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Fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” excited about what was a Hulu-planned reboot of the show will be disappointed in the latest news.
The streamer has — for now — decided against producing “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale.”
Count Modesto native and original series co-star James Marsters among those disappointed.
“So far, it looks like it’s not gonna get picked up, which is insane to me,” Marsters was quoted saying in a online Men’s Journal story earlier this week.
The Davis High School graduate was speaking to an audience at the Melbourne Supanova Expo 2026, the story says.
He also confirmed that he had been tapped for a return to his role as Spike in the reboot and was training before it was nixed. “I had been doing sit-ups until my back bleeds,” Marsters, 63, is quoted in the story.
Original “Buffy” star Sarah Michelle Gellar was set to reprise her title role, a February story in The Bee reported, based on a on a Collider report. It’s was to be set years after the original ended, with a new slayer and Gellar’s Buffy as her mentor. Fifteen-year-old Ryan Kiera Armstrong was cast as that new slayer, Nova.
But not all optimism is lost, according to the Men’s Journal piece.
“There’s still (some) hope for the revival — although it may look completely different to what was previously teased to fans of the cult series. Although not confirmed by Gellar or (planned director Chloé) Zhao, Hulu has apparently temporarily benched the series, with plans to rework the material, possibly without Zhao at the helm,” the story says. “Shortly after the revival news dropped last month, Deadline stated Hulu ‘remains high on the Buffy IP and plans to regroup and mull a possible new incarnation of the beloved franchise.’”
The original series ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003. Marsters went on to play Spke in the “Buffy” spinoff, “Angel.”
