3 questions for the cast of 'Slayers,' which moves the Buffyverse beyond Joss Whedon: 'A healing process'

It's been a rough couple of years to be a Buffy, the Vampire Slayer fan. In 2020, Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon suffered a public fall from grace amid charges of "unacceptable" behavior on the set of Justice League — the DC Extended Universe team-up movie he inherited after original director Zack Snyder departed the project.

Within months, allegations of Whedon's "toxic" behavior on the Buffy set started to emerge from cast members of the era-defining TV series, including Charisma Carpenter and Michelle Trachtenberg. After stepping out of the spotlight, Whedon participated in a 2022 New York magazine profile that further tarnished the show's once sterling reputation.

But Buffy, the Vampire Slayer was never just about Whedon. It wasn't just about Buffy Summers, either, for that matter. "It was bigger than just one person," Carpenter tells Yahoo Entertainment during our conversation with the cast members at The Slayers Society activation during New York Comic Con. "This is a project we all love and characters that we all love."

Now, the Buffyverse is getting bigger once again with the launch of Slayers: A Buffyverse Story, a nine-part Audible Original podcast that reunites fan-favorite actors from the original series and its spin-off, Angel, for the first time in two decades. Besides Carpenter — who played cheerleader-turned Scooby Gang member-turned demon investigator Cordelia Chase — returning players include James Marsters as Spike, the other vampire with a soul; Juliet Landau as Spike's former partner-in-bloodsucking, Drusilla; Emma Caulfield as ex-demon, Anya; and Amber Benson as spell-casting witch, Tara... and also as one of the writers and directors of Slayers.

Set a decade after the events of the Buffy series finale, Slayers launches an all-new branch of the Buffyverse with its own continuity that brings together versions of these familiar voices — several of whom weren't alive by the end of the show's run — from alternate dimensions. The Cordelia we meet in Slayers, for example, hails from a timeline where she, not Buffy, became the Slayer and enters this new world carrying a tragic secret about her origins.

Meanwhile, alternate versions of Tara and Drusilla are carrying on a hot and heavy romance; Anya's vengeance demon persona, Anyanka, is alive and well; and Spike has been infiltrating the demon underworld as an undercover agent, but puts that work aside to help train a new Slayer, Indira (Laya DeLeon Hayes). But the rebellious teenager would much prefer to be mentored by Cordelia's grim and gritty vampire slaying veteran. In a hilarious moment from the show's second episode, Indira channels Ellen Ripley and comes to Cordy's rescue.

"That was Christopher Golden's idea," Benson says, referring to her co-writer/director, who is also a prolific Buffy author in other mediums. "All the Easter eggs are his." (Joss Whedon is not involved with Slayers, and the series isn't intended to be a direct sequel or continuation of the TV series.)

But Benson obviously played a major role in creating the character of Indira, whose presence makes Slayers more than just a nostalgia-fest. "It's 2023, and we live in a very diverse world," she says of putting a Black Slayer at the center of the drama. "For anyone unfamiliar with this fandom and mythology, Indira will help guide you. She's representative of a world that isn't just a bunch of young, hot white kids."

"We used to say, 'For every generation, there's a new Slayer,'" Marsters adds. "We've never made good on that promise. And today we are."

1. Is part of the impetus behind Slayers giving permission to fans to love these characters and this world again?

Amber Benson: It was a healing process, and we were all a little nervous about doing it. But if you look at any show, it's always a group effort. It's never just one person and one vision — it's a vision that has been supported by so much other talent. That's what Slayers is: It's a group effort, and the fans are in it with us. We're doing this together as a giant team.

James Marsters: One of the wonderful things about having Amber at the helm is that there's a sense that we're safe here. Frankly, I think you need a woman to helm Slayers — I don't think that you'd want to mansplain any of these themes. I worked with Amber on a movie years ago, and felt so safe and supported, and it was the same here. There was a lot of love in the room that was being recorded and I'm pretty darn sure that translates to the audience.

Emma Caulfield: I wasn't happy with how things were left with the show. So this feels like a sense of closure, but also opening a new door. I don't feel it's fair to throw out an entire body of work because of one or a few bad apples. It's not just the performers — it's also the crew and it's the writers. It's a massive labor of love for them, too. So to say, "Forget that show, we cancel you," it's like you're canceling years of their lives. [The show] is important to them and to the fans. They compliment each other and need each other really.

Charisma Carpenter: I do feel that Slayers is providing a reempowerment of a character that really needed restructure and it was done effectively by the people in charge, including Amber and Chris. It's important to give the [Buffy] fandom the respect and the permission to enjoy it.

2. What's been the most fun part about playing the new versions of these characters?

Carpenter: Having the opportunity to kick ass has always been on my wishlist. I wanted to be Wonder Woman! So to get to do that here has been tremendous. But there's also a nurturing side of Cordelia that comes out — she knows what she's seen as the Slayer, the gravity of the world and the weariness of the fight. She doesn't necessarily want that for anyone else, so there's a grave concern for her when it comes to Indira. Cordelia wants to protect Indira's innocence, but also can't deny her purpose. She wants to protect, lift up and empower her, but also put in some guardrails. Hopefully, that chemistry and nurturing comes across.

Marsters: When they first sent me the script, I was like, "What the f***, Spike is evil again? I have a soul!" But then I got to reveal and I was like, "Oh, OK, he's just pretending. He's undercover, like a Serpico vampire." When it comes to his relationship with Indira, it's about recognizing that she's a good person that's about to go through the harshest experience possible. So it's about that parental "being a dick because you love them" thing, which is really, really fun to play. There's a lot of love behind it, but there's also a lot of conflict.

Caulfield: It was wild playing Anya and Anyanka again. Anyanka was a little bit more of a challenge, because I didn't play her that often in the first iteration, as we're supposed to call it. And then there's a third version of the character that was insanely fun to do. I nearly killed my voice doing it! But it was great.

3. Slayers takes place in a Slayer-dominated world where the demons are the hunted. Is it possible we might end up feeling sympathy for them?

Benson: The demon population always finds a way — you can't keep them down no matter how many Slayers you have! There's always going to be a balance between good and evil, and I think in order to understand true beauty and joy in this world, you also have to know pain and suffering and evil. So the demons will never be totally overrun. Nature always finds a balance.

Marsters: It's like taking out the trash, man! You got to keep the house clean, but you're not going to ever stop the trash from building up.

Slayers: A Buffyverse Story is currently available on Audible