Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans were caught between two emotions when it was announced that original creator Joss Whedon was working on a reboot of the classic show. On the one hand, it was good news that the Buffyverse was returning to TV screens but, on the other, no one wants to see their favorite characters recast. Least of all, Sarah Michelle Gellar’s superheroine herself.
Thankfully, showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen has hinted on Twitter that the reboot will not be recasting the original gang and is instead set to introduce “a new Slayer.” This makes it sound like the new Buffy is more of a revival or continuation than a reboot, which leaves the door open for the stars of the late 1990s/early 2000s series to return.
Someone who’s certainly up for a comeback is James Marsters, who played breakout character Spike on both Buffy and Angel. As everyone’s favorite peroxide blonde bad boy, a return for Spike would be terrific – the only problem is that he’s a vampire and it’s been 15 years since Marsters last played the role. As you could imagine, it might be a little difficult to explain his aging if he’s meant to be an immortal bloodsucker.
Marsters has a tongue-in-cheek idea for how that could work, though. He told /Film they could just avoid mentioning his extra wrinkles and have him turn the tables and point out Buffy’s appearance instead. Sounds like Spike to us!
“I think we’d have to get some really good lighting together to sell Spike, but they are doing more and more and more, both with actor health and with special effects. What would be great is if he comes back and he’s like, ‘Buffy, you look terrible. I still love you of course.’ That would be fun.”
On a more sincere note, Marsters made it clear that he’ll do whatever Joss Whedon wants him to do, which sounds like he’d jump at the chance to come back as Spike in the Buffy revival if he got the call to dye his hair again.
“I am open to whatever Joss has in mind. Whether that’s playing Spike or something else, I told him a long time ago. Joss’s mind is always surprising so I’m open to playing Spike if Joss is involved.”
Whedon and Owusu-Breen are said to be pitching Buffy 2.0 to various cable and streaming networks this summer, so hopefully we’ll learn some concrete details on the reboot/revival/whatever it is over the next few months. As always, watch this space for more.