by Damon Martin
Star Wars without George Lucas?
The Godfather without Al Pacino?
Jay and Silent Bob without Kevin Smith?
Any of those scenarios would just seem wrong wouldn’t they? Well, that brings us to Monday’s announcement from Warner Bros. that they will be reviving Buffy the Vampire Slayer in a new film that will have no direct connection with the previous movie or television show – and also no connection whatsoever with character creator and long time Buffy writer Joss Whedon.
You read that correctly: The man who created and guided the Buffy-verse will have nothing to do with the latest incarnation set to hit the big screen as soon as 2011.
The person given the task of bringing Buffy back to life will be newcomer Whit Anderson, who apparently is a lifelong follower of the series. At this point Anderson’s script is still at the concept stage; Regardless Warner Bros. decided to greenlight the project without so much as consulting Whedon.
“I didn’t really watch much television at all, but I always watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That was the one show I would watch when I got home. I just loved this character,” said the inexperienced Anderson in an interview with the L.A. Times.
Prior to Monday’s announcement, it had long been rumored that Warner Bros were working on a project that would see the original Buffy cast reunited for a big screen version of the small screen classic, with Sarah Michelle Gellar leading the way, alongside a cast that included Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Stewart Head, and David Boreanaz.
This latest announcement seemingly puts the final nail in the coffin with regards to a re-launch with the original cast. The fact that there will be a Geller-less remake is bad enough, but then to not involve Whedon almost seems like a slap in the face to any true Buffy fan.
When contacted for a comment about the new film, Whedon, who is a nerd’s nerd, reacted with grace and wit, instead of the outrage and venom most fans have met the news with:
“I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER,” Whedon said in an e-mail to E! Online’s Kristin Dos Santos. “I don’t love the idea of my creation in other hands, but I’m also well aware that many more hands than mine went into making that show what it was. And there is no legal grounds for doing anything other than sighing audibly. I can’t wish people who are passionate about my little myth ill.”
Since Whedon won’t, I certainly will.
If Whit Anderson truly was a fan of the Buffy that fans have come to know and love, she would leave the character in the hands of the man who created her in the first place. Anderson herself, compared what she is doing with Buffy to what Christopher Nolan was able to do with the Batman franchise on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Sadly, Anderson simply must not get the point when it comes to the Buffy franchise that she is about to soil. It’s one thing for Batman, a character created more than a half-century ago, to undergo a change in personnel. But, right now, Buffy is best served by Joss Whedon and his cast, who are still in their prime and at the top of their game.
Sarah Michelle Gellar had apparently been in talks with the studio about reprising her role as the vampire slaying chick with an attitude, and other cast members had expressed an interest in reviving the series in movie form. Now, the Buffy that fans have come to love may never return to the screen.
Some will say give this new Buffy film a chance. If it were anything else, I might say let’s keep an open mind and see how it turns out. But this incarnation deserves nothing less than an outright boycott from the true fans that have followed Whedon’s vision for many years. Personally, I’d take a stake to the heart before I’ll support the new version without Joss “I am Buffy the Vampire Slayer” Whedon being involved.
