Sarah Michelle Gellar: “The new Buffy series is not a reboot!”

In passing, she confirms the official title, which will take us back to Sunnydale.

It will be one of the huge television events of the year 2026: the new series Buffy the Vampire Slayer will bring Sarah Michelle Gellar back to Sunnydale, to pass the baton to a new slayer played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong. Which makes the 48-year-old actress say: no, it will not be a reboot, but a sort of continuation of the story that we know.

Guest of the Shut Up Evan podcast, Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed the name of the project currently in development: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale.

“It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation,” she explained.

The pilot was ordered by Hulu in 2025 and intends to answer a central question: where is Buffy today, in this world, with her… and without her?

“It’s not picking up all the characters exactly where we left them. It’s not a sequel in the classic sense. That’s why the title was so important to me. It will be called: Buffy: New Sunnydale! It’s Buffy, but it’s also something else.”

The title is released: it will be Buffy: New Sunnydale. And Sarah Michelle Gellar admits to having changed her point of view over time, she who has long been opposed to a return of the cult series: “I eat my words, and that’s fine with me. I learned my lesson. I didn’t see how or why it could be as good as the original series. I’m not trying to do better. I just want to respect and honor what we created.”

A deep attachment to a series that she always claims with pride: “Many people have put their blood, sweat and tears into this series. And I am incredibly proud of that.”

The actress finally explains why Buffy: New Sunnydale is taking so long to see the light of day:

“It’s the first time that I said to myself: maybe I could do it. And it’s been going on for three years now… with Chloé Zhao, we never stopped thinking about it, developing the why and the how.”

An assumed perfectionism, motivated by the weight of the heritage: “If it takes time, it’s because we don’t want to betray this heritage. The day I know that this is exactly what it should be, then the series will exist. But not before.”

Buffy: New Sunnydale has yet to be officially ordered, but should arrive on our screens by the end of the year. In France, it will be on Disney Plus.