'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' reboot is confirmed with one major difference - and some fans are divided
Lots of fans are reeaalllyyy not happy
“I’m the thing that monsters have nightmares about.”
That was the sort of killer, sassy one-liner that made Buffy the Vampire the Slayer perhaps the biggest cult TV hit of its time.
Buffy (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) was tough, smart, funny and always got the joke. But most important of all: she loved a razorsharp pun.
“We thought you were a myth. Well, you were myth-taken.” Glorious.
Watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s funniest lines
The original show, based on a 1992 film written by Joss Whedon who would later go on to write and direct the first two films in The Avengers franchise, aired from 1997 to 2003. It followed the life of the Sunnydale teen as she struggled through high school in the day and fought off the undead at night.
It also starred Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Head, James Marsters, Emma Caulfield Ford, and David Boreanaz, who went on to star in his own spin-off show Angel.
And it’s now been revealed that the beloved programme is to be rebooted, but with at least one major difference: the lead role will be played by a woman of colour.
Ahhhh! Just looking at this cast feels like a big warm hug from the past
The news came out of San Diego Comic-Con and according to Deadline, a black actress will be taking the title role.
Screenwriter and producer Monica Owusu-Breen (who’s worked on Lost and Alias) will serve as a writer, executive producer, and the series’ showrunner. And Whedon is also on board as an executive producer.
There’s no script yet but the reboot is apparently going to “be contemporary, building on the mythology of the original.”
“Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today,” the producers said in a statement.
Whenever you mess with such an iconic, fan-favourite show, you’ve got to be prepared for some irate fan fury and backlash – and there was plenty of that on Twitter after the news broke:
But there was also a contingent of fans who were happy about the announcement:
It’s true that TV and film bosses should always be looking to tell new stories but if they’re going to reboot Buffy they should make sure people of colour (and other minorities) are involved at every level: in the cast, in the writers’ room, in the production team. Diversity is not only objectively good but it makes for much more interesting, fresher stories. There’s literally no downside.
(Images: Getty / Warner Bros.)
