A new glimpse at the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel crossover sequel has been officially unveiled, and it looks amazing. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise is a cultural phenomenon that redefined the chosen-one trope with razor-sharp wit. Its massive success birthed the equally iconic spin-off, Angel, and together, both shows created the Buffyverse and earned a dedicated global fanbase that continues to dissect its lore decades later.

While Buffy’s story continued through highly successful comic book sequels, television has moved on without a live-action return to Sunnydale and Los Angeles. This stagnation is particularly baffling given the massive potential for a revival in today’s streaming landscape. In an industry currently obsessed with established intellectual property, the Buffyverse is a goldmine of untapped potential with a built-in audience and a timeless mythos that could easily be adapted to reflect the social and political anxieties of the 2020s.

Fortunately, Buffy shows no sign of slowing down in the comics, and Dynamite Entertaiment’s upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic seems to be the most ambitious project since the 1997 show.

Dynamite’s New Buffy Comic Is A Crossover With Angel

Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Written by Kelly Thompson; Art by David Nakayama

The first official glimpse at Dynamite Entertainment’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer features the titular supernatural hero ready to fight a vampire, illustrated by seasoned Marvel and DC artist David Nakayama. Writer Kelly Thompson, known for her work on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and DC’s Absolute Wonder Woman, confirms that Dynamite’s upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic is akin to “an event book” focused on Buffy and Angel (via Bleeding Cool):

“It’s been a hard book to talk about. I’ll give you just a little bit here. The new way I’ve decided to try to talk about it, while hiding the mysterious interior, is telling people to think of the first issues like an event book. Almost like we’re starting with an event book with something that draws the cast of Buffy and Angel together for like a very personal emotional thing, and then we sort of spin out from there.”

According to Thompson, the new Buffy comic also features a major plot twist that requires a great deal of secrecy ahead of release. This plot point is so important that all marketing is centered around hiding it. This is a bold decision, as it’s much easier for comic books to have their twists and endings spoiled than movies and shows. But if this strategy works, Dynamite’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer could start its story on the right foot and launch a long-running series that gives Buffy and Angel new life.

Dynamite’s New Buffy Comic Proves The Franchise’s Revival Is Long Overdue

Buffy And Angel Live On Despite Not Returning To TV

Following the show’s finale, Dark Horse Comics launched Buffy’s official canonical continuation with season 8 through season 12, which allowed the story to go high-budget on the page with global vampire wars and the literal destruction of all magic. This was complemented by IDW Publishing’s run on Angel: After the Fall, which saw Los Angeles literally sent to Hell. More recently, BOOM! Studios took a different approach, launching a 21st-century reboot that modernized the gang’s origins for the 2020s.

The sting of the canceled 2026 Buffy revival, New Sunnydale, is still fresh for the fandom. Helmed by Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao and featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar in a mentor role to a new Slayer named Nova, the project was set to be a strong legacy sequel. Despite a filmed pilot, Hulu decided to scrap the series. An ambitious revival on a platform like Netflix or Disney+ could still succeed if the property is treated with the same cinematic reverence as Stranger Things or The Last of Us.

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Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Angel Vs. Spike Debate Has Such An Obvious Solution, I’m Surprised It’s Even A Question

Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans were torn for years over whether Angel or Spike was the best vampire for her, and the reboot could easily answer this.

Dynamite’s upcoming Buffy comic could be the definitive spiritual successor to the television series and the revival fans have been denied for years. With Kelly Thompson at the helm, Dynamite may be starting an ambitious new era that treats the Slayer’s return with the gravity and narrative scale of a multi-million dollar streaming event. A new live-action series may not be necessary for a new generation to enjoy a brand-new era of Buffy storytelling.

What plot twist do you think Dynamite’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer comic is hiding?

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  Release Date

  1997 – 2003

  Network

  The WB

  
  

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  Release Date

  1999 – 2004

  Network

  The WB

  Showrunner

  David Greenwalt

  Directors

  James A. Contner, David Greenwalt, Tim Minear, Bill L. Norton, Terrence O’Hara, Marita Grabiak, Skip Schoolnik, David Grossman, Frederick King Keller, Jefferson Kibbee, Michael Grossman, Vern Gillum, Bruce Seth Green, David Straiton, Steven S. DeKnight, Turi Meyer, David Semel, Michael Lange, Scott McGinnis, Thomas J. Wright, Ben Edlund, David Boreanaz, James Whitmore Jr., Krishna Rao

  Writers

  jeffrey bell, Mere Smith, Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Fain, Shawn Ryan, Drew Goddard, Howard Gordon, Jeannine Renshaw, Jim Kouf, Douglas Petrie, Tracey Stern, David H. Goodman, Brent Fletcher, Gary Campbell, Jane Espenson, Marti Noxon