Twenty years (just using a general year here) from now, I'm just wondering if people think, or know for a fact, that they will still love Spike or Spuffy, even if there's no longer any fandom to write about them in, or read about. I hope the Buffyverse fandom doesn't die down for a long time, but it will probably not be as popular as it is now in ten or twenty years.

With Season 8 and Season 9 in the works, Buffy will be going on for at least another ten years, through which I will, in all likelihood, remain interested. After that... depends on the ending, if there is one. But knowing Joss, he'll give me what I need, not what I want, thus forcing me to stay interested. ;)

I doubt it. I will probably stay interested in Spike/Spuffy/Buffyverse until something new comes along that captures my interest. A few years ago, I would've said nothing could generate an obsession equal to the one I had with The West Wing. But that lasted a few years, and then I started watching Buffy DVDs, and it got replaced. Before The West Wing, it was Sliders. Before that, it was something else. 

I'd be interested, sure!  But, then, I still grock Spock and went to trek conventions as a kid. ( I live on my own, and pay my own bills or I'd go to a Buffy convention, in a heartbeat.) 

And who knows, maybe the movie, in 2027, will explain what happened to Spike...or will it just raise more questions that we'll have to fix?

Hmm...I'm right there with you, Veriry. :) Pass the popcorn!

FetchingMadScientist

I simply cannot fathom twenty years from now...However, I can tell you, at this point in time, it would absolutely break my heart for this weird obssession I have to end for some reason beyond my choosing (which I don't think I would choose to do so). 

Also, I have no doubt that twenty, maybe even less, like ten years from now (or hell, seven-ish) they'll do a Buffy movie finally, but for me, I would have no desire to see it without the original actors, which they certainly won't have.  It'll be bastardized and horrible (I don't have ESP, btw, but I can see *that*).  They should do one with the original actors now before we get some stupid retelling, like what they plan on doing with "Dallas," apparently.  My mom was obsessed with that show, and is devestaed that they're fnally making a movie that will undo what she loved (they're turning it into a comedy).  Or a whole bunch of prequels of "Buffy" of nobody cares about.  I wouldn't mind seeing a "Scourge" film, though...That'd be interesting.

I wouldn't mind seeing that either, but I wouldn't have to many expecatations if James Marsters, David Boreneaz, Julie Benz, and Juliet Landau don't play them. I don't know, films with constantly changing actors for the same character I can never fully get into. Plus, I'll never be able to picture anyone but James Marsters as Spike.

Whoops- sorry I didn't clarify that... Yes, absolutely- no one but the original cast for any type of Buffy or Angel film.  When I mentioned the "Scourge" film, I meant that's something they could do that wouldn't require SMG's presence in any shape or form, and they had an interesting dynamic, and I wanna see it on the big screen (stamps foot petulantly).

So would I! *pouts* Wish Joss would wake up with that idea in his head tomorrow morning, and everyone would magically go along with it, and the four would be happy to play their parts and it would be done by next year. Only, I hope they'd stick with one hair color for Spike if it was historical, because in the Fanged Four flashbacks his hair was a darker blondish color in Fool For Love, then in Destiny, Lies My Parents Told Me, and TGIQ it was a different color, more of a brown.

20 years from now, I'll be a little old lady (got my toe in that water already) and I was really hoping I'd be over my obsession by then.  On the other hand, I'll be retired and I can watch Buffy all day.

I'd expect somebody would do a new set of Buffys by then with an all new cast for a new generation to love.  Either that, or like I Love Lucy, they'll still be banging around in rerun world.

If I recall correctly from the "Lies My Parents Told Me" commentary, they tried to recreate the wig they'd used in Fool for Love and it just wouldn't come out right.

O, so that's why. Pity, I liked that one better.

I think Spike is one the most interesting, deviously funny and coolest characters ever brought to life on TV. I seriously doubt I will forget him or loose interest in him. I think I will probably pull out my Buffy DVD’s a couple of times a year and watch them from beginning to end, every year. I will watch James Marsters in anything he chooses to act in.

I was head over heels for Mike Seaver on Growing Pains when I was young. I can watch episodes of that show any time and still love it. I can and do watch movies written and/or directed by John Huges (Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Weird Science and Pretty in Pink to name a few.) over and over and over again.

I have followed Sami and Lucas on Days of our Lives for over 10 years now even when I refused to watch the show in its entirety because of the awful writing.

When I choose to become a fan it’s for life. I may not care about Spuffy or Spangel or Bangel years later, but I will always be entertained by Spike.

Twenty years from now, I doubt I'll be doing something Buffy-related ever single day, but I doubt that I'll ever completely loose my interest in all things Buffy.  I only started watching the show right after it went off of the air (thank god for FX, or I'd never have discovered it), so that's been a few years now.  At first, I watched the show, then I tried the books (all but one sucked beyond the telling of it), then fanfic, then I went to a convention.  I think that it's easy to keep up with the fandom with so many areas in which one can have an interest.  It's kinda like with Star Trek.  I always thought that Trekkies were crazy.  Then I watched Buffy, and I said to myself, "So THIS is how Trekkies feel!"  :-P  

There have been TV shows, movies, plays, books, etc., that have had staying power over the years, or even the centuries (plays and books, of course).  People still perform "Hamlet," people still read the "Scarlet Letter," people still watch "I Love Lucy," and people still recite lines from "The Princess Bride."  These things are classics.  I think that what makes something a classic is the ability to discover something new that you hadn't noticed before every time you experience it, the things that spoke to you before still speak to you now, and a work's or movie's, etc., ability to tell of human (or non-human :-)  ) truths across the generations.  I think that Buffy does have the ability to meet those standards.

I've never had an interest in any show, etc., like that that I have for Buffy.  I guess that only time will tell, but I don't see myself ever loosing complete interest, even if it's just to wax poetic to my grandchildren about how sexy James's Crazy Basement hair was :-)

OMG...if that were a film, the Scourge one, they wouldn't have to censor...much.  Oh, the possibilities!! :O

My Spike love will never die. I'm another "fan for life" kinda person. I've been an avid Star Wars fan since I was 3, and still want to see things with all the other 'verses I loved as a kid (Spiderman, Wonderwoman, Superman, Batman, Star Trek...). Will I be participating in the fandom every day like I do now? Guess that depends on if there is one, and how lonely a middle-aged old lady I am. ;)  I know I'll be a life-long fan of James, unless he somehow does something massively heinous to piss me off (not likely!).

A Scourge film could be wicked fun. :D

CM

Hmm, you know, I never thought about it before, but a Scourge film would be wicked cool.  Set sometime back in the day....

But anyway, I will always be obsessed with Spuffy.  Once I am obsessed, I stay obsessed.  I may not visit webpages everday or check forums, and there'll probably be some new thing I devote much time to, but Spuffy will still be there.  Heck, once a year I still go on my Sailormoon kick, which was my first obsession from a dozen years ago.

If they did revive Buffy years in the future, I think it would probably be similar to what happened between the movie and the TV show - Buffy would be recast, and the entire supporting cast would change. In other words, no Giles, no Scoobies, no Angel or Spike, not even played by different actors. It would be a completely different chapter of her life - could be before or after Sunnydale. It could even be inconsistent with what's come before, and make no mention of her ever being in Sunnydale. Depending on how far in the future this is, Joss might not be involved, leaving things wide open for reinterpretation.

Answering only for myself....I will never stop loving the character of Spike.  It touched me on a personal level unlike any fictional character.  As I fully believed that Spike DID love Buffy and was one to love forever I will always want him to have her love.  So yes, even if no one else is out there reading or writing this character and pairing...I'll still go back to the stories on DVD or fic.  I am one to reread favorite book, rewatch favorite movies,etc. and as Spike is my all time favorite...yes.  Hope that answered the question.

Kathleen

I'm the same. I've reread all my favorite books a few times, and will still go back to them. I still watch cartoon movies from when I was a kid that I loved, so I'll always loved Spike.

When I was four years old, my favorite show was Beauty and the Beast, the tv show starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.  Then it was cancelled.  Last summer, it came out on DVD for the first time, so I saw episodes I hadn't seen in 18 years.  Even without the episodes, I still loved the show through everything that came after. 

So, I'm thinking, if BatB could survive in me even during an 18 year dry spell, then BtVS is going to be a part of my life for much longer.  Always Spuffy?  No.  Always Spike?  Yes, because he's my favorite character of all time.  And I think the fandom will still be around, because the characters and the show tapped into archetypes and brought something new to the table in terms of mythology and modern issues.  As time goes on, we will be seeing the legacy of Buffy, until one day we get a blazing sharp writer/director who gets an idea for a really awesome show and prefaces her introduction to this new world with, "'Buffy' was the show that started everything for me.  I started writing fanfic when I was 15, and if not for the connections I forged at places like the BSV and conventions, I never would have had the confidence to go to film school..."

But if they ever remake or recast the Buffyverse, I will not be held responsible for my actions at that point.  Nobody else could play Spike.  That would be like doing a Meryl Streep biopic--total lunacy.  As they say, God broke the mold when he made James, and nobody could take his place

Hey! I've never written here before, but couldn't resist the subject!

As I have a spike tattooed on my ankle, I truly believe that no matter how many years go by I'll always be a fan of Spike's. Even if a lesser man/actor had portrayed him (which I surely would not have enjoyed half as much as i did/do JM) he would still be the only one that was man enough to go through hell and still stick around.

As long as I wanna have hope that there still are examples
of true love out there, I'm not giving up on Spike (or Spuffy) and believe I will keep watching the DVDs at least once a year, to refresh my memory and faith!

I hope so. There were times when I thought it would be impossible for me to lose interest in my current obsession but in the end I do. I still believe Buffy and Spike will always have a special place in my heart.

I sometimes still watch my favorite Disney movies from when I was a kid, so I can say even if I no longer read fanfic, or even watch the dvds, Spuffy and Spike will always have a place in my heart. None of my obssessions ever really go unloved.

Twenty years from now, I can see myself  happily sitting in my rocking chair at the SPIKE'S CRYPT RETIREMENT HOME along with the other lusty old bitties watching BTVS dvd's over and over.  And, of course, James Marsters will make guest appearances as Spike with his black T, Jeans, long leather duster and....walker.  Bonus for him....his hair will be white naturally, so no painful beaching.  Ah yes, I can see it now, after the appearance, all of us little old broads chasing him down (very brisk turtle walk) and smooching him so hard that our dentures fall out.  I can dream can't I????!!!!

Spike is my all time favorite character and I think he will always remain so and I will always love Spuffy because Spike 'loved Buffy'.  I can definitely see Joss stringing the ships along for years in the comics, so I really wouldn't mind seeing Spike find someone who loves him in the interim. Damn, If there's one character that deserves to be loved it is definitely Spike.

I'm just a fanfic reader here but I want all you writers to know that you keep "fixing' my addiction beautifully.  Thanks.

Shanna

I know I won't be writing fanfic. Heck, I have no ideas for a new story once FtTP is complete. But I think I will still be a fan of the show and of Spike. Sure, new shows and new characters will come along, but he will always be fun to watch. And I still enjoy certain movies and shows that I watched fifteen years ago or more. Edward Scissorhands springs to mind; I was only eight when that came out and I still love it.

This series totally changed my life, so my love for The Buffyverse is deep and ever present - I love the character of Spike and his journey, Buffy I love as well, for the metaphor that she symbolized - But Spike I love for what his character said about human beings and the potential in all of us - Joss Whedon and his Buffyverse were a splendid gift, not just for the few years that we loved them on TV, but for life. 

One never forgets Anna Karenina, or any of the Shakespeare plays, or Medea and Jason - just so, I will always remember Spike.  I am having a wonderful time watching all the early seasons again - and I know that I will still be watching my DVD's, same as I watch my Star Trek  read  and watch any Jane Austen works again and again.