HBO is only going forward with one Game of Thrones prequel, but is it the right one?

HBO is only going forward with one Game of Thrones prequel, but is it the right one? by Dan Selcke

Earlier this week, it was widely reported that 20th Century Fox Television was going to remake Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon’s cult classic series about a Southern California vampire hunter and her friends. The show is still in the early stages, but The Hollywood Reported had it that producers knew they wanted to cast a black actress in the title role. Buffy has a lot of passionate fans, and a backlash formed online, with many thinking this was the wrong way to go about reviving the series:

this whole Buffy reboot concerns me only because I do not want the story retold with a new "Buffy." There's only one of those. Continue by telling another slayer's story in the same universe and leave Buffy's legacy alone please and thank you. #btvs #buffy — 𝔫𝔞𝔱 (@theMagicalTweet) July 23, 2018

Just did a solid hour rant on why I wont accept a new Buffy when I've been waiting my entire adult life for new slayers. SHE RAISED A FUCKING ARMY! PICK ONE AND MAKE A SERIES. I'm far more worked up over this then I realised. — 🌒Obstreperous🌕Emmy🌘 (@EmmyMaher) July 23, 2018

Let me help you out. Just call the show Slayers, you can even keep the same font. Follow another slayer/slayers (you’ve got plenty to choose from). Have original cast appear for however long they want. Everyone’s happy, no memories trashed. You’re welcome. #Buffy #BuffyReboot — Save Buffy (@SaveBuffy) July 21, 2018

Now, the showrunner for the new series — Monica Owusu-Breen, who worked with Whedon as a writer on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., in addition to credits on several other shows — has taken to Twitter to clarify a few things. Read on:

For some genre writers it’s Star Wars.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my Star Wars. Before I became a writer, I was a fan. For seven seasons, I watched Buffy Summers grow up, find love, kill that love. I watched her fight, and struggle and slay. There is only one Buffy. One Xander, one Willow, Giles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel… They can’t be replaced. Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to. But here we are, twenty years later…

And the world seems a lot scarier.

So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer… And that’s all I can say.

“There is only one Buffy…They can’t be replaced…I wouldn’t try to…[I]t could be time to meet a new Slayer.” Hmm.

Read one way, Owusu-Breen seems to be hinting that the new show isn’t a remake of the original series, but rather a continuation. “Into every generation a Slayer is born,” goes the show’s opening narration. It wouldn’t be hard to set a new show in a new time period with a new Slayer and a new group of friends, making this series less of a remake than a revival.

Also, in the series finale, Buffy activated a whole bunch of new Slayers, so Owusu-Breen could use that angle too. Personally, I hope that’s where this show is going, because the original Buffy isn’t that old and wouldn’t really benefit from the remake treatment. Other TV writers seem to agree, like Chris Rafferty, who’s written for The Flash and Lucifer:

THIS. THIS. THIS. THIS. As a fellow Buffy-inspired TV writer, I am beyond happy to hear you express this. Thank you for igniting hope where doubt started to fester. So excited to see how you continue the legacy. — Chris Rafferty (@chris_rafferty) July 26, 2018

We’ll see how this develops.

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