‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ New Boss Says ‘There’s Only One Buffy’ Amid Reboot Backlash

By Danielle Turchiano

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – There may be another “” televison show in the works but new showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen doesn’t see it as a replacement for the original series.

Owusu-Breen tweeted Thursday that “there is only one Buffy.”

“For seven seasons, I watched Buffy Summers grow up, find love, kill that love. I watched her fight, and struggle and slay. There is only one Buffy. One Xander, one Willow, GIles, Cordelia, Oz, Tara, Kendra, Faith, Spike, Angel… They can’t be replaced. Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to,” she wrote.

Instead, she wants to focus on a new cast of characters, including a new slayer, for today’s complicated time.

The reboot of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” comes from original series creator Whedon, who is set to executive produce the new version of the story. Owusu-Breen will pen the pilot script. Gail Berman, Joe Earley, Fran Kazui and Kaz Kazui will also executive produce. The cast has not been set yet, though the plan is to hire an African-American actress for the new slayer role. Sarah Michelle Gellar portrayed the titular Buffy in the late-90s-early-aughts series.

The original series was based on the 1992 film of the same name, which Whedon wrote and which saw Kristy Swanson in the titular role. The show ran for seven seasons and 145 episodes and is frequently cited as one of the best shows ever made. In addition to Gellar, it starred Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Head, James Marsters, Emma Caulfield Ford, and David Boreanaz.

After the news was announced out of Comic-Con, fans of the original series expressed mixed feelings regarding rebooting the show, rather than reviving it. There is currently no network attached to the series, which is being developed by 20th Century Fox.

See Owusu-Breen’s full tweet below: