James Marsters explains why Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek are basically the same show

At first glance, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Star Trek might seem like their miles apart. One series is a drama about a high school student who hunts vampires, and the other is a science fiction odyssey about space exploration in the distant future. So you'd be forgiven if you thought that the two fan favorite television shows seem radically different, but James Marsters has another point of view.

During a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion panel at Emerald City Comic-Con 2023, Buffy actor Marsters revealed that he was a long-time Trekkie. “I was a Star Trek fan. I’ve been coming to conventions since I was 13 dressed as Spock,” Marsters recalled. I saw those episodes 50 times each. I knew all the dialogue. I knew what was going to happen, and I still wanted to go back into that world because the world in the OG Star Trek was selling hope. We don’t have to destroy ourselves. We might survive ourselves and come into a better future. And so, I wanted to go back into that world.”

Marsters then said that he found that same sense of hope in Buffy. “It struck me while we were filming that Buffy might be the same way. We might be creating a world that was fun enough to go into, that people would want to come back to even when they knew what was going to be said. I remember coming to the cast, it was like 2 o’clock in the morning and I said, 'Hey guys we might be talking about this scene for the rest of our lives. Anybody want coffee?'”

Want to watch the whole panel. Become a Popverse member, and you can!