How Much Longer Do You Think That Buffy Will Live?

[Kanazaka]

OK, so Season 9 has or is about to wrap up (I'm not currently reading it, so I'm not keeping track), and I assume that there is going to be a Season 10. Given that, how much longer do you think that the series will continue? And that essentially means (see thread title) "How long will Buffy live?" Buffy Summers has already bucked the trend by living longer than any other slayer, as well as coming back to life twice. Due to her powers, she could probably fight demons until she is well into her forties. However, I kind of doubt that Dark Horse is going to still be publishing the comic (and its companion series) in fifteen years. I'm guessing five more years tops, ten if I'm being really generous. Of course, the writers could always flash-forward several years. I think it would be cool and very intriguing to see a story (in any medium) about a 40-year-old Buffy (or 50-year-old, in reference to Buffy's comment from "Choices"). If she lives to 50, and is still fighting vampires, I imagine that she'll be very world-weary, perhaps "Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Returns" world-weary. Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[white avenger]

I don't think that we will see Buffy age substantially from this point on, but I do believe that she has entered into the realm of immortal hero, whit such notables as Superman, Batman, and the rest of the Legion (Not League) of Superheroes who have gone before her. She will outlive her creator, the actors who portrayed her, and probably all of the fans reading this. And even if she does someday die, we all KNOW she's gonna come back. She lives in the Whedonverse, where death is just a temporary condition.

Seriously, I believe that in some form or another, whether in reruns, remakes, or reboots, Buffy is pretty much a permanent fixture in our mythology now. Like Alan Quartermain (?) in the "League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen," the fans simply won't allow her to die.

 

[Robb Stark]

WA nailed it. In terms of the character as a creative property, I think Buffy and BTVS as a franchise has significant staying power. With comics and the ever-increasing propensity for film and television reboots, it isn't at all inconceivable to believe that the character of Buffy will be around for decades to come. As long as there is a market for the character, she'll exist. I mean heck, they just produced a $250 million reboot of "The Lone Ranger". No reason to think that over the years the same thing can't, or won't, happen to BTVS.

As for the character herself, I don't think she should, or will, age much more. I think the comic will stop considering every "season" a year and slowly transcend into traditional comic book territory with their characters, namely that the aging process is pretty much halted. Just about every major hero in Marvel and DC Comics has had that happen to them. Hell, many of them have actually gotten younger. At its core, Buffy is an action character in an action series, regardless of the medium. That lends itself to a star in her late teens or early 20's.