Joss Whedon’s Rebooting ‘Buffy’ W/ A Black Lead & Ppl Are Not Staking It Well

buffy reboot

The era of reboots continues apace, and the most recently announced is an absolute doozy: Joss Whedon and Monica Owusu-Breen are rebooting Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

This is, quite frankly, a huge deal. Buffy was – and remains – an iconic series, one that had a massive impact on popular culture and is beloved by millions of fans to this day.

The reboot, according to Deadline, is in the process of being pitched to streaming and cable networks, and will be set in the present day. A statement from the producers describe it like this:

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.

Deadline says that the “diversity” mentioned is a reflection of plans for an African American lead. A Black Buffy? The world is READY FOR THIS.

There’s no script as of yet, and details are likely to change, but we do know that Owusu-Breen, the creator of Midnight, Texas, is slated to be writer, executive producer and showrunner. Whedon’s going to be executive producing, along with original series alumni Gail Berman, Fran and Kaz Kazui and Joe Earley. How much Whedon will actually be involved in the production is hard to say, considering his many other commitments, including forthcoming series The Nevers.

A quick canvas of Twitter shows that people are not 100% optimistic about this news, especially considering the overwhelmingly meh response to the first offerings from the Charmed reprise.

https://twitter.com/Tyler_Savage_/status/1020469331199700992

https://twitter.com/ianxcarlos/status/1020454257009586176

https://twitter.com/angelicabastien/status/1020449888339886082

As for us, we’re cautiously into it, particularly thanks to the involvement of Owusu-Breen. Bonus points if they bring back those top-notch ’90s hairdos!

More Stuff From PEDESTRIAN.TV