The cancellation of Hulu’s planned Buffy the Vampire Slayer continuation already felt like a sharp end to a revival that had moved beyond the usual rumor stage. Sarah Michelle Gellar was set to return, Oscar-winning Chloé Zhao was attached to direct and executive produce, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong had been lined up to play a new Slayer in what was described as a continuation rather than a full reset of the franchise.
Hulu ultimately decided not to move forward with the series in March, cutting short a project that had started to look like a serious attempt to bring Buffy back for a new generation.
Now, one of the original show’s most popular stars has revealed just how far those plans may have gone. James Marsters, who played Spike, has confirmed there was official interest in bringing him back for the revival, after he previously admitted on Charisma Carpenter’s podcast, The B*tch is Back, to rewatching the original series to “internally get back to that psychology” before the project was canceled.
This time, while speaking on Instagram, he said, “I had heard that they were planning on having Spike come back, and I was getting ready for that. I was doing so many thousands of sit-ups to get ready for that. And it doesn’t look like this iteration is happening.”
He continued: “I am reading articles like many of you are, and I did hear that Sarah is open to doing Buffy in another iteration, possibly. I don’t know, I haven’t talked to her about it. And I also heard Disney is open to having another iteration.”
Spike was a major part of the Buffy DNA throughout most of its run, and Marsters has remained one of the franchise’s most enduring fan favorites long after the show ended. A possible return from him points to a continuation that was willing to reconnect with the original series (and even spin-off show Angel, which added Marsters to the cast for its fifth and final season) in a meaningful way, while still building around Armstrong’s new Slayer and Gellar’s returning Buffy Summers.
Of course, the logistics meant most fans ruled out returns for characters like Spike, since they’re undead vampires who aren’t supposed to age. This being a fantasy show with ever-evolving supernatural rules, we’re sure there would have been a way to make it work.
“I had heard that they were planning on having Spike come back, and I was getting ready for that. I was doing so many thousands of sit-ups to get ready for that. And it doesn’t look like this iteration is happening.”
The preparation done by Masters stands out. Rewatching years of television to reconnect with a character’s mindset suggests more than a throwaway cameo or a vague invitation to appear down the line. Even without a full script or episode breakdown, these details give away that Spike’s return was potentially being treated as part of the show’s wider framework, rather than a mere nostalgia play.
It all makes the cancellation even more frustrating as, by the time Hulu pulled the plug, the revival clearly had a solid creative identity behind the scenes. Zhao’s involvement gave it prestige, while Gellar’s return offered legitimacy for longtime views, and the setup of Buffy mentoring a younger Slayer would have given the franchise a workable way forward. For a property as beloved as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the balance was always going to be difficult to get right.
- Release Date
-
1997 – 2003
- Network
-
The WB
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
