With Buffy the Vampire Slayer's return on the horizon, some aspects of the franchise's past need not resurface in its future. It has now been confirmed - originally reported by Variety - that Hulu currently has plans to produce a sequel series for Buffy, one that's been speculated to feature Sarah Michelle Gellar reprising the title role. Elements from the show and its comic book continuation are expected to be part of this reboot.
That being said, longtime Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans may hope that the creative team behind the reboot does not decide to rekindle a romance between Xander Harris and Dawn Summers. The surprising couple is revealed with their first on-panel kiss in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight #28 by Jane Espenson, Georges Jenty, Andy Owens, Michelle Madsen, Richard Starkings, and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt.
These comics are "executive produced" by Joss Whedon, making them part of the Buffyverse's official canon. A sequel TV series is likely to revisit this romance for the sake of continuity, which not everyone will be happy with.
Why Are Xander and Dawn a Controversial Pairing?
Their TV Beginning and Comic Book Ending
Buffy the Vampire Slayer viewers will recall that, in the television series, Xander served as something of a brotherly figure to Dawn, to the point that her first full episode appearance - "Real Me," the second episode of Season 5 - sees Dawn being babysat by Xander. The earliest issues of Season Eight's comics continue this trend, with Xander often consoling Dawn as a surrogate brother when she's turned into a giant, then a centaur. The close bond was always there between these two, but readers never expected a natural progression into romantic interest from either party.
It's worth noting that the union of Dawn and Xander is all the more awkward when, in the comics, Buffy starts to have romantic feelings for Xander herself. This ceases when she walks in on Xander kissing her sister.
Xander and Dawn were dating in secret until Buffy walked in on them kissing during the Slayer Organization's retreat to Tibet. While Xander admits to the weirdness of knowing Dawn since she was a child, he claims that she's grown into a woman. Their age gap was always concerning, but in a show where a fan-favorite romance centers around a centuries-old vampire and a teenage Slayer, age gaps have always been a talking point. What audiences are most perturbed about with this romance is that Xander watched and practically raised Dawn as a child before developing romantic feelings.
Could the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Revival Avoid Xander and Dawn's Relationship?
Easier Said Than Done
The uncomfortable factor of how Xander and Dawn came to know each other is hard to ignore, but so is the relationship itself. Any direct sequel would need to continue, or at least address, anything canonical that happens either in the show or after, in the comics. This romance is pivotal to Buffy's canon ending, as the comics end with Dawn and Xander getting married and having a child named Joyce. Especially if Michelle Trachtenberg returns to join the Buffy the Vampire Slayer sequel's cast - Nicholas Brendon's return is not likely, though not impossible - not addressing the characters' union would become an elephant in the room.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight is available now from Dark Horse Comics.
Source: Variety
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