25 Years Later, a ‘Firefly’ Revival Is a Worse Idea Than You Think

Nobody panic. The Firefly revival (at least, in animated form) is real. Well…real enough that Nathan Fillion announced it at Awesome Con last week, flanked by most of the show’s original cast, which included Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau. The whole event appeared to be a very shiny reunion for people who cannot stop reliving the year 2002, and the response online was, predictably, enthusiastic. Like, to an unhinged degree, which makes sense because it came from a fanbase that has spent twenty-something years in a state of dignified grief, keeping a cancelled space-western alive through sheer willpower, convention panels, and matching tattoos. That kind of devotion might seem alien to anyone who hasn’t seen the show, but we understand. Firefly has always been a show that deserved more than it got.

Unfortunately, deserving better than and deserving this now are two different things, and the timing of the show’s return starts to feel a bit icky when the logistics of what and who’s involved come into play. Because you cannot talk about a Firefly revival without asking some genuinely puzzling questions. Why is this thing animated? Or, why is the show about a timeline we already know the ending to? And, most importantly, why in the hell are Adam Baldwin and Joss Whedon earning mentions?

The Problem with a ‘Firefly’ Animated Prequel: We Already Know How It Ends

Image via 20th Century Fox

Here is the thing about Firefly that fans seem to have collectively agreed not to remember: we already got our movie. Fox cancelled the show after just eleven episodes, and the fans revolted with the kind of sustained, organized passion that would make political campaign managers green with envy. Then, in 2005, Universal bankrolled Serenity in what felt like an act of penance for network TV’s screw-up. The film took some big swings, killing off fan favorite characters like Wash and Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) while solving some of its biggest mysteries, like River’s arc and the origin of those terrifying Reavers. It ended with something that felt bittersweet and real with the crew, depleted and bruised, flying off into the verse, because…well, what else are you going to do?

That is the ending to this story. It’s not perfect, because no ending involving Wash dying can be called that, but it is an ending, one with emotional stakes and the kind of consequences that can’t be walked back without cheapening everything that came before it. The proposed animated series is set before all this, though, somewhere in between the TV show and film, which means it will unfold in a universe where we already know how things go wrong. Asking audiences to revisit that timeline isn’t giving them more story; it’s just making them watch a cartoonish funeral procession in slow motion. And who really asked for that?

A ‘Firefly’ Comeback Can’t Pretend Joss Whedon and Adam Baldwin Don’t Matter

20th Century Fox Film Corp

You cannot talk about a Firefly revival without talking about Joss Whedon, even though this project is trying its hardest to do exactly that. Whedon isn’t attached. He’s been kept at a careful distance, receiving only a “Created By” credit while Tara Butters and Marc Guggenheim serve as showrunners. His absence is being presented as something that should ease fans’ concerns, but what it actually proves is that everyone involved knows his name now functions primarily as a liability. And the reasons are well-documented. Over the past several years, a collection of collaborators, from Charisma Carpenter, to Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot, and more, came forward with accounts of behavior described as abusive, cruel, and staggeringly hypocritical from a man who’d built his entire brand on being Hollywood’s feminist ally. But keeping him out of the revival talks while simultaneously staying tight-lipped on the real reason why is both a frustrating cop out and a missed opportunity for the show to reclaim its legacy.

Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?

Then there’s Adam Baldwin, who allegedly helped coin the #GamerGate hashtag in 2014 — a campaign we now recognize as an organized harassment movement targeting women in gaming and one that would become a template for far-right online organizing. Baldwin maintains he was simply opposing political correctness. The women who received rape and death threats might have a different recollection. And yet Fillion showed up at Baldwin’s house in a teaser video — knife, apple, knitted beanie, the whole bit — as if his antics throughout the intervening decade were just quirky missteps.

Firefly’s fandom has always been unusually personal. This cast played these characters long before Hollywood came calling and superhero franchises offered starring roles and network TV shows made them household names. Fans supported, conventioned, ran Twitter accounts, petitioned, and more. They deserve better than to be let down by a revival that asks them to overlook two of the most uncomfortable names attached to it.

Why the ‘Firefly’ Animated Revival Faces an Uphill Battle

At Awesome Con, Fillion told the crowd that the fans’ dedication had kept Firefly relevant for 25 years, and that a revival was something they deserved. It’s a genuinely sweet thing to say, even if the show still doesn’t have a network or streaming home and is currently seeking one via Instagram engagement metrics. (The Browncoats are, once again, being asked to save it. Some things never change.)

And then there’s the animation question, which nobody in the reunion photos seems eager to address. A big part of Firefly’s appeal was its scrappy, on-a-budget energy — those dusty, banged-up sets, practical effects, hair and makeup magic, and intimate camera work. Can animation deliver that same vibe? Will it even try? The hard truth is that Firefly was great…one of the greatest things ever made on television, actually. And it certainly deserved more seasons. Just, maybe, not like this.