5 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' Spin-Offs That Never Made It To Screen

A Buffy The Vampire Slayer reboot has never seemed closer, with fans eagerly discussing what the proposed revival, said to be close to a pilot order on Hulu, could include. However, the revival news has also drawn attention to what could have been, with some mourning the various Buffy spin-offs that were in development at one time or another, but never quite made it to screen.

Let's take a look back at the graveyard of unmade Buffy spin-offs.

1. 'Buffy: The Animated Series'

In 2001, as the final seasons of the original show were still airing, Joss Whedon and Jane Espenson began developing an animated spin-off that would have been dubbed Buffy: The Animated Series. The series would have been set during Buffy's high school years, albeit retroactively including Buffy's younger sister, Dawn, who had not been introduced until season five of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Six scripts for Buffy: The Animated Series were complete, while others had been started, and a four-minute pilot was produced, with most of the original cast reprising their roles (Minus Sarah Michelle Gellar. Buffy would have been voiced by Giselle Loren). The series was originally expected to air on Fox Kids, possibly early in 2002, but these plans were scuppered when Fox Kids closed down. The series was shopped to other Networks without success. The show was considered too mature for most kids' programming blocks, but not mature enough for a Primetime slot. With great reluctance on the part of the creators, development on Buffy: The Animated Series ceased.

The idea of the animated series still holds a place in the heart of fans, and it's intended art style and character designs were revisited in 'After These Messages... We'll Be Right Back!', a special one-shot issue of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight comic book.

2. 'Slayer School'

During the seventh and final season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a group of teenage Potential Slayers are introduced, seeking sanctuary from the Bringers and Ubervamps pursuing them, seeking to end the Slayer line. Buffy and the Scooby Gang must protect and train these Potentials to face the impending threat posed by the First Evil.

In the series finale, 'Chosen', a spell from Willow awakens the power of the Potentials, activating them as full-fledged Slayers. This applies not just to the Potentials under Buffy's care, but any and all Potential Slayers worldwide. Towards the end of Buffy's production, writer Marti Noxon pitched the idea of a Slayer School spin-off to Joss Whedon, including some of Buffy's potentials and perhaps incorporating Alyson Hannigan as Willow.

This is the least developed of all the possible spin-offs, and is not believed to have gone much further than an initial pitch. However, the idea of a large Boarding School like training facility for new Slayers was included in some of the early Season Eight comics.

3. 'Faith The Vampire Slayer'

Faith Lehane, affectionately known as The Dark Slayer among fans, was introduced in season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, called as a Slayer after the murder of Kendra, who had herself been called after Buffy's first temporary death in season one, creating the then unprecedented scenario of two active Slayers. This means that for most of the series, Faith was the carrier of the Slayer line.. her death, not Buffy's, would have been required to call a new Slayer. However, it is unknown if this is still relevant after the mass activation of Potential Slayers in the Buffy finale.

Beginning as an ally of Buffy, Faith takes a dark turn after joining forces with season three's Big Bad, Mayor Wilkins, but eventually, in a storyline that plays out over the course of both Buffy The Vampire Slayer and it's spin-off, Angel, Faith finds redemption, returning to Sunnydale in Buffy's final season to help battle The First.

As Buffy was coming to an end, Tim Minear, a lead writer on Angel, pitched a Faith-centric spin off. The series would have featured Faith travelling the country on a motorcycle, trying to find her place in the world, while occasionally battling evil, and, of course, avoiding law enforcement, due to the fact that she broke out of Prison during Angel's fourth season to help him regain his soul, and then, rather than returning to complete her sentence, headed on to Sunnydale to aid Buffy. Unfortunately for fans, the series never materialised, as Faith's actress, Eliza Dushku, opted to star in Tru Calling instead.

A few years later, a TV film starring Faith was rumoured to be in the works, but this also never came to pass. However, Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight's second story arc, 'No Future For You', in which Faith teams up with Rupert Giles in the hope of stopping a young rogue Slayer from falling into darkness as Faith had, is rumoured to have been adapted from ideas for the scrapped series and film.

4. 'Ripper'

Peppered throughout Buffy The Vampire Slayer's seven seasons are a series of episodes referencing Buffy's seemingly strait-laced Watcher Rupert Giles's past as Ripper, a teenage tearaway who regularly dabbled in the occult. When Giles's portrayer, Anthony Stewart Head, originally departed Buffy The Vampire Slayer as a regular at the beginning of the series sixth season, Joss Whedon was eager to have him star in a Ripper spin-off.

The spin-off, said to follow Giles in England, exploring his own past while also becoming inadvertently caught up in a series of ghostly shenanigans, has taken various forms over the years, from a series to a TV film. At one point, a deal was close to being inked to have Ripper air on the BBC, with Julie Gardner, a key figure in the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, on board to co-produce with Whedon. Unfortunately, various issues, such as the busy schedules of those involved, and a rights dispute between the BBC and 20th Century Fox regarding the character of Rupert Giles, kept Ripper trapped in development hell.

Some elements and characters that would have been part of Ripper eventually made into the Buffy: Season Eight spin-off comic Angel and Faith, in which the Dark Slayer and Vampire with a soul explore the recently deceased Giles's past so they can collect the shattered pieces of hs soul and eventually resurrect him.

5. 'Spike'

At one point, two different potential TV films starring the character of Spike, played by James Marsters, were in development. The first would have been set between seasons six and seven of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Spike initially struggling after regaining his soul, unsure of whether he made the right decision. After saving some lost children from a demon, Spike would realise he needed to face up to his past and choices and return to Sunnydale.

A script for this film, written jointly by Marsters and Whedon, was adapted into the graphic novel Spike: Into the Light.

The second attempted film would have been an attempt to resolve Angel's cliffhanger ending. Separated from Angel during the final battle in the alleyway, Spike would have teamed up with the God-King Illyria (Amy Acker, reprising her role) to locate Angel while trying to survive the various forms of evil now plaguing Los Angeles. Worse still, the pair would have had to battle their one-time ally, Charles Gunn, who had been killed and turned by a vampire during the battle. The film was also rumoured to include the return of Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg.

Elements of this film's plot were incorporated into the Angel: After The Fall comics, and the Spike: After The Fall miniseries set within them.

That neither Spike film was ever made comes down to two things: Money, and, sadly, time. Whedon struggled to secure funding for a film, and while James Marsters was open to returning as Spike, he was clear that he would only do so until he aged beyond the point that he could believably play a supposedly ageless vampire.

It is possible that some of the above ideas could be woven into the possible Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival. Hopefully, the series will not add to the graveyard of unmade spin-offs.