Within the world of science fiction television, it seems as though there’s one series above all that most fans would want to see a return to: Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Running in 2002 on Fox with a meager 13 episodes, the series came to an abrupt end, only to gain a fervent fanbase when the series was released on DVD.
At the winter Television Critics Association, the topic of a Firefly revival came up with the inevitable question directed at Fox executives: have they considered a return to the ‘verse? The answer was: yes. And they’re “wide open” on the possibility, “if there’s a way to reinvent it for today so it’s as resonate now as the original was.”
Moreover, it looks as though Fox had considered putting together some sort of revival recently, with Fox President of Entertainment Michael Thorne telling TheWrap that it might have happened, had they not already had a space series on the air: The Orville:
“It had come up before, but we had ‘The Orville’ on the air and it didn’t make sense for us to have, as a broadcast network who is very targeted, to have two space franchises on our air.”
The Wrap points out that The Orville will move over to Hulu for its third season, potentially removing that obstacle. But before Firefly fans start celebrating, it doesn’t look as though anything will happen anytime soon. Joss Whedon is busy with an HBO series, The Nevers, producer Tim Minear is working on Fox’s series 9-1-1, and cast members such as Nathan Fillion are currently leading ABC’s The Rookie.
But Fox isn’t ruling a revival out, noting that the show’s dedicated fanbase is a huge boost, and that they’d need to find the right story. “I would love to see, like, an eight- or 10-episode limited adventure in that universe,” Minear told The Wrap, also noting that it would be difficult to get the entire cast back together. “We have talked about different permutations and how that might work. Do you take two of the characters and put them in a different place and sort of retell a new story with two old characters, with new characters?”
People have talked about that idea before: just a couple of years ago, Fox’s then-President of Entertainment David Madden saying that they’d be open to a reboot “if Joss Whedon himself wanted to revisit it.” Tor.com noted at the time that a good reboot of Firefly would have to go beyond just picking up where the series and film left off, potentially following a new crew set in the same world, much as Star Trek: The Next Generation continued in the tradition of the original Star Trek.
In the drive for content and picking up older shows for new audiences, a revival of Firefly seems almost inevitable. Indeed, there’s been a recent effort to continue the series outside of television, with Boom! Comics relaunching the Firefly comic series, and with Titan Books releasing a handful of tie-in novels approved by Whedon. And, a limited series that returns to the world would be an ideal fit for a streaming platform like Hulu or Disney+. Hopefully, Fox will keep that door wide open while it waits for the stars to align just right.
I just did a search about how well SERENITY did at the box office. The term I saw was “modestly” which sounds a bit better than tanked but not by much. In 2018, Fox was talking about a SERENITY 2 which hasn’t happened, and now they are talking about a series so I’d not hold my breathe for either.
Given that sci fi storytelling and fandom has been feeling and reacting to the show’s influence for almost 20 years, any modern revival would have to clear a very high bar to match the original. Call it a lesser version of the Star Wars problem. Also, they hit Wash got the Whedon Maneuver in the movie. What’s the point of a revival without Alan Tudyk?
That said, Fox will inevitably revive the IP no later than whenever they decide to get into the streaming service game.
Joss has fairly vociferously ruled out working with Fox ever again, so this seems extremely unlikely, especially given that The Nevers seems enormously time-consuming. Fox could do something without his involvement, but they know the backlash would be immense.
Just so we get past the whole “OUTLAW JOSEY WALES — IN SPAAAAAACE!!!!” shtick of the original then it might be interesting but I doubt it. I know there are a lot of people that love the show but I could never stand it due to that perhaps unintentional but still real to me neo-confederate “lost cause” subtext that grated on me from the very beginning.
I just rewatched the show and movie last weekend after many years and was surprised at how well it still holds up. Granted, it’s not a perfect show by any means, but they certainly caught lighting in a bottle with a cast of characters that were interesting, and played by a cast born to play those roles and with such great chemistry, that you willingly forgive a lot. Of course, Joss Whedon’s skill at having a big cast interact and make you believe they actually like each other didn’t hurt.
@@.-@: I kind of thought the same back when it came out, but when I watched it for the first time I realized that to me it was more about what the lives of the non-Skywalker regular people would be like in a Star Wars where the Rebel Alliance lost against the Empire, and that made it easy for me to ignore the iffy (hopefully unintentional) parallels to the neo-Conferderate thing.
Star Trek was repeatedly revived with a new ship and new cast because its core distinction is the premise, but Firefly is a show whose appeal seems to lie in the ensemble cast, who are now 15 years older than when last seen. The obvious approach of “let’s get the band back together” will collide with “you can’t step in the same river twice” — and if the show had trouble drawing viewers the first time around, the project will need prospects beyond merely appealing to die-hard fans.
(Also: Two days ago I wrote a Quora answer about the possibility of reviving Robotech and compared its unlikelihood to that of Firefly. Now I need to edit, argh.)
Fox’s real problem is a network executive who assumes they can only have one show set in space.
Only if the exec who axed them gets to be in the first episode, where he will be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.
It’s not the first time a network used that “we’ve already got a space show running” when in the 60s CBS passed on Star Trek because they were already running Lost In Space.
various: Given the episode 10 by some counts – Objects in Space gives us a character named Jubal Early – the subtext can hardly have been unintentional. Wikipedia says of the Confederate Jubal Early ” After the war, Early fled to Mexico, then Cuba and Canada, and upon returning to the United States took pride as an “unrepentant rebel”. Particularly after the death of Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1870, Early delivered speeches establishing the Lost Cause position, as well as helped found the Southern Historical Society and memorial associations.[1]” .
The movie Undefeated with Rock Hudson and John Wayne is I think properly described
The lost cause as a plot is perennial but as a story demands more. (hat tip TNH)
Given the casting and general tone I don’t find the notion objectionable in the actual Firefly/Serenity context. Robin Hood and William Tell to say nothing of The Virginian in print and on TV and in the movies, add Johnny Yuma the Rebel, a good deal of Andre Norton including the opening of the Witch World series and other tales beyond numbering have each some similarity or treatment of similar notions. Many a story might open with I aim to misbehave.
Poor cliche solution, but I’d accept: make the series 20 years after Serenity. Start it with Mal giving the ship for a new pilot (Zoe/Wash son or daughter – we can retroactively say she was pregnant at the end of the movie), and then we can have all classic cast as special guest here and then, without the age being and issue. And the soft-reboot allows we to know more about “our” characters and universe, and also reinvent it for the new generation (whatever that means).
Off-topic: I really like The Mandalorian’s ship because it looks like something from the Firefly universe.
Zoe was pregnant when Wash died (as confirmed in canon comics), and their child would indeed by a teenager by now; perfect protagonist age.
I would rather they recast the entire show. They were prescient in seeing China as a future power. They didn’t have the courage to actually cast Chinese or Asian actors. As part of the hierarchy rejecting their heritage both Simon and River should have been Chinese. I would love to see the metaphor in a visual format.
The movie came out around the same time as Katrina; I saw it much later and enjoyed seeing River’s backstory resolved.
I’m not eager about any property I care about being in FOX’s hands. Especially after Orville. I think I’ll pass.
@13/mariesdaughter:
Since we’ve experienced 20 years of change in the TV and broader cultural landscape, any successor-show should IMHO emphasize the current zeitgeist, instead of nostalgically recreating the 2002 elements — and I agree, a more diverse ethnic mix should be part of it.
The whole “it looks and acts just like the American Old West, but in space” premise felt cheap to a lot of viewers. A few modifications to its tropes (e.g., people cursing in Chinese) added some flavor, but the matching backstory was never explored on-screen (i.e., that China was a large force in the colonization).
Ecology is a big deal and topical, and “every planet has been half-terraformed to resemble arid southern California, because tropes” squanders story possibilities vis-a-vis created-ecologies and cultural adaptations to them. The Expanse sometimes taps that vein. Neo-Firefly might do:
* Scientists on Alliance planets who are still, after centuries of work, thawing zygotes, reconstituting species from Earth-That-Was, and adjusting them to new ecologies.
* Even the rich planets have shallow ecologies that are vulnerable to cascade failure.
Similarly, the show didn’t clarify “it’s one system with several stars and a lot of habitable moons, so whatever you’re seeing, it’s not FTL” until the authorized(?) “Map of the Verse” from QMx in 2008 — but now that there is a map, the astronomical implications should be tapped.
* Eternal vigilance against asteroids deflected by those superjovians.
todays world needs a Mal Reynolds more than ever .. just make it happen ..