A return to Sunnydale is no longer happening.
Hulu will not be moving forward with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot.
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Sarah Michelle Gellar, who was set to serve as executive producer and reprise her role as Buffy Summers in the new series, shared the heartbreaking news on Instagram on Saturday. “So I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me,” Gellar said in a video. “Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale. I want to thank Chloé Zhao because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish, yet affordable boots.”
“And thanks to Chloé, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means, not only to me, but to all of you, and this doesn’t change any of that,” she continued. “And I promise, if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”
It was announced in February 2025 that Hulu had ordered a pilot for a new Buffy reboot, with Gellar attached to the project along with Zhao, who would be directing the pilot, written by Nora and Lilla Zuckerman. That May, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew star Ryan Kiera Armstrong was cast opposite Gellar as the new Slayer. Sarah Bock, Ava Jean, Faly Rakotohavana, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Daniel di Tomasso, Kingston Vernes, and Chase Sui Wonders were also cast in the new series.
Gellar announced the show’s new title in January, explaining that it wasn’t technically a reboot, but instead a “continuation” of the beloved WB and UPN supernatural drama. She explained on Evan Ross Katz’s Shut Up Evan podcast that the series will answer questions of where Buffy “is now in this world and what is this world that Buffy lives in, with her and without her. So it’s not a reboot, it’s not picking up with all of the same characters right away. It is not like a sequel… That’s why the name was even important to me. Buffy: New Sunnydale – it’s Buffy, but it’s also something else.”
It doesn’t seem like the show will be shopped around elsewhere, so for now, it seems like Buffy Summers will not be making her return, at least not anytime soon. Whether or not there is a chance in the future remains to be seen, but fans will have to settle for all seven seasons of the original series and all five seasons of spinoff Angel, both streaming on Hulu.