The Vampire Diaries had an incredible run on air, lasting for eight seasons before concluding in 2017. The series mainly focuses on teenager Elena Gilbert, played by Nina Dobrev, who gets caught up in a conflict between two vampire brothers and other supernatural forces. Despite her exit from the series, Dobrev returned for the series finale, leaving the door open for a continuation.
Meanwhile, showrunner Julie Plec spoke about the show’s inevitable conclusion as the universe lived on through different spin-off shows. In an interview, Plec expressed hope about exploring the later portions of Elena’s life, hinting how an alternate ending could have set up a potential spin-off centering on Dobrev’s character. Here is everything you need to know about it.
The Vampire Diaries Showrunner Julie Plec Hinted at a New Nina Dobrev Spinoff
Julie Plec served as the co-creator and showrunner for most of The Vampire Diaries‘ eight-season run. Actress Nina Dobrev, who played the lead role of Elena Gilbert left the series after season 6 but returned for the series finale. The series ends with Elena and Damon getting a happy ending, but not much is revealed about their later years.
During an interview with Variety, after the finale aired, Plec spoke about what transpired with the characters after the show’s conclusion. While the finale confirmed that Elena became a doctor as was originally intended, Plec had several ideas about how Elena and Damon’s life turned out.
I have a lot of different versions of what they had together over the decades. Probably, for me, it’s influenced by the enthusiasm of the fandom to want them to have gone to [their loft in] Tribeca and raised their children before they came home to Mystic Falls.
Plec made the above statement, suggesting that there was more mileage in Elena and Damon’s story, especially during their later years.
The showrunner admitted irrespective of the details, she felt that the couple would have raised their children away from Mystic Falls before returning to their hometown. The town might have served as the setting for a spin-off focusing on Elena and Damon’s family life.
The Vampire Diaries Follow-up Might Not Happen Despite Nina Dobrev’s Interest
Despite Plec’s suggestion that there was more to explore about Elena and Damon’s life before their eventual demise, a follow-up project might not be feasible after all. During an interview in 2024, Dobrev confirmed that she would be interested in reprising the role of Elena for a prequel.
Meanwhile, talking to The Hollywood Reporter on the show’s fifteenth anniversary, Plec also confirmed that there had been discussions about ways to continue The Vampire Diaries universe. However, when asked about the possibility of getting the original cast back together, Plec said:
The tricky part of a vampire story is that your character is not supposed to age, right? So it makes it more complicated, and also 90 percent of them died before the show ended, so it makes the idea of a sequel or a prequel very complicated.
Plec’s comment highlighted the issue with bringing back the original cast, leaving a possible reunion shrouded in skepticism.
While Pleac added that she had thought about ways to continue the story of the main characters, she admitted it would not be an easy task. Although Elena and Damon do not appear in the spin-off series Legacies, it is confirmed that they are living in Mystic Falls at some point with their daughter, which serves as a nice bookend to Plec’s original idea for the characters’ ending, making a spin-off unnecessary.
The Vampire Diaries is streaming on Peacock.
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