Monica Owusu-Breen, the new executive producer and showrunner of the proposed Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series reboot, has spoken about the backlash that has followed the announcement of the new take.
First revealed last Friday, Fox 21 TV Studios is producing the supernatural drama series which will focus on an African American slayer. The project, which plans to build on the mythology of the original, will be pitched to streaming and cable networks this summer.
In a statement posted to her verified Twitter account, Owusu-Breen says:
“For some genre writers it’s ‘Star Wars’. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ is my ‘Star Wars’. Before I became a writer, I was a fan. 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. But here we are, twenty years later … and the world seems a lot scarier. So maybe, it could be time to meet a new Slayer … And that’s all I can say.”
Original series creator and showrunner Joss Whedon will executive produce alongside original executive producers Gail Berman, Fran Kazui, Kaz Kazui and Joe Earley.
