Yesterday certainly threw out the biggest pop entertainment media story it could have with this one, didn't it? On the week of the show's 29th anniversary and all.
Sarah Michelle Gellar took to social media yesterday to announce that Hulu opted to not pick up Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale as a series after the pilot had been filmed last year. A later statement had been made about exploring other possibilities within the popular IP.
I have to say that my initial reaction was mixed to this news. A part of me was disappointed with the news as I had been looking forward to reconnecting with one of the most iconic television characters of all time. Then another part of me was relieved that perhaps Buffy Summers herself had been spared a fate that might not have done wonders for her enduring legacy.
This also lead to the obvious speculation that in spite of Chloe Zhao's best efforts, perhaps the pilot itself just wasn't good enough for Hulu to risk it. Leaks in the last twenty four hours had revealed that Buffy herself would've only appeared in the last scene. She would've been an insurance broker that was living in New York and going by Anne for some reason.
The rest of the pilot would've focused on both old and new versions of Sunnydale coexisting with long buried vampires coming out of the ground and a young girl named Nova (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) being activated as the new slayer. Also one of her teachers would have become a vampire during the episode.
On paper, this didn't sound awful but a bit generic. I do think relegating Buffy herself to a mundane role wouldn't have been the best way to reintroduce the character as well. Could the pilot leak? Possibly. It took years for the original Buffy pilot to leak (currently on YouTube) as well as the opening scene from the planned animated show.
Oh well, at least we still have the 1992 movie, the TV show, Angel, those follow up comics and that audio series from a few years ago. Perhaps this decision will be a blessing in disguise.
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