Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer is making a return and currently in development at Fox 21 TV Studios, the cable/streaming division of 20th Century Fox. The supernatural drama ran for a total of seven seasons, from 1996 to 2003, first on the WB and then on the now-defunct UPN.
As the original series’ showrunner and creator, Whedon is set to be the reboot’s executive producer, while Monica Owusu-Breen will be the writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Gail Berman, Fran Kazui, and Kaz Kazui, and Joe Earley will also serve as executive producers.
The new Buffy will be more modern than its predecessor, but will still be an extension of the original series’ mythology. “Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today,” the producers said, per Deadline.
Sources say the producers are aiming for the reboot's lead to be black. However, they also warn that the script and project are not yet cemented.
Buffy helped establish the careers of Whedon as a creator, Berman as a TV producer, and Sarah Michelle Gellar as an actress—in addition to proving WB’s viability as a TV network. In 2001, the series landed a bigger license fee with UPN and, in a controversial move, left the WB. Still, Buffy brought forth the successful offshoot Angel, which ran on WB for five seasons.
Owusu and Whedon have previously worked together on ABC’s Marvel’s Angels of S.H.I.E.L.D., which Whedon co-created as well as executive produced and directed alongside Owusu.
Whedon has recently been making a return to TV, writing and acting as executive producer for HBO’s The Nevers, and executive producing Freeform's Pippa Smith: Grown-Up Detective at Freeform. Owusu created NBC’s supernatural drama Midnight, Texas and has worked with J.J. Abrams on Alias, Lost, and Fringe.
