Buffy the Vampire Slayer may have ended over 20 years ago, but for fans of the show, it’s still something to be discussed at length. Look at the comments on any post about one of Buffy’s boyfriends, and you’re bound to find some intense discussions. Look at the comments on any post any actor from the show does on social media, and you’ll see plenty of folks bringing up the show. Rarely is there an interview with Sarah Michelle Gellar where the show isn’t mentioned.
So, it’s no surprise fans were so excited to learn there was an audio drama being released that brought back many of the original actors from the series. And, as someone who runs a Buffy podcast called Slayerfest98, I’m “fans”.
“I talk about slayers so much the kids at school call me slayer but…in like, a mocking way” –Indira Nunnally
Slayers: A Buffyverse Story had no small task of pleasing die-hard fans of the show while still being accessible to casual and new fans alike. But it achieves all of this thanks to the stellar writing of Amber Benson and Christopher Golden. Golden is known for having written numerous Buffy novelizations back in the day, while Benson is known for playing the beloved, doomed witch Tara Maclay in the series.
After years of rumors about the show returning (it’s not) and comics that are or aren’t canon, we finally have something with the original actors returning that isn’t a Comic Con panel or a reunion photoshoot (all of which are also fun). It doesn’t bring back the titular role. Still, it gets pretty damn close—we get beloved vampire hottie Spike (James Marsters), Sunnydale Queen Bee Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter), surrogate father watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), everyone’s favorite former vengeance demon Anya (Emma Caulfield-Ford), friendly wrinkly kitten eating demon Clem (James C Leary), unhinged evil vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau), and lesbian witch Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) all back, alongside some special surprise guests and newcomers, for some top tier vampire slayer antics.
I would be remiss if I mentioned newcomers and didn’t talk about the incredibly charming Laya DeLeon Hayes as newly called slayer, Indira Nunnally.
“Boom, guess what bitches, Indira Nunnally is a slayer now—suck it,” –Indira Nunnally
Indira is both the heart of the series and the voice of the fandom. She’s a fangirl at heart—she recognizes Spike pretty quickly, and their relationship is very reminiscent of the surrogate father relationship the blonde vampire had with Buffy’s little sister, Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg), on the show. She feels exactly like a slayer we would’ve met on Buffy or Angel—Spike even calls her on said slayer-ness numerous times. She feels fun and fresh, a new slayer that could lead her own spin-off. A slayer for 2023.
The series is set in the present-day Buffyverse and an alternate universe during the present-day Buffyverse, where Buffy never existed. However, Anya, Tara, and Cordelia are all still alive (I guess Cordy should’ve stuck with her wish in season 3’s The Wish). Having these beloved characters back feels like a nice warm hug. They have been allowed to age and grow without fully changing who they are—almost all of them being instantly recognizable the moment they speak (oddly, Giles being the one I didn’t recognize right away). The alt-universe versions of our scoobies also are an interesting take—they’re clearly different but still speak like the characters we know and love. And, I mean, freakin’ Cordelia the Vampire Slayer.
“I’m not the Cordelia you knew” – Cordelia Chase
We all know how Cordelia was turned evil, then put into a coma and brought back for 1 episode on Angel, only to die in such a tragic way that I still cry about it. But crying over your favorite character dying on Buffy or Angel 20+ years later is not that uncommon. I mean, hello Anya, Tara, Jenny Calendar, Fred, Darla, et al. But creating an alternate reality where Cordelia is the chosen one is such a brilliant idea. It feels like a love letter to the fans for allowing this to happen and getting Charisma Carpenter back in the role. This is something that’s made with love and care—something Amber Benson is known for.
It’s not the Cordelia we know, but she still makes comments about her hair, fashion, and has no problem giving a casual read.
“Are you like Spike, Spike? Like Summers, Rosenberg, Giles Spike?” –Indira Nunnally
I’m someone who loves checking in with beloved characters years later. I love getting a little bit of “Where are they now?”. Linda Hamilton coming back as Sarah Connor in the Terminator franchise 20+ years later? Sign me up! Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox coming back to the Scream franchise after 10 years? Heck yes! Jamie Lee Curtis returning to the Halloween franchise? Absolutely!
So it’s nice to see which of our scoobies got their happy endings and which are still fighting the good fight. Spike is, of course, begrudgingly still in the fight—it makes sense that blondie bear wouldn’t be okay just settling down and working a 9 to 5 (although for a vampire, it’d be more like 5 to 9, I guess). And James Marsters, unsurprisingly, doesn’t miss a beat sliding back into the role. He is the series’ main character and sometimes narrator and has never been better. He allows you to, once again, forget he doesn’t actually have a British accent.
The series is a return to form for the Buffyverse and not to be missed. It feels like checking in with an old friend you haven’t seen in years—in the best way possible. The format can be a little jarring if you’ve never listened to an audio drama before (or if you have ADD like me), but it’s so easy to get the hang of it in this pitch-perfect series.
Catch episode-by-episode coverage over on the Slayerfest98 podcast, and be sure to get your copy of Slayers: A Buffyverse Story when it releases on Audible on October 12, 2023!
