Sarah Michelle Gellar in talks to resurrect ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ for sequel series

Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Sarah Michelle Gellar is in talks to resurrect her beloved TV show for a sequel series. The “untitled Buffyverse pilot” is currently in development at Hulu from 20th Television and Searchlight TV.

While details about the plot are as scarce as seeing Buffy’s fanged paramours Angel (David Boreanaz) or Spike (James Marsters) in the sunlight, the logline for the potential series is simply: “The next chapter in the Buffyverse.” Variety, who first reported this news, claims the story “would focus on a new Slayer and Gellar would appear in a recurring role rather than leading the series.”

If the deal closes, Gellar would star and executive produce the series written and executive produced by Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Suits), and directed and executive produced by Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals), along with executive producers Gail Berman, Fran Kuzui, and Kaz Kuzui, who all worked on the original Buffy, as well as Dolly Parton.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s disgraced original creator Joss Whedon has no involvement in the new revival. In 2021, Whedon was accused of creating “hostile and toxic work environments” on Buffy and its spin-off Angel by multiple stars, including Charisma Carpenter and other people associated with the shows.

Representatives from Hulu and 20th Television had no comment on this revival news.

Gellar recently told Entertainment Weekly that her involvement with Dexter prequel series Dexter: Original Sin changed her formerly negative stance about returning to the Buffyverse.

“It’s definitely changed my perspective on it,” Gellar said. “I’ve had long talks with Michael C. Hall too about it. Because I think there was always this idea of you can’t go home again, and you can’t recreate magic. And then you realize that sometimes there are more stories to tell and there are other ways. So it definitely changed my ‘never say never’ attitude.”

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Gellar added that she had come to “realize that the story’s there” and it’s possible to revisit a beloved property.

“There’s a reason why fans love a show,” she said. “And I think it’s interesting for me to be on the other side of it, because as a Dexter fan, I am experiencing when the fans want to see more. I have a different understanding, I think.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer began in 1992 as a movie starring Kristy Swanson as the titular high school vampire killer, written by Whedon and directed by Fran Kuzui. It was revived five years later as a TV series starring Gellar as Buffy, and ran for seven seasons (first on The WB, and then the final two seasons aired on UPN). It spawned spinoff series Angel, which starred Boreanaz, Carpenter, and Marsters, and ran for five seasons on The WB.

The franchise continued on the page with sequel comic books written by Whedon for Dark Horse, and a failed reboot TV series centered on a Black woman created by Whedon and Monica Owusu-Breen was reportedly in development in 2018. And in 2023, Audible debuted Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, an audio original set 10 years after the Buffy series finale that featured the return of original stars Marsters, Carpenter, Anthony Head, Juliet Landau, Emma Caulfield Ford, Amber Benson, James Charles Leary, and Danny Strong, as well as newcomer Laya DeLeon Hayes.