Sarah Michelle Gellar & David Boreanaz Shade Failed ‘Buffy’ Reboot During Emmys Reunion

Almost 30 years ago (March 10, 1997), TV fans were introduced to Buffy Summers, the vampire slayer, and the bloodsucker she fell in love with, Angel. And during the 2026 Emmys, Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz reunited onstage to present Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

“This year, so many of our favorite shows are reaching milestone anniversaries,” Emmys host Mariska Hargitay mentioned ahead of them taking the stage. “The show that taught us that high school really is a portal to hell.”

Gellar and Boreanaz then walked onto the stage. “Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered,” he began.

“For those of you keeping track at home, I had just turned 2,” she added.

As he pointed out, “I mean, when you think about it, it is kind of crazy. A teenage girl chosen by fate to fight vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. And then she falls in love with a vampire with a soul, carrying around a couple hundred years of regret.”

Gellar quickly reminded the audience that Angel was “a much, much older vampire with a soul and agonizing remorse about his past. For those of you who don’t know, his character was 241 years old.”

“So, May-December romance?” Boreanaz asked, and Gellar corrected him with, “More like a May-December 1787, romance.”

He then played into their characters’ romance, remarking, “You know, Sarah, I always thought that Buffy and Angel would end up together.”

Gellar then alluded to the reboot that didn’t happen with, “Well, I guess we won’t find out.”

Instant nostalgie : Sarah Michelle Gellar & David Boreanaz, les stars de Buffy contre les vampires, font leur apparition.#Emmys pic.twitter.com/vlgZmH9rUv

— CANAL+ (@canalplus) September 15, 2026

She also took a moment to acknowledge the cast members who have died over the past two years, Michelle Trachtenberg, Nicholas Brendon, and Anthony Head: “David and I would like to acknowledge that it has been a tough two years for our beloved cast and crew, and we feel very lucky to have known and worked with such amazing people.”

To say Buffy and Angel’s romance was a complicated, rocky one is an understatement. Along the way, he lost his soul when they had sex, then terrorized her and her friends until, just after he was re-ensouled, she had to send him to hell. He came back, and they gave it another go, but then he left Sunnydale for Los Angeles, and both had other loves in the time they were apart — including vampire Spike (James Marsters) for her and a flirtation with her former classmate Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) for him — though the two did continue to come back together (including one very memorable time when he was briefly human).

To this day, the Buffy-Angel-Spike love triangle is one that stirs up many strong opinions. “The first love is your true love. Your true love is your first love. And that’s all I have to say,” Boreanaz told Variety in 2020. Gellar seemed to agree in 2017, telling Entertainment Weekly, “There was something so beautiful to me about the Buffy and Angel story. I think that Spike understood a different part of who Buffy was, and I think she needed to understand that and discover. But for me as Buffy, I think Angel.”

Marsters also told EW that while he thought Spike “could grow into the vampire that deserves her,” as he saw it, “what the show was saying very clearly was that Angel was her One, but it was impossible. I think the show was equally clear that Spike was not the right answer.”