A Whedon-Free BUFFY?

As hard as it is to imagine a fresh entry in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe coming about without the involvement of creator / writer Joss Whedon that looks to be exactly what's happening. Though Whedon is now so associated with the brand that the 'Whedon' and 'Buffy' names seem forever linked, it wasn't always that way and - apparently - Whedon has never actually held controlling rights. Those, it seems, belong to original feature film director and television series exec producer Fran Kuzui. And Fran wants to make more features.

Though not funded and set up yet, Kuzui and her producing partner / husband Kaz Kuzui have joing forces with Roy Lee and Doug Davison at Vertigo Entertainment to set up some sort of franchise relaunch as a big studio film. And while the initial reaction to this was a pretty major jump-back on reflection it actually makes a whole lot of sense. There's a loyal fan base out there hungry for more stories from the Buffy-verse and the mythology of the world is absolutely perfect for this sort of relaunch. After all, it all plays out in a world where there is always a Slayer - all you need to do is set it in a different time period and you immediately have a legitimate spot to introduce an entirely new set of characters, which is exactly what they intend to do. No Spike, no Xander, no Willow, no Angel, no Buffy. New Slayer, new supporting cast. With a smart writer and good support cast, this could actually work ...