Sarah Michelle Gellar has finally drawn a hard line around what the long rumoured Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuation actually is, and just as importantly, what it isn’t.
Speaking on the Shut Up, Evan podcast, Gellar clarified that the upcoming Hulu pilot is titled ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale’, and stressed that fans shouldn’t expect a simple revival or a nostalgia fuelled reboot, instead she’s framing it as something more deliberate and carefully built.
“It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation,” Gellar said.
According to Gellar, the series is designed to explore where Buffy Summers exists now, both within the world she once protected and beyond it, that distinction was key in deciding whether the project should exist at all.
“So it’s not a reboot, it’s not picking up with all of the same characters right away. It is not like a sequel… That’s why the name was even important to me — Buffy: New Sunnydale. It’s Buffy, but it’s also something else.”
For years, Gellar was openly resistant to revisiting the role that defined her career, that stance softened over time, something she openly admits.
“I will eat my words, and I’m OK with that — I learned my lesson,” she said. “I never saw how and why it could be as good [as the original series]. I’m not trying to be better. I just want to hold and honor the memory and what we created.”
Complex legacy
She also acknowledged the complicated legacy of Buffy, noting how deeply personal the series remains for both fans and those who made it.
“A lot of people put their blood, sweat, and tears into making what I think is an incredibly great show, and I’m incredibly proud of it.”
A major factor in Gellar’s eventual shift was director Chloé Zhao, whose commitment to the project helped reshape Gellar’s perspective.
“Chloé Zhao came to me and not just her passion… she knew how to go into the world. She knew what the world was, and she knew the way.”
That development process has taken time and deliberately so.
“I know this seems like it’s taking a long time, and it’s because unless we are sure that it is exactly what we set out to do… I won’t do it unless I know it can be that.”
Buffy: New Sunnydale remains in development for now, moving carefully rather than rushing to cash in on legacy.
MORE IN News
