Alyson Hannigan says Buffy should have dated Willow

Buffy the Vampire Slayer may have put away her on-screen stake 17 years ago, but that hasn't stopped fans from continuing to debate the series' biggest questions — especially when it comes to Buffy Summers' two biggest love interests. By the end of the series, the titular slayer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) had had romances with both Angel (David Boreanaz) and Spike (James Marsters), and fans still remain divided over which one was more worthy of Buffy's love. 

However, co-star Alyson Hannigan, who played Buffy's best friend (and a powerful witch in her own right) Willow Rosenberg, is now presenting a third possible option, with the How I Met Your Mother actress taking to Twitter to state: "Actually Buffy should have dated Willow." 

The tweet might have been inspired by renewed chatter around the series' recurring debate (Team Angel vs. Team Spike) after politician Stacey Abrams tweeted about it, after having referenced the series while discussing politics. 

"To be fair, Angel was the right boyfriend for Buffy coming into her power," Abrams replied when someone brought up her preferred ship. "Spike was the right man to be with as she became the power." 

Of course, Hannigan wasn't the only former actor to have opinions about Abrams' choice of ship, with actors Danny Strong (Empire), Adam Busch (Colony), and Tom Lenk (Witches of East End), who'd previously played Season 6's villainous Trio of Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew, even chiming in with their agreement. 

"Yeah, I can see that," tweeted Strong. Busch said, "Relationships are all about timing." Lenk simply responded, "WHOA." 

Hannigan's tweet also got a bit of a response from the Buffy-verse at large, this time from Angel alum J. August Richards (Council of Dads), who'd played Charles Gunn on the spin-off. He responded to her tweet saying, "I know that's right!!!" 

This wouldn't be the Willow's first (or last) romantic relationship with a woman, with Hannigan's character having dated her fellow witch Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) for two seasons, after having discovered her sapphic side around the same time she came into her magical abilities. Sadly the romance — which was heralded as a milestone in lesbian representation on television when the series first aired — came to an early and tragic end in Season 6 when Tara was killed by a stray bullet shot by none other than Warren from the Trio. The resulting outcry still rings till this day, with Tara's death often being cited as an example of the trope, "Bury Your Gays." 

Given the passion several fans still have for the pair, Hannigan was careful to state that a theoretical Willow and Buffy romance would take place only after Tara's death, quote tweeting a fan with the response, "After, obviously." 

As for Buffy's romantic relationships with other women, there's only been one canonical instance of it, and it's in the Season 8 continuation comics that series creator Joss Whedon wrote after the TV show ended, with Buffy briefly dating a fellow slayer named Satsu. However, while the series was still on the air, there was a dedicated subsection of the fans that actually shipped her with Faith Lehane (Eliza Dushku), another slayer, who Buffy first teamed up with, then went up against. (Not unlike Angel and Spike themselves!) 

But with Buffy the Vampire Slayer currently being rebooted yet again, there's a chance the new series could be much queerer than the original, with the slayer dating characters of different genders. Until then, fans will just have to keep up the debate and continue relying on fanfic.