also i am so sorry but they can never do a buffy reboot with the original cast of characters because you will never ever be able to knowingly recreate the precarious tightrope of sex-symbol, cringefail loser, vulnerable lover boy, clown, trash man, babygirl, that Spike achieved.
This man can only exist by accident, i am so so fucking sorrry
Ok, I desperately need people to understand I mean the CHARACTER not the actor. James is part of the perfect accident of Spike absolutely--he was cast for a role that was only meant to last a few episodes but knocked it so far out of the park that he became a regular--but the point I'm making is that so much of what made Spike what he is is just the circumstances of his own existence.
His popularity and the general consensus that fans wanted him redeemed was a hot-button issue in the writer's room, and a lot of Spike's deeply layered characterization is the result of this tug-of-war. Because half of the writers hated him and wanted to specifically ruin his mystique and coolness (resulting in a lot of unintentionally humanizing characterization), and the other half trying to gently nudge his character toward redemption in sneaky, creative ways. The result is one of the most unique and batshit, yet kind of brilliant character arcs ever written and I just don't think a writer's room full of people all working in tandem with a clear goal in mind will EVER perfectly reconstruct the Spike we got in the original. Not even if we found an actor with exactly the same level of charisma as the original.
It just can't be done. Ergo: this man can only exist by accident.
