More than two decades after Buffy the Vampire Slayer left the airwaves in 2003, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s beloved creature hunter and her friends from Sunnydale could be returning soon.
Deadline reported Monday that a Buffy revival series is nearing a pilot order from Hulu. According to sources, Gellar is expected to reprise her role as titular vampire slayer Buffy Summers. Oscar-winning Nomadland director Chloé Zhao—a longtime fan of the series—is slated to helm the episode. Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva also reports the reboot is establishing a writers room, a sign that showrunners expect the project to go to series.
It’s possible but not confirmed that other cast members from the original series will return. Gellar, Zhao, and country music icon Dolly Parton—an uncredited producer from the original series through her company Sandollar Entertainment—will serve as executive producers. Series creator Joss Whedon has no involvement in the project.
Following the Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry–led 1992 movie of the same name, the TV version of Buffy told the story of a cheerleader-turned-vampire slayer (Gellar) and her friends as they navigated young adulthood and battled the forces of evil that converged in their Southern California town. With its signature mix of high Gothic horror and teen comedy, Buffy enthralled viewers for seven seasons, five on WB network and the final two on UPN, and still endures as a fan favorite from the era.
Here’s a look at what the main cast has been up to since the final battle that (spoiler alert) destroyed Sunnydale but also closed the Hellmouth portal for good.
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Role: Buffy Summers
With her career on the upswing when she arrived as the titular Buffy, Sarah Michelle Gellar became one of Hollywood’s biggest young stars over the next decade. She cemented her scream queen status with the fright flicks I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream 2 (both 1997) and went on to star in Cruel Intentions (1999), the live-action Scooby-Doo (2002), and The Grudge (2004). Gellar returned to the small screen in the 2010s with leading roles in Ringer and The Crazy Ones, before providing voice work for the animated Star Wars Rebels and Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
Now 47, Gellar currently stars in the crime mystery series Dexter: Original Sin on Showtime. Away from the screen, she also found time to write a cookbook from 2017 and launch the family-friendly Foodstirs baking kits. That is when she wasn’t raising her two children with husband and Scooby-Doo co-star Freddie Prinze Jr.
Alyson Hannigan
Role: Willow Rosenberg
Following her turn as shy nerd–turned-powerful witch Willow Rosenberg, Alyson Hannigan made her mark on other popular franchises of the early aughts. She cracked up audiences as the “one time at band camp” flutist Michelle Flaherty in the raunchy American Pie (1999) and its sequels, before settling into the shoes of Lily Aldrin on the TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Hannigan has also hosted Penn & Teller: Fool Us and the Food Network shows Girl Scout Cookie Championship and Outrageous Pumpkins, while also contributing voice work to the Disney animated series Fancy Nancy. In 2023, she made it to the finale of the ABC reality competition show Dancing with the Stars along with her professional partner Sasha Farber.
For all her successes, Hannigan remains tied to her vampire roots through her marriage to fellow Buffy alum Alexis Denisof, with whom she has two children.
Nicholas Brendon
Role: Xander Harris
After playing Xander Harris—who had a crucial role in the Scooby Gang despite a lack of significant powers—Nicholas Brendon continued in the supporting vein in most of his subsequent projects. He nabbed recurring roles in the series Criminal Minds, Private Practice, and Faking It, while also starring in the TV movie A Golden Christmas (2009) and the independent feature Big Gay Love (2013). Beyond his screen credits, 53-year-old Brendon has co-written several Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books for the Dark Horse imprint and has displayed his skills as an artist.
However, his recent accomplishments have been eclipsed by a string of arrests for domestic violence and substance abuse issues as well as health challenges. In April 2023, Brendon revealed he suffered a heart attack in August 2022. He has also undergone two spinal surgeries to treat cauda equina syndrome, when an injury or herniated disk compresses nerve roots at the bottom of the spinal cord.
David Boreanaz
Role: Angel
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary from a high-profile Buffy role was David Boreanaz, who went from unknown actor to one of the small screen’s more prominent leading men over subsequent decades. His vampire with a soul was the subject of the five-season spinoff Angel, for which he received three Saturn Awards for best actor on television. Boreanaz then co-starred for 12 seasons as FBI Agent Seely Booth on the crime procedural Bones before moving to the military drama SEAL Team as chief Jason Hayes, occasionally pulling double duty on both series as a director.
Now 55, the heartthrob actor is also a father to two children with his second wife, Jaime Bergman.
James Marsters
Role: Spike
Another vampire with eyes for the Slayer and a character arc that brought him to Angel, 62-year-old James Marsters compiled an impressive list of credits in the wake of Buffy. Regularly appearing on television, the Californian enjoyed recurring roles in Smallville, Without a Trace, Caprica, Hawaii Five-O, and Witches of East End before landing a regular gig on the Marvel series Runaways. On the big screen, he surfaced in P.S. I Love You (2007), Dragonball Evolution (2009), and A Bread Factory (2018).
Marsters has also served as the audiobook narrator for the long-running sci-fi/mystery series The Dresden Files and released albums both as a solo music artist and a member of the Ghost of the Robot. The group’s most recent album Tin Man from 2023 features the song “Don’t Worry Son,” which he wrote during his time on Buffy.
Anthony Head
Role: Rupert Giles
The elder statesman of the main cast, London-born Anthony Head continued his successes on both sides of the Atlantic after seven seasons as Watcher Rupert Giles. He went on to roles in the series Manchild, Little Britain, Merlin, Dominion, and Ted Lasso, while also nurturing his film career with appearances in Scoop (2006), the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady (2011), and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013). Elsewhere, Head was seen on the British stage in productions of Six Degrees of Separation and Love in Idleness, plus contributed to the BBC Radio programs Bleak Expectations and Cabin Pressure.
And in what should come as no surprise to anybody who saw him sing and play guitar on Buffy, the veteran performer, now 70, has released a pair of albums featuring both original and cover songs.
Charisma Carpenter
Role: Cordelia Chase
Introduced as a cold-hearted cheerleader, Charisma Carpenter’s Cordelia Chase embarked a redemptive path that transformed her into a key ally and later carried her through four of five seasons of the spinoff Angel. From there, Carpenter enjoyed a solid career as a small-screen regular, if not a headliner. She landed recurring roles in the series Charmed, Veronica Mars, and Greek, along with a prominent part in the short-lived The Lying Game. The actor also joined Sylvester Stallone’s all-star cast in the action movie The Expendables (2010) before her three-season stint as host of Investigation Discovery’s Surviving Evil.
In early 2021, Carpenter made headlines for tweeting about her clashes with Whedon behind the scenes of Buffy and Angel. Her statement opened the door for other cast members and writers to reveal their related experiences on set.
Carpenter, 54, has already reprised her role as Cordelia for the 2023 spinoff audio series Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, available on Audible.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
