‘Buffy’ Reboot Is Confirmed By Whedon With A New Twist On The Heroine

Rumors have been circling for months about a reboot on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise and now they are officially confirmed. There’s a new twist and they plan on casting a black actress to play the new Buffy.

20th Century Fox who produced the original cult classic series is taking it over again. This time writer Monica Owusu-Breen was hired to pen the new adaptation and will be the showrunner on the reboot. Breen worked with Whedon on ABC’s Agents of SHIELD.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Gail Berman, Joe Earley, Fran Kazui and Kaz Kazui will serve as the show’s executive producers. Berman, Earley, and Kazui also produced the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer film which starred Kristy Swanson as Buffy and was released in 1992.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, no network has been attached yet and not much else is confirmed yet either.

“A decision to move forward was determined after Owusu-Breen was identified as the right writer for the reboot. A script or director has not yet been determined. Casting for the central role of Buffy has also not yet been determined.”

The new Buffy will be modern but also build on the mythology set in the original series. The Hollywood Reporter went on to say, “like today’s world, the new Buffy will be richly diverse, with some aspects of the series, like the flagship, seen as metaphors for issues facing society today.”

The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show ran from 1996-2003 for 7 seasons on the WB network before it changed into the CW. Buffy’s story continued in comic books which are still being released today. It was based on the 1992 movie, both the film and the show were created by Joss Whedon.

Owusu-Breen recently created and ran NBC’s show Midnight, Texas but left after one season. According to her IMDB, she’s also written for Fringe, Revolution, and Charmed.

When interviewed in March 2017 at the show’s 20th anniversary celebration, Whedon expressed a little hesitancy about rebooting the series.

“You bring something back, and even if it’s exactly as good as it was, the experience can’t be. You’ve already experienced it, and part of what was great was going through it for the first time. You have to meet expectations and adjust it for the climate, which is not easily. Luckily most of my actors still look wonderful, but I’m not worried about them being creaky. I’m more worried about me being creaky as a storyteller. You don’t want that feeling that you should have left before the encore,” Whedon explained.

Fortunately for fans, he seems to have changed his mind. No date or further information has been set on the new Buffy series other than producers Fox 21 TV Studios will pitch the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer to cable and streaming networks later this summer.