Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

James Marsters Says He’s “Open to Playing Spike” in the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Reboot

For the past few weeks, news of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot has completely rocked the world of the show’s original fanbase. While fans are still trying to figure out if they are for or against the reboot, Buffy star James Marsters says he fully supports the project.

When the news was first announced, Marsters took to Twitter to express his excitement. He tweeted, “Holy crap! ‘Buffy’ is getting a reboot?!! Awesome! Black teen Buffy, cool! Joss is producing, thank god! Empowering the female youth, spectacular!!! Personally, I hope that the new show retains the message of “Don’t give up, not on yourself, not on the world.” What do you think?”

Since the reboot would focus on a brand new slayer, it’s not clear if any of the original cast would be involved, however, if given the chance to reprise his role as vampire Spike, Marsters says he’d be game! In a recent interview with /Film, he said:

[row]“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.”[/row]

While it would be awesome to see Spike back in action in Sunnydale, Marsters says, either way, he’s super excited to see what comes from the reboot. He continued, “I think it is fabulous. I saw a tweet by the woman who sold the idea that she wants an entirely new slayer within the universe established by Buffy. So she’s not going to be Buffy the vampire slayer. It’s going to be Sabrina or whatever it is and I think that’s a great way to go. I’m very excited about it. I think that the world very much needs a new slayer right now.”

The Buffy reboot is in development at Fox 21 TV Studios (a division of 20th Century Fox TV). In addition to Whedon, original series’ executive producers Gail Berman, Fran Kazui and Kaz Kazui are returning as well as Joe Earley from Berman’s Jackal Group

While details are still scarce, we do know the reboot will be a new, contemporary version which still honors the mythology of the original series. The producers of the series describe the reboot as follows: “Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today.”

The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series aired from 1997 through 2003 and, in addition to Marsters, starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, David Boreanaz, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, and Eliza Dushku. During its time on air, the series earned a huge following made up of some of the most hardcore and devoted fans around.

Would you want to see James Marsters return to reprise his role as Spike in a series reboot? Are you excited about the reboot? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.