The Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is dead. Again. For good this time. Probably.
Hulu officially passed on the project that would have seen Sarah Michelle Gellar return to the franchise - not as Buffy herself, but in a mentorship role to a new Slayer. Deadline reports the decision came after years of development, during which the series managed to attract Chloe Zhao as a producer.
Yes, that Chloe Zhao. The Oscar-winning director of Nomadland and Eternals. If you can't get a Buffy reboot made with Gellar and Zhao attached, maybe - and hear me out here - it's the universe telling you to let Buffy rest.
Look, I'm on record as believing most reboots are unnecessary cash grabs trading on nostalgia instead of ideas. But this one? This one actually had potential. Gellar's involvement suggested a genuine attempt to pass the torch rather than just Xerox the original. Zhao brings a visual sensibility that could have reimagined the show's aesthetic for a new generation. The pieces were there.
So what happened? The same thing that always happens: streaming economics. Hulu is tightening budgets across the board as the streaming wars enter their cost-cutting phase. A prestige vampire show with an expensive creative team and a built-in expectation of quality? That's a big swing in an era when streamers are bunting.
Gellar posted on Instagram that she's "really sad" about the cancellation, which tracks. She's been protective of the Buffy legacy even as she's distanced herself from creator Joss Whedon following allegations of on-set misconduct. Her willingness to return suggested she believed this version could honor what the original meant to people.
