10 votes

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ inclusive reboot in the works with Joss Whedon

7 comments

  1. [4]
    Algernon_Asimov
    (edited )
    Link
    This is not the way to go. Like 'Doctor Who's' gimmick of Time Lords being able to regenerate, the mythology of the Slayer already has a built-in mechanism for rebooting the series: when an old...

    Casting for the central role of Buffy has also not yet been determined.

    This is not the way to go.

    Like 'Doctor Who's' gimmick of Time Lords being able to regenerate, the mythology of the Slayer already has a built-in mechanism for rebooting the series: when an old Slayer dies, a new one is called.

    We should therefore not see a new version of Buffy Summers set in 2018. Buffy Summers was the Slayer in Sunnydale from 1996 to 2003. We should see a new and different Slayer today.

    There are a few ways to approach this.

    • At the end of the original series, Willow converted all the existing Potentials into Slayers. That means there are hundreds or thousands of Slayers across the world. Pick one. Any one. Follow her. Maybe follow a few Slayers in different locations. Buffy herself could appear as a wise old mentor (she'd be approaching 40 by now) in occasional cameos, but the focus of the series is on the new young Slayers.

    • Willow's spell could be undone. Something went wrong, having multiple Slayers upset the balance of the universe, the world had to go back to only one Slayer, the Watchers Council stepped in, blah blah blah. In this reversal that happened a few years ago, Buffy herself gave up her Slayer powers along with the others, and the mantle of Slayer passed to one girl. However, that Slayer has just died, and a brand-new Slayer has been called. Cue the pilot episode. We have the same set-up as the beginning of the original series, but with a new girl in the situation of coming to terms with being a Slayer today. Again, Buffy could play the mentor occasionally, but she's not the focus of the series.

    • Willow's spell never happened. It's retconned out of existence. There has always been only one Slayer (Kendra and Faith notwithstanding), and the abomination that is Season 7 of the original series never happened. Buffy carried on as Slayer for a while after her resurrection, but finally met her end in a valiant battle to save the world from the forces of evil. There have been a couple of Slayers since then, and the new series starts when the latest Slayer is called.

    • Buffy never came back from the dead. Seasons 6 and 7 of the original series never happened. A new Slayer was called after 'The Gift'. There have been a few Slayers since then, and the new series starts when the latest Slayer is called.

    There are lots of ways to bring this series back. I think that rebooting it with Buffy herself as the central character is the least desirable.

    10 votes
    1. [3]
      Cyhchan
      Link Parent
      Yeah, I have to agree with you. I don't really see why they have to reboot the series and tell the same stories with the same characters when they could just follow another slayer. One of the best...

      At the end of the original series, Willow converted all the existing Potentials into Slayers. That means there are hundreds or thousands of Slayers across the world. Pick one. Any one. Follow her. Maybe follow a few Slayers in different locations. Buffy herself could appear as a wise old mentor (she'd be approaching 40 by now) in occasional cameos, but the focus of the series is on the new young Slayers.

      Yeah, I have to agree with you. I don't really see why they have to reboot the series and tell the same stories with the same characters when they could just follow another slayer. One of the best episodes of season 7 was when we got to follow Nikki Wood's story. I also think that dealing with the consequences of season 7 would be interesting since it was such a game changer. She would be one of many slayers, but I always wondered how all that would play out.

      6 votes
      1. [2]
        Algernon_Asimov
        Link Parent
        This was dealt with in the sequel comics. I haven't read them, but one of the plot points was the reversal of Willow's spell, restoring the multiple Slayers to merely Potentials and leaving Buffy...

        She would be one of many slayers, but I always wondered how all that would play out.

        This was dealt with in the sequel comics. I haven't read them, but one of the plot points was the reversal of Willow's spell, restoring the multiple Slayers to merely Potentials and leaving Buffy (and Faith) as the one-and-only Slayer.

        Making all the Potentials into Slayers was a splashy way to end the series, but it's not a great premise for continuing it. Part of the drama of being the Slayer is that she is the only person in the world with the responsibility and the ability to slay vampires (and other sundry demons). If you remove that, you dilute the meaning of being the Slayer in the first place.

        Even though I included this option in my list, that doesn't mean I like it. It's just the option which carries on most directly from the ending of the original series.

        I think the best option is the one where Willow's spell has to be reversed a few years later, and Buffy chooses to give up being the Slayer at this time to become a normal woman as she enters her thirties ("I'm too old for this shit!"), passing the mantle to a new, solo, Slayer. This option doesn't require retconning or ignoring the original series, but it restores the central premise that the Slayer is The Chosen One and not just One Of The Chosen.

        3 votes
        1. Cyhchan
          Link Parent
          Oh, I didn't know that. Sounds like lazy writing. It also cheapens the speech that Buffy gives at the end about empowering women. I think the reason I liked your first option best is because the...

          This was dealt with in the sequel comics. I haven't read them, but one of the plot points was the reversal of Willow's spell, restoring the multiple Slayers to merely Potentials and leaving Buffy (and Faith) as the one-and-only Slayer.

          Oh, I didn't know that. Sounds like lazy writing. It also cheapens the speech that Buffy gives at the end about empowering women.

          I think the reason I liked your first option best is because the consequences of turning all potentials into slayers is huge. There is so much they can build on from there because it could turn problematic extremely quickly. As far as we know, there is nothing about a slayer that makes her inherently moral or good, so it would be cool to explore that further. They already did so a bit with season 3 in making Faith "bad" but also in an episode of Angel where a newly turned slayer breaks out of a psychiatric facility.

          I think the best option is the one where Willow's spell has to be reversed a few years later, and Buffy chooses to give up being the Slayer at this time to become a normal woman as she enters her thirties ("I'm too old for this shit!"), passing the mantle to a new, solo, Slayer.

          I would also be happy with this option.

          4 votes
  2. [2]
    MADAtron
    Link
    There's so many series that I thought came to a good conclusion, and I'm glad they weren't rebooted. I much prefer it when a second series takes place at a different time, with new characters and...

    There's so many series that I thought came to a good conclusion, and I'm glad they weren't rebooted. I much prefer it when a second series takes place at a different time, with new characters and new stories to tell. Too bad it doesn't look like this new series will be going that direction.

    3 votes
    1. Catt
      Link Parent
      Same. At some point it begins to feel a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure story, where you end up comparing each run, instead of viewing them as a whole.

      There's so many series that I thought came to a good conclusion, and I'm glad they weren't rebooted.

      Same. At some point it begins to feel a bit like a choose-your-own-adventure story, where you end up comparing each run, instead of viewing them as a whole.

      1 vote
  3. Catt
    Link
    Echoing what's a couple have already mentioned, I wished they picked or will start a new story too. Is this going to be a colouring exercise? Nikki Woods was a slayer that obviously a very...

    Echoing what's a couple have already mentioned, I wished they picked or will start a new story too. Is this going to be a colouring exercise? Nikki Woods was a slayer that obviously a very different slayer than Buffy, and would make a great story.

    3 votes