Hulu sent the highly anticipated Buffy: New Sunnydale series to an early grave — and I'm canceling my subscription immediately | Tech Radar

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Hulu sent the highly anticipated Buffy: New Sunnydale series to an early grave — and I'm canceling my subscription immediately

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Buffy fans all over the globe were in mourning this weekend after Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed that Hulu would not be moving forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale. This could be the streamer's worst decision yet, and I'm canceling my subscription in protest.

For months, we've been very excited for Buffy Summers to return to one of the best streaming services. My colleague Rowan Davies said he was both excited and nervous about the show's return, but now we'll never get to know what that looks like.

According to reports from Deadline, Sarah Michelle Gellar was surprised by the news, prompting her to deliver an emotional update to fans via her Instagram account.

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You can take a look at her video below. It was the worst thing I watched over the weekend, that's for sure. I'm still speechless.

A post shared by Sarah Michelle (@sarahmgellar)A photo posted by on

"I want to thank Chloé 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 added, “I promise, if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me.”

The backlash to Hulu's decision has been incredibly loud, with many people flooding Gellar's comments to express their heartbreak over the decision. At the time of writing, it is still unclear why exactly Hulu decided not to move forward with the show.

Chloé Zhao was at the helm of the project, and her latest movie, Hamnet, just won star Jessie Buckley a Best Actress Oscar. Her previous movie, Nomadland, also won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress, so she's well-equipped to tell this story well. And with Gellar herself attached to the project, this long-time Buffy fan was feeling good about it.

We've had plenty of franchises and reboots, so it's interesting that Buffy has not been given the same chance as other very successful IPs. For once, I was excited to revisit something because I had such faith in the people who were working on it.

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This is the first time that Hulu has really let me down. I've had a brilliant time with shows like Paradise and High Potential, but this decision has annoyed me so much that I'll be giving up Hulu for a while.

It seems that Buffy: New Sunnydale is officially declared dead, as it would have a hard time being picked up elsewhere due to rights issues. Unsurprisingly, though, a petition to bring it back is already out there, with almost 7,000 signatures at the time of writing.

I'm not sure if Hulu will take action based on the backlash, so we'll have to wait and see. But I am devastated that one of my most anticipated shows will not be arriving any time soon.

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Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with Tech Radar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd.

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Key Takeaways

• Hulu sent the highly anticipated Buffy: New Sunnydale series to an early grave — and I'm canceling my subscription immediately

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• Buffy fans all over the globe were in mourning this weekend after Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed that Hulu would not be moving forward with Buffy: New Sunnydale

• For months, we've been very excited for Buffy Summers to return to one of the best streaming services

• According to reports from Deadline, Sarah Michelle Gellar was surprised by the news, prompting her to deliver an emotional update to fans via her Instagram account