Buffy the Vampire Slayer included a lot of memorable characters, with James Marsters' Spike one that still stands out to this day. While his story seemingly ended with the season two finale, his popularity led to a one-off appearance in season three before he became a recurring presence in both season four and the eventual Angel spinoff.
During a recent conversation with Michael Rosenbaum on his podcast, Marsters spoke about Spike's transformation from villain to love interest, and explained how his character contradicted showrunner Joss Whedon's idea that vampires should be ugly creatures. As it turns out, that led to a bizarre confrontation with the filmmaker that left Marsters reeling.
"I came along and I wasn’t designed to be a romantic character, but then the audience reacted that way to it," he started. "And I remember he backed me up against a wall one day, and he was just like, ‘I don’t care how popular you are, kid, you’re dead. You hear me? Dead. Dead!’ And I was just like, ‘Uh, you know, it’s your football, man. OK.’"
Asked if Whedon was just joking, Marsters said "No, hell no," and added that he never received an apology because Whedon "was angry at the situation."
It's pretty clear that Whedon is an intense character, but is an exchange like this - while undoubtedly uncomfortable - on the same level as the allegations aimed at the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Bryan Singer? No, but those looking to "cancel" the filmmaker certainly seem to think so.
Either way, a disturbing picture is beginning to emerge which does make The Avengers director sound like a bully, and claims like these keep on coming after Justice League star Ray Fisher's comments.
We'll keep you updated if we hear more.