Ryan Kiera Armstrong, the lead of the long-awaited Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot, has spoken out after Hulu pulled the plug on the project.
“I’m sure many of you have already heard the news by now,” Armstrong, 16, began in an Instagram Story posted on Saturday, March 14. “I wanted to come on here and say thank you for all of the support that you guys have given me and this show throughout the last couple months. It’s been really special.”
Fighting back tears, Armstrong told her followers that she was “really proud” of the proposed Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale pilot, though she was “sad that [fans] won’t be able to see it.”
“It doesn’t take away from the amazing experience that I had,” she noted.
Armstrong thanked original Buffy star Sarah Michelle Gellar and her creative partners — writers Lilla Zuckerman and Nora Zuckerman and director Chloé Zhao — for developing the now-scrapped project.
“I also want to say thank you to all the fans who believed in this new chapter, and who believed in me, so thank you guys,” she said. “Thank you to the cast I worked with. You guys are awesome.”
The actress went on, “I guess all I want to say is we brought this back for you guys and Buffy is such a big part of all of our lives. It’s not going anywhere! Who knows what the future will hold?”
Earlier in the day, Armstrong shared a Polaroid of herself on the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale and described herself as “your slayer.”
Gellar, 48, broke the news on Saturday that Hulu had passed on moving forward with Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, after originally ordering a pilot in early 2025.
Sarah Michelle Gellar in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” 20th Century Fox Film Corp; Courtesy Everett Collection
“So I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me – unfortunately Hulu has decided not to move forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale,” Gellar announced via Instagram. “I want to thank [director] Chloe Zhao because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots and thanks to Chloe I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you. And this doesn’t change any of that.”
She then teased, “I promise if the apocalypse actually comes you can still beep me.”
Gellar had long resisted returning to the Buffy franchise before she finally signed up to star and produce “the next chapter in the Buffyverse” in 2025. The series would have introduced Armstrong as a young slayer mentored by Buffy.
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Last August, Gellar exclusively told Us Weekly that it was “incredibly emotionally overwhelming” to be working on a new Buffy project.
“It’s just a place I didn’t know that I would find myself,” she admitted to Us. “While it was new, it was also incredibly familiar, and I feel very lucky.”
The classic TV series was based on the 1992 film of the same name, starring Kristy Swanson as the slayer. The Buffy TV series aired for five seasons, from 1997 to 2001, on The WB before moving to UPN for its final two seasons. (The WB and UPN later merged to become The CW in 2006.)
