The Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival craze is in full swing. The pilot is currently filming and we've already gotten leaked set pics of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Buffy Summers in modern day, wearing a red Roland Mouret dress, and our new Slayer, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong, wearing an outfit that seems to be an homage to one Buffy wore in the show's original run.
In a recent interview with Variety, Gellar said, "We will try to find a balance between new and old characters. My dream is to bring back everyone who has died, but space will have to be made for new stories as well." It sent fans into a tizzy (as every update about the revival has), some saying how bad that'd be for the new series and some saying what characters they need to bring back and give justice to.
The thing with supernatural shows is, there's always a way to bring back dead characters. Hell, the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a big bad that exclusively took the form of dearly departed characters from previous seasons. This show often found a way to bring back dead characters — if not by bringing them back to life (remember, our Slayer died twice) then as an apparition or in a dream sequence (Buffy's mom appeared in every season, even after dying in the show's fifth season).
The show was also known for killing off beloved characters in the most heartbreaking ways. Fans often cite "Passion," "The Gift," "The Body," and "Seeing Red" as the most traumatic episodes of the series and they all involve — you guessed it — a major character dying (among other traumatic things).
So which characters should the revival bring back from the dead? And how? Glad you asked!
1 & 2. Cordelia Chase (Charisma Carpenter) ...
... and Tara Maclay (Amber Benson)
Ask most Buffy fans which characters deserve justice and you'll see these two characters mentioned the most. Cordelia Chase had one of TV's most compelling character arcs — a mean girl who seamlessly transitioned into a hero, yet died in a (very stupid) coma off screen. Tara was one half of one of the best queer couples to ever grace our small screens, and had become the heart of the Scooby gang by the show's sixth season ... where she was unceremoniously killed by a stray bullet.
These two characters never shared a scene on screen, but the actors have appeared at cons together and proven they have great chemistry. These two would make a perfect duo as a sort of supernatural connection to the Powers That Be, much like The Oracles in Angel season 1. Tara's warmness matched with Cordelia's wit would make them a perfect reoccurring duo, showing both characters got some justice after their cruel deaths. And just imagine the tears if Alyson Hannigan's Willow got to see Tara again or if David Boreanaz's Angel got to see Cordy again.
3. Joyce Summers (Kristine Sutherland)
Buffy's beloved mother, whose death merited an entire episode, was a great loss to the Slayer and the show itself. She still popped up after her death in dreams, flashbacks, and alternate realities — and that's the perfect way for her to pop up again. It'd make sense for Buffy to still dream of her mother and the comfort she represented. And Buffy dreams always made for really great moments in the original series, so keep that theme going.
4. Kendra Young (Bianca Lawson)
When it comes to celebs who don't seem to age, Bianca Lawson almost always comes up. Her character's appearance on Buffy marked a big change in the show's lore. Because the titular hero had briefly drowned in the Season 1 finale, a new Slayer was called and eventually made her way to Sunnydale. There was no longer just one Chosen One. Kendra appears halfway through the show's second season to shake things up but has her throat slit at the end of that same season. It lead to one of the show's most iconic moments, Buffy slow motion running in a gorgeous coat after realizing she failed to protect her friends. But the death itself felt lame and unearned. The best way to bring her back? Have The First Evil appear as her to taunt Buffy about her failures, something that should've happened in the show's final season — or, if we want to get wild, have her act as a guide to slayers in their dreams. Put Lawson back in those pink pants and purple top with a high ponytail and it'd be like no time has passed at all.
5. Anya (Emma Caulfield Ford)
Everyone's favorite former vengeance demon is another character who is often brought up when it comes to characters that didn't deserve to die. Caulfield Ford's comedic timing lent itself perfectly to the Buffyverse — garnering her some of the best lines of the later seasons. Her character did reappear in the comics as a ghost, but those comics will probably not be kept canon for the revival. She would be a perfect character to pop up to deal with a slew of new, younger characters. Plus, she was a human who became a demon who became a human and died, so she could absolutely pop up again as a demon again (or even just as The First Evil in her form). This needs to happen, though, because Anya's voice is a staple of the Buffyverse.
6. Lilah Morgan (Stephanie Romanov)
While the character never appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she was a fan favorite villain on the spin-off show Angel. The character died in the show's fourth season, falling victim to the terrible Possessed-By-Evil-Being-Cordelia storyline, but she still popped back up in the Season 4 finale. We learned her contract with the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart extended beyond death, so there she was, looking perfect with a fabulous scarf to cover her neck wound. The fact that we never saw her in the show's final season — where the entire team worked at the evil law firm! The evil law firm that still had Lilah under contract post-death! — is a crime. Wolfram & Hart was one of the best additions to the Buffyverse that never made it into the main show and should absolutely pop up in the revival. And the face of the law firm in the revival should absolutely be Lilah Morgan, making good on her contract.
7. Winifred Burkle (Amy Acker)
One of the meaner deaths in the Buffyverse, her character was killed off only a handful of episodes before Angel ended — with the powerful god Illyria taking over her body for the rest of the series. Now, Illyria also became a beloved character, showcasing Acker's acting chops that she could play two totally different characters who both were loved by the fandom. Illyria popped back up in the comics, teaming up with the Slayer herself and eventually having a sort of Bruce Banner/Hulk with both Fred and Illyria existing in the same body and Illyria coming out whenever they needed to fight. And this is exactly how Fred should return — Illyria and Fred having learned to exist together in the same body and as an ally to the slayer.
8. Darla (Julie Benz)
Listen: if there's one character that rivaled Buffy in the number of times she died and came back to life in the Buffyverse, it's Angel's other blonde, long-time love interest Darla. Julie Benz, not Sarah Michelle Gellar, was the first person we see on screen in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and she showed us how the show would be subverting genre norms. Dressed as a schoolgirl and feigning innocence, she vamps out and brutally kills a man in the opening scene of the series. She would be killed off a few episodes later but still showed up in flashbacks. Darla was eventually brought back to life on Angel's spin-off only to later die again. She was one of the most nuanced characters — a villain you understood, a villain you didn't want to see go even though she was very much evil. Have Juliet Landau's Drusilla work some magic to bring her back once again because we didn't get nearly enough of them as a murderous duo in the present day on Angel. Both Landau and Benz could easily step into the role and Benz has said Darla was one of her favorite characters she's ever played.
9. Glory (Clare Kramer)
Hellgod Glory is one of the most iconic big bads in the Buffyverse. Clare Kramer made the villain so fun to watch on screen. She even proved to be one of the Slayer's most formidable foes, finding Buffy to be more of a nuisance than an actual adversary. The hellgod was banished from her home dimension to the earthly one and was forced to share a body with a human named Ben (Charlie Weber). The way Glory was defeated in the show's fifth season was by beloved surrogate dad Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) killing Ben. Glory could easily comeback, now tied to a new, younger human, by saying she just transferred her being into another human. Glory fighting with and being annoyed by an army of new, younger slayers would be television gold.
10. Jonathan Levinson (Danny Strong)
Jonathan rivals Joyce Summers in having appeared in the most episodes of Buffy without ever being part of the opening credits. His character had quite the journey — from student Buffy often saved, to presenting the slayer with her class protector award to villainous warlock. His chemistry with Andrew (Tom Lenk) was great and they made such a fun duo. It's a shame Andrew was convinced by the First Evil to kill Jonathan, never giving him the redemption arc he deserved after the show's sixth season. With Jonathan and Andrew having a ton of supernatural know-how between them, have the duo pop back up once again but with Jonathan as a ghost this time, not unlike his role in the Slayers audio drama. Andrew feels like a no-brainer to bring back, so why not add Jonathan in there as well.
