Sarah Michelle Gellar Quashes Buffy Reboot Leak: “Those are all fake characters”

A 16-year-old slayer named Nova, and a Scooby gang comprising a nerd called Hugo from a moneyed family, and a young vampire expert named Gracie who’s a fangirl of the OG Buffy Summers… those were the roles exclusively reported by TVLine in March as being cast for the forthcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot.

According to Buffy star and reboot producer Sarah Michelle Gellar? Not so much.

“Those are all fake characters,” Gellar told Elite Daily in late April. “That thing that got released is all fake.”

No plot or cast details have yet been made public about the planned reboot, which is being helmed by Gellar with original Buffy producer Gail Berman and director Chloé Zhao, winner of the Best Director Academy Award in 2021 for the Frances McDormand-starring Nomadland, with Fringe, Agents of SHIELD and Poker Face writers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman on scripts. Original series creator Joss Whedon, whose behind-the-scenes behaviour on Buffy and other projects has drawn serious allegations and criticism from past collaborators and cast members, is not involved.

The Disney/Hulu revival was announced as nearing a pilot order back in February, and it’s already been a long road to reach that point, Gellar confirmed. “We’ve been at this for three-and-a-half, maybe four years now,” she told Elite Daily, which tallies with Disney TV Studios Chief Eric Schrier’s recent Deadline interview, in which he explained how the reboot plan came together:

“In the case of Buffy, it stemmed out of Karey Burke and [Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment Scripted President] Simran Sethi had always wanted to try to figure out a way to reboot that show. Our partners at Searchlight Television, who I work with as well, have a deal with Chloé Zhao. It ends up that Chloé Zhao loves Buffy, so we put them together. And out of that came the idea. Sarah Michelle Gellar has been a part of it from the get-go as well.”

Gellar has emphasised her devotion to Buffy’s legacy several times since the announcement was made public, and again via Elite Daily reassured fans that the revival won’t move ahead unless it’s “100% right and there’s 100% a reason.”

“Every pitch I heard was just like, ‘Let’s just do Buffy again.’ Why? But the passion that [Zhao] came to me with, what she wanted to do with the show and the character, and why Buffy is needed now — it was the first time where I thought, ‘OK, there’s a reason.’”

While we wait to find out just what that reason is, fans have understandable questions about how many of Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s original characters will be a part of the new show. February 2025 saw the tragic death of actor Michelle Trachtenberg, beloved for playing Buffy’s younger sister Dawn from season five to seven. Actor Nicholas Brendon, who played Scooby gang member Xander Harris throughout the original run, has undergone public struggles with addiction and criminal violence.

And on a far less serious but still relevant note, actors David Boreanaz and James Marsters, who played unageing vampire characters in the original series, have obviously aged since the Buffy TV show ended over 22 years ago. Is the world ready for a digitally Botoxed Angel and Spike?

As soon as there are answers to the above questions and more, such as whether the revival will ignore comic book continuity (fingers crossed that it does), as well as any non-fake new character announcements, we’ll let you know.

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