Is Warrior Nun too much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

From the first look, we knew Warrior Nun would appeal to Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans

If there was one thing we knew going into Warrior Nun, it was that the show would appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While not against vampires, this was a tale of a “chosen one” fighting against evil.

However, on the surface, it can look too much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. After all, Warrior Nun is about a teenager who doesn’t get a choice in her destiny. She’s picked to fight against evil, with a man who will guide her through.

More from Netflix

• Bridgerton season 3: All the details to know about Penelope and Colin’s love story
• It’s a slow week on Netflix with only three new releases (Nov. 20)
• Exploding Kittens: From card game to Netflix animated series starring Tom Ellis
• The Crown and more Netflix shows and movies to stream this week (November 13)
• Escaping Twin Flames and more harrowing love-centered documentaries to watch on Netflix

The destiny passes on through generations, although it’s not some cosmically chosen destiny and more of someone who has trained for it. Of course, that’s not in the case of Ava. She’s never trained to be a Warrior Nun. Instead, she’s chosen by some cosmic destiny, possibly by God.

Of course, she doesn’t want anything to do with this destiny. She just wants to live her life. And this is her second chance at life. Without spoiling too much about her backstory, she was a quadriplegic, she died, and now she has the ability to walk and experience life.

Ava’s actions make her different to Buffy

So, is it just the same as Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a few strategic switches? Not quite. There are some standout elements that make this story a little more realistic for the situation of the lead.

In Buffy, our 16-year-old heroine didn’t get a choice but to follow her destiny. After an initial pushback for what was like a few days, she decided to follow her destiny. When she moved to Sunnydale, she tried half-heartedly to ignore her destiny but by the end of the pilot episode, she accepted and embraced it.

Warrior Nun hasn’t opted for that. Ava doesn’t want to follow this destiny chosen for her. She shows some interest at first, but she eventually chooses to live her life.

Of course, that leads to a search for her. There are people told to bring her back—or at least to bring the mystic halo back. Nobody cares that she’s just getting to experience life, but she does. And there’s someone by her side who wants to help her experience life. She tries to run away, and even when she realizes that she may not be able to outrun destiny, she still puts up a fight.

It’s much easier to connect to Ava than it was Buffy because of this. There’s this constant belief that someone who is chosen to do something should just accept that destiny, but most of us never would. After all, most of us don’t believe that demons, vampires, and supernatural beings actually exist. They’re stories told to frighten us. Why would we just drop everything to save the world with an order we’d never heard of, a destiny that we had no idea about?

There are certain elements of Warrior Nun that are overly predictable or have been overused (people within the church with their own agenda, for example), but Ava isn’t that much like Buffy. It remains a great show for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

What do you think of Warrior Nun? Is it too much like Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Warrior Nun is available to stream on Netflix.