Charisma Carpenter, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-off Angel, has said she’s hopeful of a role in the franchise’s upcoming reboot, despite her character Cordelia’s untimely demise.
Last month, Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar, said she was keen for the reboot to feature a mix of new and returning characters, including those who were no longer alive at the end of the franchise’s original TV run.
Now, speaking to IGN as she launches a new podcast, Carpenter has expressed a strong desire to return and said it would be “poetic” to rejoin the series under its new creative team, after an “unjust” end to her character in Angel’s final season.
“I am so excited for fans, and I know it will be fantastic because of who’s involved,” Carpenter said of the reboot, which is being spearheaded by a team that includes Gellar and Oscar-winning Nomadland director Chloé Zhao, with no involvement from original Buffy creator Joss Whedon. “To see this actually happen for the fans makes me thrilled. I am so hopeful to be included, for Cordelia to be a part of this new iteration.”
Carpenter’s character was a series regular on Buffy through its third season, before crossing over to Angel. But after several seasons as a lead on the spin-off, Carpenter was written out as a series regular, and only guest starred once in Angel’s final run, in an episode that saw Cordelia given a bittersweet goodbye.
“I don’t know really what to make of it,” Carpenter says of the suggestion that Cordelia was one of the franchise’s fallen characters that could now return — not that death ever proved particularly problematic for actors popping back into the franchise.
“I’m sure there are caveats — Cordelia died on Angel not on Buffy,” Carpenter continued, “I don’t know what that means for Cordelia specifically — but I’m hopeful that it includes Cordelia obviously, it would be a dream to be included, and it would just be so poetic for that to occur, and for it to occur with this group.
“These writers are wildly creative, I’m sure they could figure it out if they wanted to, if it was a fan thing, where if there was a thirst or craving or need for Cordelia to be there, I’m sure with one hell of a creative team they have leading the writers room, it would be possible.”
Carpenter has returned to the franchise previously, via an Audible spin-off series that starred the actress as an alternate universe version of her character, with Cordelia now a vampire slayer. That series reunited Carpenter with various other Buffy actors and their characters — many of whom are also now dead — including Emma Caulfield Ford’s fan-favorite ex-demon Anya (dead), Amber Benson’s beloved witch Tara (dead), Anthony Head’s Giles (alive, though killed and revived in spin-off comics), plus James Marster’s Spike and Juliet Landau’s Drusilla (undead).
“Listen, you’re not gonna get an argument out of me,” Carpenter continued, when IGN suggested there has to be a way for her to return. “Because the way it went down for her was just — without using inflammatory language — just was not… she was built up so big, she’d grown so much, she’d had this remarkable journey, and for her to go out the way that she did just felt so unjust.”
Cordelia has one of the most transformative arcs in the Buffy canon, from a self-centered high school queen to a strong, caring ally able to receive godlike visions from the series’ mysterious Powers That Be. But her storyline in Angel’s fourth season proved controversial with fans, as Cordelia is possessed and impregnated by the deity Jasmine, then unceremoniously left in a coma. Her subsequent return as a special guest star, in Angel’s 100th episode, is a strong send-off, but all too brief.
Carpenter has previously had much to say about her exit, but fans will be able to get her thoughts on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel afresh as part of the actress’ new Patreon podcast show, The Bitch Is Back, whose title references a particularly rousing speech by Cordelia in first season Angel episode Rm w/a Vu. Fans can watch the first episode now via YouTube, with future episodes available on Patreon via subscription. Carpenter plans to record a podcast for every Buffy and Angel episode — of which there are over 250 — in viewing order, with the two series’ interlinked as originally broadcast to take advantage of their crossover episodes.
“We’ll be at this a while,” Carpenter said of the podcast, which has been in the planning stages for several years. “I think it’s about 254 episodes and then who knows, you know… maybe with the reboot I’ll cover that too? I’m all about the Buffyverse and want to support all of it. I devoted so much time and energy to both shows, it’s such a giant part of my life, my formative time as a woman, it makes sense to keep the shows alive, to keep Cordelia — who has shaped who I am today — in the forefront of this fandom. It’s always been my goal to maintain that relationship.
“I know a lot of actors often want to distance themselves from a particular character who might have helped their career get to a certain level, and they just want to move on from that and never talk about their character again — and I don’t subscribe to that way of thinking at all, I want to lean in, because [Cordelia]’s inspired me.
“I’m 1,000% who I am today because of that character,” Carpenter continued. “I used to be a lot more demure, a lot more of a people-pleaser, a lot less outspoken, a lot smaller. Cordelia has informed who I am in a very big way. She brought out, in me, a side I didn’t know existed, but that’s what happens when you play a character for nearly 10 years.”
The Bitch is Back’s first episode covers the initial episode of Buffy Season 1, Welcome to the Hellmouth, with co-star Julie Benz (Darla) as a guest. Together, the pair discuss how they were both hired for the show, its unique language and — as is very Cordelia — its 1990s fashion. There’s also discussion of how the series, now almost 30 years old, subverted genre tropes of the time, in a way that still feels fresh.
“I think the show resonates with fans today because of its universal themes,” Carpenter said, when asked why there’s clearly still fresh appetite for Buffy now. “I think there’s a big bad world out there and [you get] to watch this group of kids navigate the harshness of high school in conjunction with the realities of a hard world, grounded in reality like having a parent who doesn’t understand you, or unrequited love, or having to make difficult decisions about friendships, or feeling like an outcast who doesn’t belong.
“This show speaks to the empowerment of being different. Being an outsider is kind of great, it empowers that, it allows space and room for people to be different and not all be the same, and to let your freak flag fly. Diversity of personality and style of being should be praised. That’s what makes life interesting, and I think those themes resonate on a core level, still.
“And it does feel like a big bad world out there more than ever,” Carpenter concluded, “and I can’t think of a better time to be bringing this podcast out to provide more comfort and to try to satiate what seems to be an insatiable thirst for Buffy and Angel.”
Photo credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ReedPop.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
