If Buffy the Vampire Slayer Is Returning, Please - It Needs to Avoid Some Mistakes From the Comics

This article contains MASSIVE Spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic books

The creative team behind the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel series at Hulu has a big opportunity on its hands. With news out that Hulu currently has plans for a revival, this has compelled fans to reflect on the canonical sequel that the series received through the comics. After the Buffyverse concluded onscreen with the series finale of Angel, creator Joss Whedon oversaw continuing the series via comic books.

As a result, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's legacy continues well into a 12th season through Dark Horse Comics. This has led fans to speculate that the Buffy reboot could use comics as a basis, either by directly following their continuity or being inspired by their storylines. The prospect of either option is exciting for fans of the comics, but it doesn't come without trepidation. Not every creative decision in the comics is a home run, especially when the show first transitioned into comic books for an 8th season.

8 The Death & Return of Giles is a Convoluted Mess

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #39 by Joss Whedon, Scott Allie, Georges Jenty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, Richard Starkings

Angel becoming the eighth season's Big Bad revolved around Angel being manipulated by an elder God named Twilight to commit unspeakable acts of evil. When Angel starts to come to his senses, Twilight possesses Angel himself, and among the evil things he does in Angel's body is snap Giles' neck. The death of Giles makes for a crazy twist, but also a genuinely effective one. A character who audiences have followed from the beginning has just been killed, and it's a genuinely heartwrenching story beat. Unfortunately, it's one that the comic expansion overcomplicates and undoes at every turn.

This is less of an issue with Season 8 itself - the emotional weight of Giles' death proves to be one of the season's bright spots - and more with the aftermath of the season and its shocking death. Back in his own frame of mind, the Angel and Faith spin-off comics showcase how Angel is wracked with guilt, and to undo his cardinal sin, he goes on a quest to revive Giles. He goes on to try to collect pieces of Giles' soul, and once collected, the spell to bring back Giles works, but he returns as a child.

Buffy the Vampire slayer from the comics (left, background) and the TV series (right, foreground)

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There are a lot of strange moving pieces, story-wise, that contribute to Giles' revival, but above all else, the biggest issue lies in regression, something that plagues many of the flaws in Season 8. The act of reviving Giles itself is regressing as it goes back on arguably the biggest death the franchise had to offer. The most tragic deaths in Buffy history have an impact because, like in real life, there's no coming back from death. To retract such a vital aspect of that theme in the show is practically a betrayal of the show itself.

7 Angel & Buffy Get Superpowers... For Some Reason?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #30 by Jane Espenson, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, and Richard Starkings

At her core, the character of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was always a superhero, technically speaking. On the television show, the powers of the Slayer was constrained to just physical strength, and the occasional premonition in her dreams. She had powers, but the "super" aspect to her so-called superpowers was limited to keep Buffy and her abilities grounded. It was a solid consequence that prevented her from being too overpowered, but the comics regress against that notion by progressing her power level. In the comics, Buffy is rewarded with gaining new powers, like flight and super speed.

Through his connection to Twilight, Angel gains similar powers, literally becoming a superhero when he saves an airplane out of the sky, mirroring Superman. It makes the once subtle notion of superheroism and superpowers more overt in the Buffyverse in a way that makes the heroes seem too powerful. If Buffy had half of these new powers during the original show's run, most of her conflicts would've been solved sooner, or non-existent, taking the fun out of the hero's journey.

6 Rekindling Angel & Buffy, in Yhe Weirdest Way Possible

The Couple Have Sex in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #33 by Brad Meltzer, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, and Richard Stakings

Upon reuniting in Season 8, having both been imbued with holy power at this point, Angel and Buffy disregard the complicated nature of the reunion and instead give in to their passions by making love. Specifically, using their new powers, they have superpowered sex in space. That, in itself, is a pretty ambitious (and weird) concept, but as has always been the case, whenever Angel and Buffy get together, there are consequences for their union. As Giles goes on to explain, the two romancing on such a grand scale tips the balance of the omniverse.

Having sex at super-speed is enough to cause a seaquake in the Arctic Ocean, volcanic eruptions in the Philippines, earthquakes, and other catastrophes worldwide. In Giles' exact words, "This isn't just the Earth's reaction. It's how the Earth gives birth to a new reality." And so it does. Many fans love the Angel and Buffy pairing and would have been elated to see them back together if the comics did not go out of their way to reunite them under such complicated, confusing circumstances. Even worse, it's done under bittersweet circumstances, as their love kickstarts a new apocalypse.

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On one hand, it's practically been a running theme for Buffy and Angel that their love, because it's so wrong and unhinged on paper (a vampire with a soul alongside a Vampire Slayer), it simply can never be. It's the perfect starcrossed lovers scenario, ala Romeo and Juliet for the horror crowd. On the other hand, condemning their love affair, in turn, feels like it needlessly punishes the fans of their relationship simply for just wanting to see these two be together.

5 Undoing Willow's Dark Arc By Reviving Warren

Warren Mears Returns in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #3 by Joss Whedon, Georges Jeanty, Andy Owens, Dave Stewart, and Richard Starkings

One of the most shocking moments in Buffy the Vampire Slayer's history comes in Season 6, when, just one episode after rekindling her relationship with Tara, Willow watches her lover shot dead by the season's antagonist, Warren Mears, by a stray bullet meant for Buffy. This puts the spellbound Wiccan into a tailspin, transforming her into Dark Willow. In the midst of her rampage, Willow would hunt down Warren and, in a gleeful rage, kills him and flays his flesh clean from his body.

In a four-second window of time, Amy was able to save Warren's life completely undetected.

Early into the Season 8 comics, it is revealed that, off-screen, Willow's magical rival Amy Madison had been watching over her and witnessed her attempt to kill Warren. In a four-second window of time, Amy was able to save Warren's life completely undetected. The two were dating before Warren killed Tara, but after Willow's murder attempt, the two conspire to torture and lobotomize Willow, along with receiving orders from the elusive Twilight figure. The return of Warren is a shock in itself that amplifies the show's darkest moment.

However, it also manages to nullify Willow's redemption arc that dominated Season 7. Much of her guilt and search for reform revolved around knowing that she had killed a man in cold blood, no matter how much she thought he deserved it for his misdeeds. It made her view her usage of magic as an addiction that needed to be in check. By revealing Warren to have been alive the whole time, it renders the remorse she felt as mute and makes the audience feel as if they watched that arc transpire for little to no reason.

4 Undoing the End of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's 5th Season by Merging Universes Together

Buffy and Angel Having Superpowered Sex Gives Birth to a New Universe in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #34 by Brad Meltzer, Georges Jenty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, Richard Starkings, and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt

The worst thing that a sequel can do is contradict what came before it or render what came before it useless. Buffy's eighth season tends to do this a lot, but particularly in its final issues, where the powerful consummation between Angel and Buffy proves strong enough to breach into a new place of existence, creating a new reality in the process. Simultaneously, in the main human realm, balance is broken. From five different tears of reality, demons pour out from all sides of the multiverse into this one.

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Intentionally or not, this undoes the exact plot of Season 5, where Buffy sacrifices herself to save the world. Otherwise, the consequences would've seen different dimensions pour into each other, putting the world at risk, much like it does in Season 8. It creates the worst-case scenario that was alluded to in Season 5, but in doing so, it lessens the impact of Buffy's sacrifice. Her resurrection never reduced her death's impact because her resurrection came with consequences, where as the reason she sacrificed herself is actively happening in spite of said sacrifice.

3 Undoing Angel's Hero Arc by Making Him a Villain ... Again

Angel Revealed as Twilight in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #33 by Brad Meltzer, Georges Jeanty, Joss Whedon, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, and Richard Stakings

Angel was an utterly complex character over the course of not only Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but also his own spin-off, Angel. The vampire with a soul was on a centuries-long journey to redeem himself for the sins he committed as Angelus. Having a spin-off to begin with was meant to progress that hero's journey and arc in a longer form, largely succeeding. All of that effort for Angel's redemption arc seems undone when the mysterious Big Bad of the season - named Twilight - is unmasked to be Angel.

Angel has been evil before, but under the guise of Angelus. He carried the guilt of his evil persona's villainy whether it was warranted or not. Here, Angel is entirely in the driver's seat - albeit, manipulated under the influence of the real Twilight - when he tortures the Scoobies for a year, leading to the deaths of 206 active Slayers. His reasoning is twofold. One is, because Buffy gained new superpowers from each Slayer's death, he hoped he could push Buffy to become as powerful as possible. The other is to distract actual villains from pursuing them.

It's worth noting that Angel was receiving visions from the real Twilight about a pending apocalypse that Buffy wouldn't be ready for. Due to his experiences in countering Los Angeles' apocalypse, as chronicled in the Angel: After the Fall comics, his fears were amplified, thus prompting him to push Buffy to become as powerful as possible in preparation.

In addition to feeling out of character for Angel to go through such extreme lengths, it forces the franchise to go backward. Both Angel and Buffy went through substantial character growth when he was the Big Bad in Season 2, only for this story to force them to learn the same lessons all over again. A sequel should take every franchise into new territory, whereas making Angel into Twilight is just going back to an old well all over again.

2 The Dawn and Xander Romance Makes Buffy Fans Feel Icky

Romance Revealed in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #28 by Jane Espenson, Georges Jenty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, Richard Starkings, and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt.

This is easily the biggest point of controversy from Season 8. In fact, it's the one thing from the comics that fans are hoping the reboot avoids talking about. The once-presumed brother-sister pairing spent a lot of time together in the early issues, but it's initially never framed as romantic, so readers don't think anything of it. After all, Xander used to babysit Dawn when she was an actual child. At best, she had a crush on him, but he always placed the big bro boundary over her. The idea of romanticizing that bond sounds preposterous on paper.

Although Dawn is of age by the time she and Xander get together, it's the optics of their previous brother-sister dynamic combined with the age gap that makes fans feel icky.

And yet, Andrew and Buffy walk in on Xander and Dawn making out, revealing a romance kept in secret. The romance is a long-lasting one, too, as in the franchise's final issues for Season 12, the couple get their canonical happy ending. Although Dawn is of age by the time she and Xander get together, it's the optics of their previous brother-sister dynamic combined with the age gap that makes fans feel icky. Even Buffy calls Xander out as a "cradle robber," just because everyone is thinking similar thoughts. Maybe this is a romance best not to be adapted.

1 Buffy's 8th Season Was Too Ambitious For Its Own Good

A Recurring Issue Through the Season Eight Comics

The biggest issue with Season Eight of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is that it's too ambitious for its own good. Many of the previously established issues concerning Season Eight stem from the creative team trying a little too hard to commit to grandiose ideas and creative decisions, though it is easy to see why that may have been the case. After all, the people behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer were suddenly working in an entirely new medium: the comic book medium.

Another problem with Season Eight is how Spike's sudden arrival in an alien spaceship in issue #35 following a notable absence reveals itself as an all-too convenient Deus Ex Machina.

On television, stories are often constricted to what's humanly possible when the budget is a concern, while the possibilities are endless with comics. Season 8's creative team eagerly took advantage of the medium, resulting in ideas varying from weird - i.e. giving Spike his spaceship - to questionable - how Buffy and co. have the funding to run the Slayer organization like a military - or, for some fans, just plain bad. It's the consequence of aiming too high for the sake of aiming high and prioritizing style over substance, a problem that the next Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel can't afford to duplicate.

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