Here's why Zendaya could be the new "Buffy"

"Into every generation, there is a Chosen One. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness.  She is the Slayer."

This was the opening line of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, introducing millions of fans who still revere the series to the mythological figure of a teenage girl destined to fight evil and resurrect with a new face and a new identity every time the current Slayer dies. Buffy Anne Summers has been retired for many years now (since 2003, exactly, when the show closed) and it's time for someone to take her place, wielding the wooden stake and dusting off the ancient volumes of witchcraft. Her possible successor is Sarah Michelle Gellar, the actress who played TV's toughest teenager for seven seasons. Interviewed by Evan Ross Katz, author of Into Every Generation a Slayer Is Born: How Buffy Staked Our Hearts newly published book exploring the history, influence and fandom of the series, she said:

"I vote for Zendaya."

Also supported by Julie Benz aka the vampire Darla who added:

"That would be amazing".

The new statements from the OG cast have rekindled fans' hopes of seeing the reboot come to fruition, a project, until now never really developed, that has been talked about since 2018. In March of that year, Fox Television president Gary Newman commented on the project, saying that its future depended on Joss Whedon, showrunner of the series that aired between 1997 and 2003: 

"If you look at Fox's catalogue, Buffy is probably the ideal series to bring back to television: I admit I wouldn't walk out of this building alive if I announced the revival. We talk about a Buffy revival a lot, and Joss Whedon is one of the greatest television creators we've ever worked with. When Joss decides it's time for a Buffy revival, we'll make it happen. But until then, there won't be a Buffy sequel."

Since then the rumors about the reboot have multiplied, but according to the most credible, the development could be entrusted to screenwriter Monica Uwusu-Breen, while Whedon would remain in the role of producer. What seems certain is that the new protagonist would be a black girl. The news immediately provoked a shower of negative criticism from Buffy-addicts who can't imagine anyone else in the role of the Slayer but Gellar. In an attempt to quell the controversy, Uwusu-Breen assured that the project would not be a remake, but a "contemporary take on the original mythology", a sort of follow-up to the story. Gellar herself has repeatedly said that she likes the idea of a reboot, but has no intention of playing Buffy again.

Earlier this month, Gellar published a post celebrating 25 years of Buffy in which she thanked fans for bringing success to a series that, on paper, shouldn't have generated so much hype that it still lasts today:

"25 years ago today I had the honor to introduce the world to my version of Buffy Anne Summers. It was an uphill battle. A mid season replacement, on a new network based on a movie, that was by no means a giant success. But then there was you. The fans. You believed in us. You made this happen. You are the reason 25 years later we are still celebrating. So today we celebrate you as well."

Few people don't know the story of the OG series: Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Geller), kicked out of school for burning down the gym, moves from Los Angeles to the small town of Sunnydale. Blonde, petite, with pins in her hair and sparkling lip gloss, she looks like any other sixteen-year-old girl. In reality she is the chosen one, the last descendant of a line of vampire hunters. She is aided in her quest by the "Scooby Gang": goofy Xander (Nicholas Brendon), shy witch Willow (Alyson Hannigan aka Lily in How I Met Your Mother), snobby Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter), werewolf musician Oz (Seth Green), librarian-observer Giles (Anthony Head), the tormented vampire with a soul Angel (David Boreanaz, star of the Buffy spinoff Angel, but also playing Booth in Bones) and Spike (James Marsters), the vampire whose look Billy Idol copied. In the seven seasons and 144 episodes produced Buffy and her crew will save the world from the Apocalypse an infinite number of times.

The possibility of Zendaya as a vampire slayer could be the perfect solution to bring together both fans of the OG series and those who don't even know who Buffy is. She's the most popular actress of the moment, she's talented, versatile, she's used to action roles (for example in Dune) and she has Gellar's blessing. One of the reasons Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a cult hit is that without Joss Whedon's show, there would be no TV series as we know them today. Those in which the characters are full of nuances and not locked into rigid and stereotypical roles, but have the opportunity to express their dark sides as well. Buffy is not just a Californian teenager worried about her manicure. At the same time she is a strong, courageous, witty woman, but also a self-destructive, depressed, fragile woman, tired of always having to carry the weight of the world. High school is a metaphor for hell, where every teenager has to face the monsters of growing up, just as the slayer has to fight vampires and evil creatures. In addition, the series is one of the first to speak freely about mental health, depression, rape, violence, homosexuality, fragile teenagers, many themes that we also find in Euphoria and that Zendaya has already had to bring to the screen. 

At the moment, the actress has many projects in the pipeline: from Euphoria 3 to Dune 2, from a new Spiderman to Luca Guadagnino's next film. Will she ever add Buffy to her list of performances?