Twenty-eight years after a Valley Girl with supernatural strength first staked her claim on pop culture, the Buffyverse continues to expand like a particularly stubborn vampire refusing to stay dead. From the original 1992 film to the recent announcement of a Hulu sequel series, this sprawling universe has spawned more spin-offs, reboots, and continuation attempts than a desperate network executive’s fever dream. But here’s the thing about the Buffyverse: for every brilliant success story, there’s a cautionary tale about how networks can spectacularly fumble a sure thing.

Let’s stake our way through the triumphs, disasters, and “what if” scenarios that have defined this supernatural franchise’s journey beyond Sunnydale.

Angel: The Spin-Off That Actually Worked

When Angel premiered in October 1999, it faced the nearly impossible task of proving that lightning could strike twice in the same supernatural universe. The brooding vampire with a soul had to step out of Buffy’s shadow and establish his own identity—no small feat when your previous character development largely revolved around tortured romance and hair gel.

What Angel accomplished was nothing short of remarkable. The show details the ongoing trials of Angel, a vampire whose human soul was restored to him by a Romani curse as a punishment for the murder of one of their own, but it quickly evolved into something far more sophisticated than just “Buffy in Los Angeles.” The series embraced a noir aesthetic that perfectly matched its urban setting, exploring themes of redemption, moral ambiguity, and the cost of violence with a maturity that occasionally made its parent show look downright adolescent.

The show’s willingness to take narrative risks paid off brilliantly. During the majority of the show, he works as a private detective in Los Angeles, where he and a variety of associates work to “help the helpless”, restoring the faith and saving the souls of those who have lost their way. This mission statement gave Angel a procedural framework that allowed for both standalone cases and mythology-heavy arcs.

Perhaps most impressively, Angel often outperformed Buffy in the ratings during overlapping seasons. At times, it performed better in the Nielsen ratings than its parent series did. The show proved that spin-offs could succeed by being different from, rather than derivative of, their source material. Critics have consistently ranked it among the best TV spin-offs of all time, with many arguing it surpassed the later seasons of Buffy in quality and consistency.

The Comic Book Continuation: When TV Becomes Literature

While Angel was thriving on television, the end of both series in 2003 and 2004 left fans wondering if they’d ever see new canonical stories from the Buffyverse. Enter Dark Horse Comics with an ambitious answer: continue the story where television left off.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is a comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2011. It serves as a canonical continuation of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and follows the events of that show’s final televised season. It is produced by Joss Whedon, who wrote or co-wrote three of the series arcs and several one-shot stories.

The success of Season Eight was unprecedented. The series was originally supposed to consist of about 25 issues, but eventually expanded to a 40-issue run. This wasn’t just fan service—it was genuinely innovative storytelling that exploited the unlimited budget of comic books to tell stories impossible on television. Buffy now commanded an army of hundreds of Slayers worldwide, Dawn could transform into a giant, and the scope expanded to truly global proportions.

The comic continuation also spawned a successful Angel series. Angel: After the Fall is a forty-four-issue comic book published by IDW Publishing. Written by Brian Lynch and plotted with Joss Whedon, the series is a canonical continuation of the Angel television series, and follows the events of that show’s final season. The premise was audaciously ambitious: Los Angeles had literally been sent to hell, with Angel and his team having to navigate this supernatural wasteland.

These comics proved that the Buffyverse could thrive in different media, establishing a template that other franchises would later follow. The fact that the series earned a nomination for “Best Continuing Series” and won the category “Best New Series” for the 2008 Will Eisner Awards demonstrated that this wasn’t just a novelty—it was quality storytelling.

The Graveyard of Missed Opportunities

For every success story in the Buffyverse, there’s a corresponding tale of network executives apparently using their decision-making skills for evil. The list of cancelled, undeveloped, or butchered spin-off attempts reads like a supernatural apocalypse of missed opportunities.

Ripper: Anthony Stewart Head’s Giles was set to star in his own series, initially planned as a BBC production. There was little heard about the series until 2007 when Joss Whedon confirmed that talks were almost completed for a 90-minute Ripper special on the BBC with both Head and the BBC completely on board. The project would have followed the former Watcher in his homeland, presumably dealing with supernatural threats while maintaining that quintessentially British stiff upper lip. Instead, it vanished into development hell, presumably staked by budget concerns and scheduling conflicts.

Buffy: The Animated Series: Perhaps the most painful near-miss, this project had everything going for it: Whedon’s involvement, most of the original cast returning to voice their characters, and a completed pilot. Whedon revealed to The Hollywood Reporter: “We just could not find a home for it. We had six or seven hilarious scripts from our own staff–and nobody wanted it.” The animation style would have allowed for bigger supernatural threats and more elaborate action sequences, while the format could have attracted younger viewers. Instead, it became a footnote in the “what could have been” chapter of television history.

Faith: The Wandering Slayer: Eliza Dushku was approached about a spin-off focused on the rogue Slayer, conceptualized as “Faith meets Kung Fu.” Tim Minear explained some of the ideas behind the aborted series: “The show was basically going to be Faith, probably on a motorcycle, crossing the earth, trying to find her place in the world”. Dushku declined to pursue Tru Calling instead—a decision that in hindsight seems like choosing a wooden stake over a crossbow when facing down a vampire.

Slayer School: Even more concepts were floated during the final seasons. Jane Espenson said during the time spin-offs were being discussed, “I think Marti (Noxon) talked with Joss about Slayer School and Tim Minear talked with him about Faith on a motorcycle.” A series focusing on training new Slayers could have combined the high school dynamics that made early Buffy work with the expanded mythology of later seasons.

The pattern is clear: creative teams pitched innovative concepts, networks either passed or couldn’t find the right home, and fans were left wondering what might have been. It’s a masterclass in how the television industry can transform golden opportunities into cautionary tales.

The Recent Reboot Attempts: Learning from Past Mistakes?

The 2018 reboot attempt serves as a perfect case study in how not to approach beloved intellectual property. In July 2018, 20th Century Fox Television reportedly began development on a television reboot of the series. Monica Owusu-Breen was to serve as showrunner and had been working on the script with Whedon, who was to be an executive producer.

The initial concept involved casting a Black actress as Buffy, which raised legitimate questions about whether this was genuine diversity or simply race-swapping for headlines. Reports that a black actress was to assume the iconic role of Buffy, rather than having a new character or Slayer created, have been met with questions and concerns. Critics pointed out that the Buffyverse already had multiple Slayers of color who could have been the focus of a new series, making the decision feel less like representation and more like a marketing gimmick.

The project was eventually put “on pause” indefinitely in August 2022, which in Hollywood speak usually means “dead but we’re too polite to say so.”

The Hulu Revival: Hope or False Dawn?

The 2025 announcement of a Hulu sequel series represents a fundamentally different approach. Sarah Michelle Gellar is in final talks to once again play the iconic title character in the untitled project, although it would focus on a new Slayer and Gellar would appear in a recurring role rather than leading the series.

This concept feels more promising for several reasons. First, it respects the original by bringing back Gellar while acknowledging that she’s aged out of the teenage Slayer role. Second, Chloé Zhao, a longtime fan of the show, is the one who brought the idea to Buffy executive producer Gail Berman, suggesting genuine passion rather than corporate mandate.

Gellar herself has been refreshingly honest about the development process: “I have always listened to the fans and heard your desire to revisit ‘Buffy’ and her world, but it was not something I could do unless I was sure we would get it right”. Her insistence on quality over quick profit is encouraging, especially given her previous reluctance to return to the role.

The involvement of filmmaker Chloé Zhao adds credibility to the project. “The fandom is so special to me and I’m excited about how that’s going to go into the world,” Zhao explained in a recent interview. Having an Oscar-winning director who genuinely understands the source material suggests this isn’t just another cash grab.

Comparing Successful Spin-offs: What Works and What Doesn’t

Angel‘s success puts it in rare company among television spin-offs. When compared to other successful spin-offs like Frasier, Better Call Saul, and The Good Fight, certain patterns emerge. The most successful spin-offs take beloved characters and place them in entirely new contexts that allow for fresh storytelling while respecting what made the characters compelling in the first place.

Angel succeeded because it didn’t try to be Buffy with different characters. Instead, it embraced a completely different tone and setting. Los Angeles noir was as far from Sunnydale high school as you could get while remaining in the same universe. Angel took the supernatural foundation of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but added noir elements and a more adult tone that let the show explore redemption and moral ambiguity in fascinating ways.

Compare this to failed spin-offs that essentially tried to recreate the magic of the original in a slightly different package. The lesson is clear: successful spin-offs need to justify their existence by offering something genuinely new, not just more of the same.

The Broader Impact: How Buffy Changed Spin-off Culture

The Buffyverse’s approach to expansion—through both Angel and the comic continuations—helped establish templates that other franchises would later follow. The influence of Buffy on the depiction of vampires across popular culture has also been noted by anthropologists, but its impact on how modern television approaches shared universes and spin-offs is equally significant.

The comic book continuations, in particular, pioneered the idea that television shows could have authentic afterlives in other media. Following the television series finale, Dark Horse began releasing new books titled Season Eight, Nine, and Ten, and various spin-offs, which are written and/or supervised by creator Joss Whedon and officially recognized as canon to the show. This model would later influence everything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Disney+ series to the expanded universe approaches of franchises like Star Wars.

The Future of the Buffyverse

As we look toward the potential Hulu series and whatever other projects might emerge from development hell, the lessons of the Buffyverse’s expansion attempts are clear. Success requires respecting the source material while having the courage to do something genuinely different. It demands understanding what made the original special without trying to simply recreate it.

The upcoming sequel series faces the challenge of appealing to both nostalgic fans and new viewers who might have no connection to the original. “For me, the heart of Buffy was always about found family—that sense of belonging and being loved for who you are—and that’s more important now than ever,” Gellar recently explained. If the new series can capture that core theme while updating it for contemporary audiences, it might just succeed.

The Buffyverse’s journey through spin-offs, comics, and attempted reboots tells a larger story about how beloved franchises evolve (or fail to evolve) with their audiences. Angel worked because it grew up with its viewers, offering more sophisticated themes and complex moral questions. The comic continuations succeeded because they weren’t afraid to push boundaries and explore consequences.

The failed projects? They failed because they either couldn’t find their unique voice or because networks lacked the vision to recognize what they had. Whether the Hulu series will join the success stories or become another cautionary tale remains to be seen. But if there’s one thing the Buffyverse has taught us, it’s that sometimes the most unexpected projects—like a vampire seeking redemption in Los Angeles—can become the most memorable.

After all, in a universe where death is rarely permanent and canceled shows can return as comics, perhaps no opportunity is ever truly dead. It just needs the right stake through the heart of conventional wisdom to come back to life.

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What do you think about the evolution of the Buffyverse beyond the original series? Did Angel surpass Buffy in quality during their overlapping seasons? Which cancelled spin-off concept do you think had the most potential? And are you optimistic about the upcoming Hulu sequel series, or do you think some shows should just stay staked? Share your thoughts in the comments below—whether you’re Team Angel, Team Spike, or still mourning the animated series that never was.