Buffy: Seth Green Wasn't In Talks for Hulu Series; Open to Oz Return

Posted in: CW, Hulu, TV | Tagged: btvs, buffy, seth green

Buffy: Seth Green Wasn't In Talks for Hulu Series; Open to Oz Return

Seth Green shared that he wasn't in talks for Hulu's Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale, but would be open to returning as Oz.

Published Sun, 13 Sep 2026 18:07:11 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary

• Seth Green says he was never in talks for Hulu’s Buffy revival, though Sarah Michelle Gellar brought him in for an early read to executives.
• The Buffy alum is open to returning as Oz, saying he’d love to explore where the fan-favorite character is now.
• Green believes Buffy still has a big audience and says the team can find a path forward despite Hulu passing on the pilot.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar hopes the Buffy pilot never leaks, stressing the script online isn’t final and doesn’t reflect the vision.

With the news that executive producer Sarah Michelle Gellar, showrunners Nora Zuckerman and Lila Zuckerman, director and executive producer Chloé Zhao, and EP Gail Berman's Geller and Ryan K. Armstrong-starring Buffy the Vampire Slayer: New Sunnydale series pilot was given a pass by Hulu, fans have been left wondering when – or if – a live-action revival will ever become a reality. While checking in with The McBride Rewind podcast earlier this month, Seth Green (Oz) shared some thoughts about the project and the franchise's future. Regarding rumblings about his involvement in the spinoff revival series, Green shared that Gellar enlisted him for an early reading with executives, but as for joining the series, he added, "I was not part of those talks." That said, Green kept the door open for a return to Oz, so to speak, saying, "If they wrote an Oz story, I'd love to see where Oz is right now."

As for where things go from here for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Green believes the major players will "figure out a path forward" because there's still so much support for the franchise out there across the pop culture landscape. "It's clear to see that there's an opportunity for that show, that there's a big audience for something that could work. It's silly to throw the baby out with the bathwater just because your pilot didn't come in the way you like. It's okay to do a little extra development to get what you like," Green noted.

Buffy: Gellar on Hoping Pilot Never Leaks, Avoiding Leaked Script

Checking in with SiriusXM's Page Six Radio in March, Gellar explained why she hopes the pilot never leaks online, despite the Buffyverse wanting to get their hands on it. "I actually hope it doesn't because then everyone's going to have an opinion on this and that, and pilots are not finished," Gellar said. "It wasn't done, right? It's not like we did a season and finished it and then they shelved it. It's not like when they made the Batgirl movie and didn't [release] it. That movie was finished. You make a pilot — and I want to clarify this — we made a pilot [first instead of a full season] on purpose because there's some new characters and you want to see how it goes. There are things you learn from it, and there are things you fix. Usually, [the first version of a] pilot doesn't air … it's a learning tool. The original Buffy pilot [had] nothing to do with the show. It was a different Willow. It was a very different show. But those are learning tools and that's what a pilot is."

As for the draft that's out making the rounds online, Gellar urges fans to avoid reading it because it's not the finalized version of the pilot script. "I've seen a version of the script out there. It's not actually correct. That stuff is really unfortunate, and I ask fans if you see scripts — if you see it leaked — don't watch it because you're not getting our vision and all of that," Gellar explained. Deadline Hollywood's reporting from earlier this week noted from "multiple sources" that the streamer's biggest concern was that the pilot "played too young" and felt "small." Reportedly, the studios and creative team wanted to keep the spirit of the original series' modest budget look and vibe. The Zuckermans' rewrite was reportedly 90 minutes long: "It was more adult, featuring a lot more of Gellar's Buffy, and was described as a more of a streaming than a network show." DH reports that "the rewrite was well received at both studios, 20th TV and Searchlight TV, triggering the internal talk of a pending pickup, with at least one executive in charge 'putting everything on the line' for it, as one person put it."

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