With a Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV reboot on the horizon, longtime fans are contemplating what the series could look like. In a story originally confirmed by involving a returning Sarah Michelle Gellar and Academy Award-winning director Chloé Zhao. With plans still in their early stages, the vision for what the sequel will look like still isn't completely clear to audiences.

Thankfully, Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans can envision the potential of the reboot through the comic books. No, not the Seasons 8-12 canonical comic book continuation from Dark Horse Comics, but the rebooted comic series from BOOM! Studios, by writers Jordie Bellaire and Jeremy Lambert, alongside numerous artists, like Dan Mora.

Starting in 2019 and ending in 2021, BOOM! produced a modernized version of Buffy that carries the classic sensibilities of the franchise alongside a 2020s aesthetic. While a true reboot and not a sequel, the comic provides a guide to how to reimagine the Buffy franchise through a modern lens, updating the story for a new generation.

How BOOM! Studios Modernized Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the Comics

What a Buffy for the 2020s Looks Like

In the 2019 Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, everyone has a cell phone, a laptop, and other such tech. Such a simple update is essential for any contemporary reboot, but this Buffy series excels in making use of modern technology in the narrative. For instance, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer #4 by Jordie Bellaire, Dan Mora, Raul Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire, to get closer to their new rival, Drusilla and Spike trap Xander. After acquiring Buffy's cell phone, the vampiric duo text a lovelorn Xander, luring him into coming alone to a location, making him think that his crush wants to go someplace alone together.

Spike and Drusilla's trap for Xander introduces one of the series' biggest story arcs, as it leads to Drusilla siring Xander into a vampire. Personal technology offers Buffy a storytelling tool that simply wasn't available in 1997. It allows the creative team to tell the story in a new way that distinguishes it from its predecessor. It shows exactly how to update an older IP into a modern era - not out of necessity to stay current and relevant, but in a way that progresses the story in ways that the original could not. At its best, the Hulu sequel should be able to achieve the same.

How BOOM! Studios Fixed Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Its Reboot

Improving Upon the Series' Biggest Flaws

While there will always be heavy expectations for reboots and remakes, the newer material always has an opportunity to improve upon the original. Even for a series as beloved as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there are universal gripes about the original series that are shared across the Buffy fan community that not even the in-continuity comics were able to solve. One common '90s-era criticism revolves around hoping the reboot fixes.

By turning Xander into a vampire, the BOOM! series was not only able to transform Xander from a divisive character - whiny at best, an incel at worst - to a three-dimensional would-be hero turned villain. It made for one of the series' more compelling arcs. Similarly, while some TV audiences were disappointed that Kendra the Vampire Slayer only appeared in a handful of episodes before being killed off, she herself has a full-blown arc in the comics that touches on her backstory. In addition, the series allows Kendra to exist as a Slayer alongside Buffy and Faith instead of being discarded.

A reboot of this magnitude allows a second chance for characters who never had a fair shot in the previous era or for characters whose writing didn't do them any favors.

These are just some examples of how BOOM! has been able to redeem the worst aspects of the beloved show. While there is no guarantee that the sequel television series will adapt these character arcs and storylines from the BOOM! series, it has the opportunity to follow suit by redeeming characters and storylines that haven't aged well since the franchise's onscreen conclusion. A reboot of this magnitude allows a second chance for characters who never had a fair shot in the previous era or for characters whose writing didn't do them any favors.

What About BOOM! Studios' Other Buffy Sequel Series?

Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer by Casey Gilley and Oriol Roig

The best part about BOOM! Studios' coverage of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that the 2019 series isn't the only time that the publisher reinvigorated the franchise. While the 2019 series is a better reflection of what a modern Buffy revamp TV series might look like, Hulu could also possibly take inspiration from a direct sequel set in the original continuity: Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer. This series takes place in a distant, apocalyptic future where, in a world deprived of all potential Slayers, Buffy is the last Slayer alive.

In this continuity, Buffy trains the next Slayer: the dark twist of growing old, two themes perfectly ripe for Hulu's reboot. Beyond following up on the original series with modern sensibilities, the sequel will need to dwell on who Buffy Summers is today. Delving into how she ages not only as a Slayer but as an elder who isn't the same spry, spunky teenager she once was, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's reboot could be a fitting, relatable continuation that its older audience can connect to.

All issues of 2019's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Buffy: The Last Vampire Slayer are available now from BOOM! Studios.

Source: Variety