It's been a dream of Buffy fans since the show went off-air in 2003 – the promise, that one day, we'd return to Sunnydale and Buffy Summers, the Chosen One and Ultimate Vampire Slayer.

But Gellar said she'd never go back and fans reluctantly accepted it.

That was, until early 2025 when fans allowed themselves to get properly excited.

Watch the hosts of Mamamia's entertainment podcast, The Spill, debriefing on the Oscars. Post continues below.

There was an order from streaming network, Hulu for a pilot, an Oscar-winning director, Chloé Zhao (Eternals) attached, and, crucially, there was Sarah Michelle Gellar, who would not only produce but also star. Then, in May, there was also a plot: Buffy would now mentor a new slayer, 15-year-old Ryan Keira Armstrong, who would co-star.

Fast-forward to a week ago when the hell mouth swallowed it all. Gellar received a phone call telling her that the series was no longer going ahead.

To the uninitiated, this might not register more than a sigh but to anyone who watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1997 until its end, 6 years later, this was a crushing blow. 

It's hard to imagine now, but in the late 90s, a female hero who kicked butt, fought demons and still delivered sassy one-liners was not just uncommon – it was brand new.

If you were fashionable and cute, you starred on Friends. If you battled supernatural forces, you were… a dude. Women were victims in horror, not heroes. The show pre-dated Harry Potter and went on to influence Alias and Charmed. The respect for decent storytelling with a fun, feminist slant was, well, it was unprecedented. Up until 1997, all women had was Genie and Betwitched.

But Buffy changed all that and not even the allegations surrounding former showrunner Joss Whedon could alter its legacy, though fans did worry that replicating the exact tone of the original was impossible after Whedon was accused of creating a toxic work environment.

So when it appeared that Gellar would star in a revival, fans were genuinely thrilled. Zhao, a self-professed fan (who won two Oscars in 2021 for her film, Nomadland) had an idea in 2022, and after sharing it with Gellar over coffee that turned into a four-hour meeting, Gellar says she was, for the first time since leaving the show, excited. They went so far as to film a pilot together.

When Gellar posted a video to her Instagram over the weekend, saying the reboot was not going forward, disappointment, rage and shock rippled out among the millions of fans. 

How could this have happened?

Two days ago, Gellar, valiant to the end, gave an interview to explain more fully what happened and, honestly, it should make fans, and anyone who values the work of passionate, dedicated creatives, incandescent with rage.

Gellar told People that it all came down to one person who killed the project. "We had an executive on our show who was not only not a fan of the original, but was proud to constantly remind us that he had never seen the entirety of the series and how it wasn't for him."

Hang on just a tick. Can you imagine a woman in a similar position proudly telling the executives at Marvel Studios she had never seen Spider Man? You can't, can you? Because it is considered canon. And if you're going to make a Marvel movie you should know your subject.

But, oh I see, Buffy is just a frivolous girls show? Why was this person proud of such a fact? Clearly he's not qualified for the job?

As Gellar explained, "That's very hard when you're taking a property that is as beloved as Buffy, not just to the world, but to me and Chloé. So that tells you the uphill battle that we had been fighting since day one, when your executive is literally proud to tell you that he didn't watch it," she said.

Then, there was the timing of the news. Gellar says she got it right before she stepped on stage at SXSW for the premiere of her new film, Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.

"I got the call as we were stepping onto stage...  it [was] also the weekend of Chloé going to the Oscars as a best director nominee for Hamnet. For them to call us on the Friday of what should have been Chloé's victory lap for an incredible film, and my world premiere of something that I worked very hard for is...," she paused. "That says something."

It certainly does. But maybe, if the executives making the big decisions over at Hulu are this insensitive and this low-key sexist, it's better to kill it now than have a legacy like Buffy diluted.

For entertainment content, listen to the latest from The Spill. Post continues below.

And who knows, one studio's fumble is another's goldmine. There are other streamers out there, hopefully with deeper pockets - and better attitudes.

For more from Natalie Reilly, you can find her here .

Feature image: 20th Century Fox.