Decanonization of S8 for the sake of a Buffy movie

[Mathieu]

I thought it was a very interesting debate. So here's a poll. I'm one of those who think that even though the comics are pretty cool, I would rather throw away the whole storyline of Season 8 and have the movie instead!

edit: the end of my question is missing in the poll, I originally wrote "possibility of a movie ?", i don't know if there's a way to fix this.

[Joe]

I can't vote. I would vote for a movie before season 8 and after 7.

[Skytteflickan88]

First time I heard that Joss said that he would ignore season 8 if he made a movie, I got so pissed. I loved season 8 and didn't give a damn about a movie. But that was probably when Wolves at the gate was out and I loved the comic to death. That I don't like TOYL and issue 20-23 as much as that arc might have something to do with that now I would be okay with season 8 being decanonized. Two alternative continuations would be okay.

I still think that the story of 40 issues will beat a 2 hour-ish movie.

[Rebecca]

I'm a brat... I want both

[hitnrun017]

Apr 5, 2009 16:51:21 GMT -5 Rebecca said:

I'm a brat... I want both

Haha. Agreed.

I'd want a movie to take place after all the comic seasons, but if we were to get a movie that had nothing to do with them.... then YAY! The comics will still be there.

[Greer]

I would let the canon go by the wayside. I just...feel like it wouldn't be able to translate to the big screen very well. I want the movie to be a grown-up continuation of S7.

[Paul]

I'd rather have the comics than the movie. I'm still totally disgusted that both the fans and Joss are not only willing, but actually enthusiastic, about dismissing the story that we've invested in for the last two years. I mean, either it's the official story or it's not. Season Eight actually matters to me and I have a lot of respect for the comic book medium, I don't see it as some "plan B" because we can't have the real thing.

[Joe]

Apr 5, 2009 18:12:37 GMT -5 Paul said:

I'd rather have the comics than the movie. I'm still totally disgusted that both the fans and Joss are not only willing, but actually enthusiastic, about dismissing the story that we've invested in for the last two years. I mean, either it's the official story or it's not. Season Eight actually matters to me and I have a lot of respect for the comic book medium, I don't see it as some "plan B" because we can't have the real thing.

I agree. Even though I would love a movie, if I was forced to choose between canon season 8 and no movie or a movie with a de-canonized season 8, I would choose Season 8. It would hurt, though. A lot. I just want both! But if I was forced to choose... I pick comics

[Skytteflickan88]

Apr 5, 2009 17:15:36 GMT -5 Greer said:

I would let the canon go by the wayside. I just...feel like it wouldn't be able to translate to the big screen very well. I want the movie to be a grown-up continuation of S7.

Grown-up? You saying season 8 is for kiddies?

[snizapman6294]

i hate reading... i am a die hard buffy fan... see the connection? if you didn't, i voted for a movie.

[BennyTheKey]

Pfft screw the comics!. They're great and all, but I would never chose them over a movie. A Buffy movie would be awesome, to see all the actual actors and actresses playing the characters again would be amazing!, you guys who voted "No way", would let a two hour movie go for comic's..why?. Anyway, I'm sure the comics can continue but just not be canon if this ever came true.
It would be interesting to see who would still want the comics if a Buffy movie trailer was to arrive .

[wenxina]

IMO, the third option is a cop-out. The question at hand is whether or not you'll choose a movie over S8. If you chose option 3, you're technically opting for a "No" answer, since you're essentially saying that you aren't willing to give up S8. In other words, it's splitting the votes for the "No" option. Which is really unfair. I'm not saying that you can't have your cake and eat it, just that the third option shouldn't exist, and you can qualify your answer below.

Personally, I don't want a movie. And definitely not at the expense of S8. A movie won't come close to delivering the amount of complexity and characterization that a season-long story can, so why the heck would I opt for that? Instant gratification? Lesson to be learnt, if you haven't already: Delayed gratification can be a good thing.

BtVS clearly hit its stride when it was resurrected into a televised series. The critical and popular acclaim it has attained is due to its ability to tell entertaining and meaningful stories in the serialized format. Which is exactly what S8 is doing. I'm invested in the story, and have been from the get-go. And not because I'm one of those "any Buffy is better than no Buffy" fans. I saw the potential for the medium, heard the voices, saw the characters, and realized that despite the medium switch, I was back in another season. Trust me, if it had been shite, I'd have dropped the damn thing. I've dropped Aftermath...

A movie at this point is superfluous. We already have the official continuation of the story. If the movie contradicts S8, why does S8 have to be the non-canon one? If there has to be a movie, set it after the events of S8. The way I see it, it may never happen anyway. I'm not getting any younger, and none of the actors/actresses are either. In other words, I'm not holding my breath for it. On the other hand... S9 is already in early gestation in the mind of one Mr. Whedon...

EDIT: If I wanted to see the stars play their characters again, I go back to my boxsets of the TV show. Quite simple, really.

[Mayor Of F♥ckville]

Season 8 sucks.

[rufio]

Movie MOvie MOVIE!!! I LOVE season 8 but if it really came down to it, I could deal with it being de-cannonized (whatever you want to call it.) And I have been reading it since issue 1! I'd personally like the movie to take place after season 8. I think that makes the most sense and would reward the more loyal fans and maybe bring more people to read season 8 in order to catch up with the story.
Someone mentioned season 8 or a post season 8 story not translating well to screen?...um...why's that?? It still has the same characters & all the same elements of the show (and some that we probably never could've seen on the show). More than anything, I'd want the movie to be action packed. Of course I want the drama between the characters I love, but I can see it being marketed as an action flick. (just the thought of the buffy movie posters with the characters looking bad ass makes me giddy!)
Joss knows how to write movies and more importantly-embody a television series in a movie! HELLO "FIREFLY" translated into a fabulously balanced movie "SERENITY"! A buffy movie today would be everything the original should've been but amped up!!! PLEASE! I will just be able to die happy! lol

[wenxina]

Apr 5, 2009 19:21:35 GMT -5 Mayor Of F♥ckville said:

Season 8 sucks.

So do you, Mike. That's why people like you.

[Paul]

Apr 5, 2009 19:06:49 GMT -5 wenxina said:

IMO, the third option is a cop-out. The question at hand is whether or not you'll choose a movie over S8. If you chose option 3, you're technically opting for a "No" answer, since you're essentially saying that you aren't willing to give up S8. In other words, it's splitting the votes for the "No" option. Which is really unfair. I'm not saying that you can't have your cake and eat it, just that the third option shouldn't exist, and you can qualify your answer below.

Personally, I don't want a movie. And definitely not at the expense of S8. A movie won't come close to delivering the amount of complexity and characterization that a season-long story can, so why the heck would I opt for that? Instant gratification? Lesson to be learnt, if you haven't already: Delayed gratification can be a good thing.

BtVS clearly hit its stride when it was resurrected into a televised series. The critical and popular acclaim it has attained is due to its ability to tell entertaining and meaningful stories in the serialized format. Which is exactly what S8 is doing. I'm invested in the story, and have been from the get-go. And not because I'm one of those "any Buffy is better than no Buffy" fans. I saw the potential for the medium, heard the voices, saw the characters, and realized that despite the medium switch, I was back in another season. Trust me, if it had been shite, I'd have dropped the damn thing. I've dropped Aftermath...

A movie at this point is superfluous. We already have the official continuation of the story. If the movie contradicts S8, why does S8 have to be the non-canon one? If there has to be a movie, set it after the events of S8. The way I see it, it may never happen anyway. I'm not getting any younger, and none of the actors/actresses are either. In other words, I'm not holding my breath for it. On the other hand... S9 is already in early gestation in the mind of one Mr. Whedon...

EDIT: If I wanted to see the stars play their characters again, I go back to my boxsets of the TV show. Quite simple, really.

Karma! Totally agree with this comment.

[wenxina]

Apr 5, 2009 19:23:22 GMT -5 rufio said:

Joss knows how to write movies and more importantly-embody a television series in a movie! HELLO "FIREFLY" translated into a fabulously balanced movie "SERENITY"! A buffy movie today would be everything the original should've been but amped up!!! PLEASE! I will just be able to die happy! lol

I'm not arguing that Joss can't write a balanced movie. But it'll be over in 2 hours, and will not be as rich as an entire season. So why throw out a season for that? Again, the question is not if you'd like a movie, but rather a movie at the expense of S8.

[Mathieu]

Of course everybody would love to see a Buffy movie being made, but you are right, wenxina, when you say that the question is about having the movie at the expense of season 8. And I agree that the third option in my poll is pretty tricky... but you know what? I'm not certain you can do the math as simply and add up the two last answers to make one "no way answer". i think many people really want that movie, really bad, and some of us may think that the best solution would be to pick up after Season 8. But if we dropped this possibility/option, probably some will think to themselves "jeez, I still want a Buffy movie really bad..." and they will pick yes eventually.

I mean, how many people read the comics ? They sell what, 80,000 copies per issue? I don't remember the figures.

Imagine how many people they would reach with a movie? Millions all around the world. And how many people who have NEVER watched the show would decide to give it a chance after seeing the movie??

Buffy would be reborn all over again.

That said, there's a 5% chance of a Buffy movie happening. So I'm glad we have the comics.

But I still think they could make a pretty bad-ass action movie on a story based after Season 8.

[Iceeh★]

I want a movie quite badly, but if it came down between the two, I'd rather have the comics.

[El Diablo Robotico]

Apr 5, 2009 19:06:49 GMT -5 wenxina said:

IMO, the third option is a cop-out. The question at hand is whether or not you'll choose a movie over S8. If you chose option 3, you're technically opting for a "No" answer, since you're essentially saying that you aren't willing to give up S8. In other words, it's splitting the votes for the "No" option. Which is really unfair. I'm not saying that you can't have your cake and eat it, just that the third option shouldn't exist, and you can qualify your answer below.

A better choice for the third option would've been "Who cares, since it's a moot point and there'll never be a 'Buffy' movie made, anyway?"

Seriously, the article about "Michelle" Gellar being ready to do a movie smells strongly of an April Fool's joke that someone forwarded who didn't get the gag. Just go back thru the old topics here to a year ago, and you'll see that Wyndam pulled the exact same thing!

At this point, I really don't want there to be a movie, whether it ties in with S8 or not. For one thing, have you seen the actors lately? It's been awhile since I've seen Nick, but Sarah and Aly, while they still look great, don't exactly look like they just stepped off a college campus. Forget about mid-twenty-somethings--I think they'd have a hard time passing them off as anything but what they really are: people in their early 30s. Which means forget about a movie set between S7 and 8--you'd probably be looking at something set 6-10 years after "Chosen".

And that's just the human characters! Even in S5 of "Angel", DB was stretching the limits of believability as an ageless vampire who eternally looked 26. Another 5 years have gone by since then. And JM, God bless him, managed to stay looking like a guy in his late-20s into his early-40s , but based on recent pics, it looks like Father Time is finally starting to catch up with him, too. So go ahead and rule out right now any chance of seeing either Angel or Spike in a "Buffy" movie. And be honest: how many of you want to see that movie mainly for some resolution on which souled-vampire Buffy ends up with?

It makes for a lively discussion, but it'll never be anything more than that. The rumors about "Ripper" were much more solid, yet that never came about, either.

A movie at this point is superfluous. We already have the official continuation of the story. If the movie contradicts S8, why does S8 have to be the non-canon one?

That's exactly what I'd like to know. "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" contradict some of the events of the original comic series, so do the movies de-canonize the comics? Does "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" de-canonize "Terminator 3"?

In the extremely-unlikely event that a "Buffy" movie ever got made, and it contradicted the comics, they oughta be viewed (given Joss's major involvement with both) as separate-but-equal branching timelines, much like the "Terminator" franchise, post-T2.