Opinion: What to Do When the Buffy Reboot Comes Out

Ever since it was announced that Warner Bros. was going to go ahead with their cockamamie plan for a Buffy reboot, the Whedonverse fans have been in an uproar. I am among them, and I have been trying to figure out what the best way to deal with this is. Many fans say to boycott the movie. That was my initial reaction, but as I gave it more thought and read more comments across the internet, an idea started to form.

We, as fans, have to decide if we are Whedon fans, Buffy fans, or both. The Whedon fans are those loyal to all things Whedon, while the Buffy fans care more about her than the man who brought her to life. If one is a Whedon fan then it makes sense to boycott the movie. It is absolutely ridiculous to make a movie without its creator, but it has been done before. A perfect example is the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Wes Craven created him, but he does not own Freddy Krueger, and this led to a lot of problems with most of the sequels. In fact, the sequels that are considered the best of the bunch are the ones Wes worked on, Dream Warriors and A New Nightmare. This is what we are trying to avoid with Buffy. We don't want a new movie that is going to suck so hard Warner Bros. starts clamoring for Joss to come and make a better Buffy movie to wipe away the taint of the second movie. While we would like a Joss made movie, I don't think he would do it. Joss has been screwed over so many times by the industry, I have a hard time believing he'd make a Buffy movie. Maybe in a decade or two, long after the comics have ceased to exist, the fans are going rabid, and an embarrassingly large amount of money is thrown his way.

We are all going to be monitoring the progress of the reboot. We will be critical of casting decisions, who the crew is, and most importantly, the story and how it's written, but ultimately, I think the movie will have to be seen. I do not believe it will be a good movie, but I have to wonder what if Whit Anderson pulls off a miracle and writes an amazing movie? What if she genuinely pays homage to Joss? As a Buffy fan, I think it would be terrible not to experience the movie if it is great, but if the movie is bad, there is no way I am putting down hard earned money for something that is pooping all over a 'verse I love. So, what to do?

I propose we send in designated viewers. We convince one or two of our friends to see the movie and then report back to us. If they deem the movie worthy, we go in droves to support it. If it's unworthy, we get to not only issue a GINORMOUS "I told you so" to anyone and everyone who will listen, including the execs who green-lit the project, but we will be able to explain exactly what was wrong with it, other than Joss' absence.

Warner Bros. does not understand just how intelligent and driven Whedon fans are. They think if it says "Buffy," we will put down money to see it, no matter what the quality is. Once again, they underestimate us. We are the fans who created such a demand for Firefly that it was released on DVD, we got Dollhouse a second season, and we are the ones who brought Serenity to the big screen. There would be no Buffy, Angel, Dr. Horrible, Firefly, or any of the various spin off comics without us. We have made the Whedonverse a lucrative one because we are fiercely loyal, but we will not settle for crap.

So please, don't out right boycott the movie if you are a Buffy fan, but do NOT give a lot of money to the movie until it has proven its worth. Show Warner Bros. they cannot take us and Joss Whedon for granted.

This is part of our ongoing "Buffy Movie" coverage. You can read our first post here.
To see what others are saying about this, check out Action Flick Chick's Reboot Reactions roundup here.