Editing Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film) (section)

==Television==
{{main|Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}
The film was taken in a different direction from what one of its writers [[Joss Whedon]] intended, and five years later, he created the darker and acclaimed TV series [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|of the same name]].

Many of the details given in the film differ from [[Buffyverse canon|those of the later television series]]. For example, Buffy's age and history are dissimilar; she is a senior in high school in the film, but the series starts with her as a sophomore. The film does portray who the Buffy of the TV series was before she learned of her destiny as the Slayer: a popular but selfish and superficial cheerleader. In the film, her parents are wealthy but negligent socialites who care little for her and spend their time at parties and golf tournaments; in the TV series, Buffy has a caring, newly divorced mother named [[Joyce Summers|Joyce]]. The supernatural abilities of both vampires and the Slayer are depicted differently. The vampires in the film die like humans; in the TV series, they turn to dust. Unlike the TV series, their faces remain human albeit pale, fanged, and with notched ears, whereas in the TV series, they take on a demonic aspect, especially when newly raised. The TV series suggests that new vampires must consciously learn to maintain a human appearance. In the film, Merrick has been reincarnated many times, to train many Slayers; in the TV series, Watchers are mortal and specially trained for their role and mission. Merrick's British accent and the manner of his death are different when he appears in flashbacks in the TV series.

Joss Whedon has expressed his dissatisfaction with the film's interpretation of the script,<ref name="bronze-19990117" /> stating, "I finally sat down and had written it and somebody had made it into a movie, and I felt like&nbsp;— well, that's not quite her. It's a start, but it's not quite the girl."

According to the ''Official Buffy Watcher's Guide'', Whedon wrote the pilot to the TV series as a sequel to his original script, which is why the TV series makes references to events that did not occur in the film. In 1999, [[Dark Horse Comics]] released a graphic novel adaptation of Whedon's original script under the title ''[[The Origin (Buffy comic)|The Origin]]''. Whedon stated: "The ''Origin'' comic, though I have issues with it, CAN pretty much be accepted as canonical. They did a cool job of combining the movie script with the series, that was nice, and using the series Merrick and not a certain OTHER thespian who shall remain hated."<ref name="bronze-19990117">{{cite web |url=http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19990117 |title=Bronze VIP Archive - January 17, 1999 |publisher=Cise.ufl.edu |date=1999-01-17 |access-date=2010-08-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220181357/http://www.cise.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/hsiao/buffy/get-archive?date=19990117 |archive-date=December 20, 2014}}</ref>