Representatives for 20th Century and Hulu did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.
What was planned for the new Buffy series?
The project, titled Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, would have introduced Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a new slayer. Sarah Michelle Gellar was due to return as Buffy Summers, placing the original heroine alongside the next generation rather than replacing her outright.
The pilot’s cast also included:
- Faly Rakotohavana as Hugo
- Ava Jean as Larkin
- Sarah Bock as Gracie
- Daniel di Tomasso as Abe
- Jack Cutmore-Scott as Mr. Burke
Hulu moved forward with the revival in March 2025, but ultimately canceled it after the pilot. That left the proposed return to Sunnydale unfinished and Green’s possible reunion with the franchise entirely theoretical.
Gellar announced the decision in an Instagram video, saying she was “really sad” that Hulu had chosen not to continue with Buffy: New Sunnydale.
“I want to thank Chloé Zhao, because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots,” Gellar said. “And thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you.”
She closed with a characteristically Buffy-style assurance: “I promise if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”
Where did Seth Green’s Oz fit into the original show?
The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer followed Gellar’s Buffy Summers, a young woman tasked with fighting vampires, demons and other supernatural threats with help from her friends. Inspired by the film of the same name, the television series ran for seven seasons from 1997 to 2003.
Green’s Oz became a memorable part of that group as a guitarist who also happened to be a werewolf, an inconvenient extracurricular commitment even by Sunnydale standards. His comments suggest he was open to revisiting the character, although the planned series never reached the point of making him an offer.
For now, Oz’s location remains unknown, and the reboot intended to answer new questions about Sunnydale has joined the long list of television pilots that audiences will not get to see.
