Last weekend, the rumours were finally confirmed when it was announced that Firefly is being revived as an animated series. Nathan Fillion is developing the project through his production banner, Collision33, and has partnered with 20th Television Animation.
The series doesn't have a home yet, but Marc Guggenheim (DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow) and Tara Butters (Agent Carter, Reaper), a married writing/producing team, are attached as showrunners.
Alan Tudyk, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau are all expected to reprise their roles in the series, which has creator Joss Whedon's blessing, despite his not being involved in any way. Very little has been revealed about plans for this new take on Firefly, but we do know that it's set between the original series and Serenity.
Firefly was cancelled after one season, but its loyal fanbase only grew over time. That helped the big screen Serenity become a reality, though it only grossed $40.4 million on a reported $39 million budget.
In a new interview with Deadline, Fillion opened up on what led to this revival becoming a reality. "I have never met a fan of Firefly — be it at a convention on a bus or at an airport or walking down the street getting ice cream — who has ever not said to me, 'Is there going to be more?' In the zeitgeist of my experience, it’s always been ever-present."
"So here I am at this stage of my career, and I’m diversifying with a production company and trying to make TV shows, and this is a show that was extremely meaningful for me," the Superman star explained. "It was an incredible part of my life. It built the foundations of my career."
Asked why the show's original writers aren't returning—Whedon's absence isn't surprising after his career was derailed by accusations of misconduct, abuse, and toxicity on his sets—Fillion said it all came down to time and money.
"Running a show is an entirely different beast from recording a voice for a show," he pointed out. "So there’s the original folks, like Tim Minear, who are running other TV shows. They don’t have a whole lot of time, and I don’t know that I could even afford them. This is not a big money-making venture, doing an animated program."
Fillion went on to make it clear that Guggenheim and Butters' "passion was palpable," promising that Firefly is in safe hands with the married writing and producing partners.
Asked about the decision to set the story between Firefly and Serenity rather than making it a sequel, Fillion made it clear that continuing the story without the characters who died in that movie was never an option for him.
"You can’t bring back Firefly without bringing back all of Firefly. We toyed with the idea of spending some time in the show after the events of Serenity, and I honestly have no interest. I think Serenity was our wonderful farewell to what was an incredible opportunity. Had we only had one more chance to do something, that was it, and it was beautiful. I can’t compete with that."
"But what I can do is go back in time, bring the gang back together, and give people what they want, which is more Firefly. After Serenity, it’s not the same. I didn’t want to do this without my buddy Alan. And you know that’s a reason why animation is key, because Ron Glass is no longer with us. I like to think, in my heart of hearts, that this is something that he would have wanted."
Elsewhere in the interview, Fillion confirmed that a new actor will be enlisted to voice Shepherd Book after Ron Glass passed away in 2016.
While the revival is certainly generating plenty of interest, the cancellation of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is proof that it's best not to get too excited until there's a guarantee that a project is moving forward.
Stay tuned for updates on Firefly as we have them.