— monicaowusubreen (@monicabreen) July 26, 2018
When news of what was being called a Buffy “reboot” with a black lead first dropped, I was very adamant that it was something I did not want—not because I found the idea inherently bad, but because rebooting Buffy for the sake of inclusion would only lead to a backlash from fans of the original and hinder the actress and showrunner from being able to have true ownership of the series.
Well, in a definite improvement, the upcoming Buffy series showrunner, Monica Owusu-Breen put out a statement on Twitter saying that the show will be more of a sequel, with a new character as a new Slayer.
In the tweet, Owusu-Breen says, “There is only one Buffy,” and that she wouldn’t true to “replace” the original cast or series, and “it could be time to meet a new Slayer.” As many have said, the finale of the original show definitely made it fully possible to have a sequel series since “every girl who could have the power, will have the power.” There’s room for more combative Slayer vs. Slayer storylines—some with redemption and some without.
This news does make me breathe a sigh of relief that I don’t have to see any stories about a black actress being driven off the internet in some way because she isn’t ‘right’ to play Buffy Summers. Still, do I still wish this were a non-Joss Whedon-universe vampire story? Absolutely.
I think that Owusu-Breen will do a great job, and I’m glad she’s going to be behind this show. I just wish that there were more of a drive to get works written by black sci-fi/fantasy authors on the screen. There are so many talented authors out there whose work should be adapted that, while I’m excited to see a black character do well on a Buffy sequel, it would be nice to see that diverse series don’t need to be a spinoffs from already existing white-led shows to be viable.
What do you guys think? Does this news about it being a sequel rather than a reboot ease some of your fears, or do you just have new ones?
(via The Verge, image: 20th Century Fox)
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