The Firefly announcement is finally here.
Released in 2002, the seminal sci-fi series only ran for one season before it was abruptly cancelled by Fox. Despite its brief time on the air, the show created by Joss Whedon has not only maintained its loyal fan-base, it also grew over time, as a new generation of sci-fi followers discovered it. While the show never got a chance to continue its storytelling on broadcast, Firefly was followed up by the film, Serenity, in 2005. From there, it expanded to other formats, including comic book stories. Now, however, plans to revisit the property are at the forefront of pop culture conversation.
It all started with a couple of social media posts led by Nathan Fillion reuniting with his former co-stars. Considering their confirmed appearance at AwesomeCon in Washington, DC, the teases didn’t really take off until after a while. After all, the marketing ploy seemed like the perfect way to drum up hype for their reunion panel. Eventually, however, the continued posts have garnered more attention, with fans starting to entertain the idea of a potential Firefly reboot.
As promised, Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, and the rest of the cast of Firefly officially unveiled their much-anticipated announcement (via Deadline) during the reunion panel at AwesomeCon. Admitting that it is virtually impossible for them to do a revival, considering everyone’s schedule, they are making it up to the fans by doing an animated series instead. The upcoming reboot is being developed through Fillion’s production, Collision33 in partnership with 20th Television Animation.
Marc Guggenheim from the Arrowverse fame and Tara Butters from Agent Carter and Reaper have been tapped as showrunners. The Firefly animated reboot already has a script, with the narrative set in the timeline between the show’s original run in 2002 and Serenity. The Oscar and Emmy-award-winning animation studio ShadowMachine was in collaboration for early concept art for the project. Whedon is not involved in the animated project, although the project has his blessing.
Tudyk, Torres, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, and Adam Baldwin are all expected to reprise their respective roles in the new project, which would make it easier for the new Firefly reboot to continue for far longer. As the cast acknowledged in the panel, they are interested in bringing back the show. Clearly, there’s still interest in it, based on the buzz that they generated after the initial string of teases dropped on social media. However, forcing a live-action follow-up to the show when they know that the cast’s availabilities is limited is a riskier way to bring back the cult favorite.
While a live-action return for Firefly isn’t on the table right now, the reception to the upcoming animated series may still lead to something significant moving forward. As it is, any kind of long-form storytelling is just not possible for now, given the scheduling complications with its cast. That said, perhaps a movie sequel could be the perfect way to cap off this revival endeavor for the beloved sci-fi universe. For now, however, fans can rejoice at the fact that there will be more Firefly content coming their way.
8/10
Release Date
2002 – 2003-00-00
Network
FOX