Movies - TV
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Is The Controversial Movie Canon?
By JOE ROBERTS
Many fondly remember the hit TV series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," but few likely remember the 1992 movie of the same name, which introduced the character.
While the movie came out five years before the show and appears to be a stand-alone film, there's a good case to be made that the movie is very much part of "Buffy" canon.
Joss Whedon, who was the film’s writer and would go on to be the TV series’ showrunner, hated the movie and the changes director Fran Rubel Kuzui to his script.
However, he did reference the film’s events during the show. In the first episode, "Welcome to the Hellmouth," Buffy moves from LA, the setting of the movie, to Sunnydale.
Buffy then tells her high school principal that she previously burned down a gym "full of vamp ... uh, asbestos." This is a reference to Whedon's original movie script.
Watcher Merrick, who was originally played by Donald Sutherland, later appears in Season 2, showing some connection between the film and the movie.
Although Whedon might not consider the 1992 movie itself canon, he at least considered his screenplay part of Buffy's history, as evident by the comic series, "The Origin."
The series was written by Dan Brereton and Christopher Golden, who adapted Whedon’s original screenplay in a tone that was faithful to the TV show.
On the official message board for the "Buffy" series, Whedon said, "The origin comic, though I have issues with it, CAN pretty much be accepted as canonical."