pretty damned compelling, i say. thanks to herf mcsquirf for pointing the article out to me.
Wherein I Dreamcast a Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reboot That Wouldn't Make Me Gag
by Rob Payne
I recently got one of my best friends, and roommate/comic collaborator,
to finally give Joss Whedon’s much-beloved, and
much-misunderstood-by-those-who-haven’t-yet-given-it-a-shot, “Buffy the
Vampire Slayer” a shot. We finished season two this weekend and I think
he’s in it for the long haul now, so we can potentially add another to
our ever growing ranks of wannabe Scoobies. But I’ve seen the show so
many times now that during heavy stretches of Monster of the Week
episodes my mind tends to wander, and I began thinking about who else
could say these lines and wield these stakes. There’s been talk for
years since the show ended that there could be a reboot of the franchise in film form, most recently without any approval or content control from creator Joss Whedon. Thankfully, the most recent iteration of the project sank back into the aether,
but don’t for once let your guard down. Because someone somewhere will
try again to bring Buffy back to the big screen, and that person may
just be successful.
That said, as much as we Pajibans love us some “Buffy” (and we really, really do),
I don’t think a reboot, or a new adaptation on the previous material,
is necessarily a big bad thing. As Whedon has said himself, he hoped the
character would live on beyond him, like Batman has far outlived Bob
Kane. Of course, the man is still very much alive and it wouldn’t sit
well with anyone if he got Alan Moore’d or Dan Harmon’d out
of his creation’s future. But what if, now that the man is a proven
Hollywood player, he could get the rights to his main character and
bring Buffy back to cinematic life? The question isn’t whether he should
or would, but if he could. What then?
He probably couldn’t do a continuation of the TV series ala the Star Trek films, because many of the actors have said they’re done and the story is already continuing in the comics. And just like Star Wars,
the “expanded universe” isn’t something that warrants adaptation,
though the bigger budgets of a major motion picture could easily do some
of those larger set pieces justice. But is Buffy really about an army of slayers fighting the forces of evil and shadowy governments, or is Buffy about
a teenage girl who meets her monster hunting destiny with friends,
medieval weaponry, and barbed wit? Whatever happens next with the
character(s), unless nothing happens at all, it will assuredly happen in
a high school constructed over a Hellmouth. So in that vein, and
emulating Jill Pantozzi’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” dream cast
over on The Mary Sue, I’ve attempted to re-cast our favorite little show that could into a big budget, blockbusting film.
Remember, it’s all in fun, so don’t get too venomous until you’ve had a chance to pick up what I’m laying down. Enjoy!
Jennifer Lawrence as Buffy Summers
You wouldn’t be wrong to cry foul here, what with Lawrence already
tackling two franchise leading roles with Katniss Everdeen and Mystique
in Hunger Games and X-Men, respectively, it seems like
someone else ought to get a chance to become a breakout star. But, hey,
if Christian Bale can be Batman, John Connor, and (sort of) Bob Dylan
then why can’t J-Law get three high profile characters to play around
with, too? As a convincing kicker of asses, immeasurably gorgeous, and
legitimately hilarious in real life, she also happens to be perfect for
the role that made Sarah Michelle Gellar and (sort of) Kristy Swanson
household names. Don’t lie, you know you want to see her dust, like, all
the vamps.
Channing Tatum as Angel/Angelus
For someone Pajiba once unlovingly dubbed “Charming Potato,” he’s
proving himself to be quite the Hollywood renaissance man. He may never
be the best part of anything he does, but he’s quickly becoming
not-the-worst and somewhat more than only a slab of beef, and for that
his tuberous nickname has become a term of endearment. It’s actually
eerily reminiscent of David Boreanaz’s original take on the character,
who became far more interesting and more interestingly portrayed when
the actor was given a chance to loosen up and have fun. At the very
least, Tatum’s attempt at an Irish accent certainly couldn’t be any
worse, though Tom Hardy might be the actual correct pick.
Tom Hiddleston as Rupert Giles
Unlike most of the rest of this dream cast, Hiddles would be playing
older than his real age (he’s 31, J-Law is 21, and everyone else is in
their mid-to-late 20s) in order to bring Anthony Stewart Head’s wise
middle-aged man to cinematic life. But, without pilfering from the casts
of “Doctor Who,” Hiddleston is clearly the best choice for the part:
equally believable as half-stuffy British librarian who would bristle
petulantly about manhandling an ancient tome and an ex-Punker cabable of
clobbering Angelus with a fiery club in the very next scene. He is
Buffy’s Watcher, after all, and if anyone besides her ought to be able
to throw a decent punch, it’s him. Plus, we know he can sing and play the guitar, which is more important than one might think.
Jena Malone as Willow Rosenberg
Generally I’ve tried to prevent choosing multiple overlapping cast
members from other big Hollywood franchises here, but at the moment Jena
Malone isn’t yet a co-star in Catching Fire, the Hunger Games sequel. She will be,
but until then (and even after) she’s the only actress I can conceive
of taking over the role of Willow from Alyson Hannigan. I considered
several gingers at first to keep it traditional (Jane Levy, Rose Leslie,
Karen Gillan), but Malone offers the range necessary for the characters
total arc from nerdy, scientific wallflower to dangerous, empowered
witch. And if hair color really matters that much to you, don’t worry,
Malone can also rock the redhead.
Andrew Garfield as Xander Harris
Garfield is just coming off playing Spider-Man, so why would he take a
demotion to being Buffy’s third banana? Well, in my mind, this movie is
as big as The Avengers and every character gets mostly equal
screen time with only the titular vampire slayer getting more than the
average. Regardless, so many of the things that make the actor work as
Peter Parker are what’s necessary to flesh out Xander, which is why
Nicholas Brendan would have made a fairly decent webslinger back in the
day. And if you haven’t, check out The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus for
proof that Garfield can handle Xander’s dickish moments without coming
off totally unlikeable, which is the reason both Michael Cera and Jesse
Eisenberg were eventually ruled out.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Cordelia Chase
Originally, I considered Megan Fox for the part of Buffy’s high school
nemesis and eventual full-fledged member of the Scoobies, but I realized
during a recent re-watch of some early episodes that what made Charisma
Carpenter so great — and she was (so, so great) — was that even when
being a total bitch, she was charming. Fox can handle the one, but not
so much the other. However, Mary Elizabeth Winstead has shown she can do
both in movies like Sky High, Death Proof, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
The biggest difference between the big and small screens would probably
be that Carpenter’s Cordelia was unwittingly smarter than she knew/let
on, but Winstead’s would probably own it far sooner. Sounds like an
acceptable sacrifice to me.
Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover as Daniel “Oz” Osbourne
I know, I know, Glover is my go-to actor for almost everything, but it’s
only because he should be in everything. I toyed with slotting him in
the Xander role, because I still want him to play Spider-Man some day
and by the transitive properties of thespianism, that means he’d
probably kill slay as Xander, too. Then I realized that
the performer’s civilian identity is actually less like Troy Barnes and
a bit more like Seth Green’s Oz than, and that we can simply change the
character’s spot as lead guitarist in Dingoes Ate My Baby to being a
burgeoning MC named Dingo Baby-Eater. Or something more better, like his
inevitable cover of the theme song by Nerf Herder for the soundtrack would clearly be. As a bonus, Glover playing a werewolf would totally be a meta-reference to “Community.”
Elizabeth Shue as Joyce Summers
Yeah, yeah, I know I said I didn’t want overlapping casts, but here I am
picking another actress who has/will have acted opposite Jennifer
Lawrence. I haven’t yet seen House at the end of Street, but as
soon as I heard Shue would play Lawrence’s mother, I knew the casting
director was onto something. So, I’m going to say that background is
actually beneficial here, giving the two women a history and a certain
level of comfort that might also be evident in their performances. And,
again, I can’t help it if she just happens to be perfect as Buffy’s
cool-but-concerned mom. Not to put too fine a point on it, but her
flirtations with Tom Hiddleston’s Giles would be legendary.
Bradley Whitford as Principal R. Snyder
Since this is a Joss Whedon joint, there’s got to be some crossover
talent with the writer/director/producer’s earlier work. I initially
considered Clark Gregg, who’s Agent Coulson is one of the best parts of
the entire Marvel movie smorgasbord. But, ultimately, I think he’s just a
bit too grounded to play the deliberately cruel and vindictive
Principal Snyder than Armin Shimerman could do in his sleep. That said,
with The Cabin in the Woods, Bradley Whitford is a recent
addition to the Whedonverse and can do that in his sleep — while also
baking a pie and standing on his head. He’s the kind of actor who play
an irreedeemable asshat and still be the most entertaining thing
happening on screen. Just imagine his character from Billy Madison, but aged 20 years and never having learned a thing.
Natalie Tena as Drusilla and Dominic Monaghan as Spike
These were both the hardest and easiest roles to cast. On the one hand,
Juliet Landau and James Marsters created two of the most indelible
characters on the 1990s TV landscape and so seem more irreplaceable than
any of the other actors (no offense meant to SMG and the rest), playing
the eternal incarnations of Sid and Nancy. On the other hand, Natalia Tena (as Tonks in the Harry Potter series, Osha in “Game of Thrones”) and Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings’
Merry, Charlie Pace on “LOST,” the only legitimately great part of
“Flash Forward”) seemed like absolute no-brainers once my mental rolodex
reached their names. In fact, the main reason I didn’t scrap this
article as being too fantastical to take seriously is because I now
desperately want to see Monaghan and Tena play these parts somehow, some
way. As the Big Bads for a theatrical Buffy reboot would just be too awesome to ignore.
So, that’s who would populate the first movie in a potential Buffy the Vampire Slayer
trilogy with Joss Whedon’s approval and control, if I had my druthers. I
would imagine it would cover the major beats of seasons one and two,
replacing the Master with Spike and Drusilla so Angel could become
Angelus around the midpoint and glossing over any monster-of-the-week
stuff. Oh, and at some point Ron Perlman would make a cameo as the
Judge. Obviously.
More than likely, Kendra wouldn’t make the cut due time constraints (but if she did, I nominate Zoe Saldana)
and Oz would take a bit of a backseat until the second movie, which
would adapt the third season Mayor plot and keep it mostly intact. For
poops and chuckles, here’s who I’d pick to fill out the most important
roles in the first sequel:
Adrianne Palicki as Faith Lehane
As memorable as Faith is, Eliza Dushku doesn’t exactly leave the biggest
shoes to fill, but the character is essentially all attitude, anyway.
But the character is important for the development of Buffy and having
someone a little older and little more obviously capable of handling
themselves, in the alluring form of the once and never again Wonder
Woman, Adrianne Palicki, could make that work in a single film’s running
time. She would also be an easy answer as to why nobody seems to care
that there’s a homeless teenager wondering the halls of Sunnydale High —
she graduated already and is “hired” by Giles to be his assistant. It
doesn’t hurt that Palicki and Lawrence have vaguely similar looks,
making the good/bad slayer dichotomy that much more resonant.
Daniel Radcliffe as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
When you’ve got a new slayer, you naturally need a new Watcher and
Alexis Denisoff’s Weslie is precisely what one would expect Giles to be.
All prim and proper and very awkward, and exceedingly English. That’s
not exactly how Radcliffe portrayed Harry Potter, but it’s not very far
off and since he’s more age-appropriate his budding failed relationship
with Cordelia would play less creepy-stalkery and more goofy-potential
stalkery. I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t wait for the Angel movie spin-off movie.
Bryan Cranston as Mayor Richard Wilkins

Henry Groener’s Mayor Wilkins will probably stand the test of time as
one of the best TV and pop culture villains ever. The performance, with
equal parts Mayberry and menace, is Top Ten material everytime. But some
of that is due to the writers really giving him a lot to work with,
which is why, frankly, I’d love to see another actor take a bite out of
the part. Mayor Wilkins ought to be Iago or the Joker, in terms of
actors getting their shot. Bryan Cranston, who can do modern Mayberry
(“Malcolm in the Middle”) and god damn menace (“Breaking Bad”)
with equal aplomb was the first and last name to pop into my head, and
he’s the second reason after Dominic Monaghan and Natalia Tena that I
wanted to finish this piece. By Jove, this could be the greatest villain
performance ever seen in a multiplex. Now that I’ve thought it, I can’t
unthink it.
The third and final installment could gloss over most of seasons four
through six to focus on the First Evil from season seven, but it would
also be interesting to see the story conclude after the graduation in
mostly unexpected ways. Whatever happens, Buffy needs to die onscreen at
least twice in the course of the series.
So, how did that work out? Do you still want to chase me down with
pitchforks and torches, or could you possibly, one day, maybe imagine a
less brutal world wherein a rebooted Buffy the Vampire Slayer
wouldn’t be the worst thing to ever happen to anyone in history? More
importantly, who would you cast, and who that I left out do you think
just has to be there or it’s all moot?
The floor is yours, just try not to mop it up with me. Pretty please . . .