New Vampire Diaries Show Teased By Julie Plec: "I Still Have A Story I Want To Tell"

Summary Julie Plec plans to expand the Vampire Diaries franchise

Plec hints at possible future stories from the source novels with Warner Bros.

A spinoff featuring fan favorite characters might be more desirable.

The Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec reveals that she has more ideas about expanding the long-running franchise. Initially downplayed as merely another example of a rising interest in YA adaptations, the supernatural teen drama created by Kevin Williamson (Dawson's Creek, Scream) and Plec, quickly established itself as a hit and even an underrated favorite among critics. Running from 2009 to 2017 for a total of 171 episodes, The Vampire Diaries raised the profiles of its cast, particularly Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley, and Ian Somerhalder. It also led to two successful spinoffs, The Originals and Legacies.

At the premiere of her Max show The Girls on The Bus, which stars Supergirl star Melissa Benoist, Plec revealed to Screen Rant that she has more plans for The Vampire Diaries universe. Plec did not elaborate further, though she mentions the TVD novels as a possible source of inspiration. Plec said:

100%. Yeah, I have a story I still want to tell. I know that the people who are on the book have a story that they still want to tell. I'm sure Warner Bros. has plenty of stories they want to tell. So, the hope is they'll give me the opportunity to do it again. So, we'll see.

There are several books in the Vampire Diaries series that could potentially provide story ideas for a new series, but the television universe is already very different from the books. A new Vampire Diaries spinoff series would still need to fit within the continuity of the series.

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What Does The Future Of The Vampire Diaries Look Like?

The Vampire Diaries Future Is Uncertain

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Plec retained hope that The Vampire Diaries would be back in some form.

The wider Vampire Diaries universe experienced a setback in 2022 when The CW announced it canceled Legacies, the second spinoff after The Originals. The surprising end to the spinoff, and other series aimed at teens and young adults, was the result of The CW getting new owners, Nexstar, which shifted away from its previous brand of dramas aimed at a younger viewership. In a lot of cases, the cancelation announcements arrived with enough room for writers to devise endings, including Legacies.

Plec previously revealed that there had been initial plans for another Vampire Diaries spinoff prior to the Legacies cancelation. Plec's news was only a brief part of her thoughts, without specific details, as she was mostly expressing her surprise over the fact that the successful TVD universe would no longer be a part of The CW. Plec retained hope that The Vampire Diaries would be back in some form.

Plec's comment about drawing from the books for a potential spinoff could indicate that a new series would explore one supernatural being from the novels not explored in the television universe just yet. While Legacies introduced a wide range of supernatural creatures, one it did not feature was Guardians. In the Vampire Diaries novels, Elena and her little sister (also not in the show) are half-human, half-guardian. Guardians are the books' answer to angels, which could make for an interesting branch of mythology to explore in the show's universe.

Related The Vampire Diaries Missed Out On The Perfect Spinoff (But It Can Still Happen) Even though The Vampire Diaries originated two other series, the show missed out on using the perfect spinoff idea that, luckily, can still happen.

Because reboots, revivals, and spinoffs are a regular fact of the television landscape, across all streaming services and broadcast networks, it's a safe bet that there will be an effort to resurrect The Vampire Diaries. The more uncertain question is what that effort will look like, in terms of casting, its overall story, and even where it will air.

Most Wanted Vampire Diaries Spinoffs

Many Fan Favorite Characters Could Benefit From A Spinoff

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Though Julie Plec might have more stories set in The Vampire Diaries universe that she wants to tell, there are also plenty that Vampire Diaries fans want to see come to the screen as well. Fans have been clamoring for more spin-offs since the series ended even with The Originals and Legacies on the air at the time. Now that all three series have concluded, there are several interesting concepts and fan-favorite characters that would be great to see brought to life.

Heading to the past could be one of the most interesting ways to expand the Vampire Diaries universe.

One idea that is often floated by fans is that of a series centered around the Bennett family. Bonnie Bennett (Kat Graham) is a fan favorite character who suffered so much in the series in order to protect those around her. She often got the short end of the stick, but her long family line of witches provides a window into a lot of the lore in the show. With the witches in her family connected to so many character backstories, there could be a lot of adventures among the Bennetts that could make for their own series.

Of course, Bonnie had a lot of screen time, and there were quite a few interesting characters that only appeared in a handful of episodes that many fans wanted to learn more about. One of those is Lexi (Arielle Kebbel), one of Stefan’s old friends. Though Lexi makes a huge impression and is even able to pull Stefan from his Ripper ways, not much of Lexi’s backstory is revealed. She had a long life as a vampire that could have allowed for plenty of unique stories to be told in a completely different time period for the Vampire Diaries universe.

Heading to the past could be one of the most interesting ways to expand the Vampire Diaries universe. After all, Legacies is set in the future of the world, while The Originals runs concurrently with Vampire Diaries. Only glimpses into the rich lore developed in the past is given in any of the shows. That could be done with stories of the Gemini Coven, of Katherine on the run, and more.

Many of these spinoff ideas would likely require recasting of characters since the show ended years ago though, so a new Vampire Diaries spinoff with new characters exploring themes or the universe’s lore might still be the best option.