Sarah Michelle Gellar Reveals New ‘Buffy’ Show’s Official Title, Says ‘It’s Not a Reboot’

Buffy’s back with a brand new title.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed the name of the beloved series’ “continuation” will be Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale during an appearance on Evan Ross Katz’s Shut Up Evan podcast.

Gellar went on to emphasize that the potential show is “not a reboot,” as some have described. “It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot — it’s a continuation,” the actress explained Wednesday.

The series, which was ordered to pilot by Hulu last year, will answer the questions of where the titular slayer “is now in this world and what is this world that Buffy lives in, with her and without her,” according to Gellar.

“So it’s not a reboot, it’s not picking up with all of the same characters right away,” she continued. “It is not like a sequel… That’s why the name was even important to me. Buffy: New Sunnydale — it’s Buffy, but it’s also something else.”

Gellar also addressed her previous comments that she would never be interested in bringing Buffy back from the television afterlife.

“I will eat my words, and I’m OK with that. I learned my lesson,” she admitted. “I never saw how and why it could be as good [as the original series]. I’m not trying to be better. I just want to hold and honor the memory and what we created.”

“I know sometimes that memory is conflicted for people about how they’re supposed to feel about it, but a lot of people put their blood, sweat, and tears into making what I think is an incredibly great show, and I’m incredibly proud of it,” she added.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale is tentatively expected to premiere on Hulu in 2026. It’s been a lengthy process moving the show forward, Gellar confessed, saying there were about “three years now” of her and director Chloé Zhao “going back and forth” and “really spending the time to develop what it is and why it is.”

“I know this seems like it’s taking a long time, and it’s because unless we are sure that it is exactly what we set out to do and that it makes sense to do it, we don’t want to sell you the legacy by not,” she explained. “When I know it’s perfect, then it will be out there, but I won’t do it unless I know it can be that.”