Like everyone else, I’m appalled that Buffy the Vampire Slayer will come back as a feature film without the participation of Joss Whedon, who had the brainstorm for the character and never let it turn into a one-joke enterprise. Buffy evolved and kept evolving and the resolution of the series, in which she finds a way to infuse an entire female cosmos with her power, was not just a stroke of genius: It was an act of pure heart. What’s surprising in this latest turn is that no one’s writing about the real story. Because of a contractual error (and it really was just that, a complete and utter Legal Department fuck-up), Fran Kazui, who directed and made a total mess of the Kristy Swanson movie, has ownership of the character. She made a fortune on the series with only titular involvement, and she and her husband seem to be at the center of this latest attempt to squeeze more money out of the property. And Warners, well… We know how anxious they are as the Harry Potter series comes to end for more “tent poles.” Now why can’t lawyers ever screw up like that in my favor?