— monicaowusubreen (@monicabreen) July 26, 2018
And if you are wondering who Owusu-Breen and worried about her taking over Joss Whedon’s series, keep heart: She’s working with Joss Whedon, who will be involved creatively and executive produce the series, but he’s a busy boy. The two have worked together previously on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but in addition to that Owusu-Breen has written for such shows as Alias, Lost, Fringe, and Charmed – which are shows that seem share the same fanbase as Buffy, thanks to similar themes and/or strong female characters. So while there is no guarantee any of your favorite Buffy characters may appear, the possibility does exist.
I’d also caution a bit on the optimism that this show is in early development, and does not yet have an outlet, or even a script. However, we have fairly high confidence this will find a good outlet.