Ever since Firefly was cancelled/trashed/sabotaged (pick your favorite term) by Fox in 2002, there's always been a strong core of fans underneath it all that, if you listen carefully, you can hear quietly chanting under the noise of life, "Bring it back. Bring it back. Bring it back." Meaning Joss Whedon's space western, Firefly.
It's been a never ending wish.
But no matter how one looked at it over the years, between the stars schedules as they worked different jobs/roles, and the lack of traction that Joss Whedon had in the entertainment industry, it really never seemed like a viable option.
Joss Whedon even gave his blessing to some fan-made content and to some degree, the Firefly cadre was soothed a bit.
But recently an erroneous statement hit the streets, indicating that Nathan Fillion said he would do a new series if he had the money. Boy, did that hit a spark and folks went crazy.
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But there's a catch. Fillion doesn't own the rights and can't really do anything to move the franchise forward. Fox does.
Yes, the twisted fates of irony have Fox, the entity responsible for destroying the show, making money off it to this day from the continued sales of DVD/Blu-rays. (To play devil's advocate, the network and its home entertainment division did distribute the series, helping make it all possible.)
But it doesn't end there.
Now that Joss Whedon has become a power player in the scheme of all things Hollywood with the advent of The Avengers success, fans have once again started actively asking about resurrecting Firefly.
At first, Whedon's response was pretty flat and to the point and he said no. He later explained that it would be nice, but timing would have to be absolutely perfect. But he's also tied up overseeing the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hmm... small, popular franchise or billion dollar franchise?
And if you've followed Whedon from the Buffy days up to now, you know that he tends to always move forward with his projects and doesn't look back. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just an observation on the man's career mode. He's always thinking, moving forward and creating something new.
Can it be done? Most of the cast is probably available. But Fillion is on Castle, Gina Torres is on Suits. Alan Tudyk's and Ron Glass's characters were killed off. But since I'm always seeing Baldwin at all the conventions, I bet he'd be up for it, as well as most of the old cast.
Almost every time I see articles about a potential for a new Firefly series, nothing has really changed. It's been over 10 years. The desire is the same, the answer has always been the same.
But if, perchance, Joss had the idea to get back into the world of Firefly, there are options.
This is this fan's idea/suggestion for resurrecting Firefly:
You could see an era after the events in Serenity, where the ship is found in a junkyard in near perfect condition. As the show moves forward, little bits of history could be discovered from things aboard the old ship, connecting the new with the old.
This moves the franchise forward, while keeping connections with the old. And the possibility of guest appearances, when permissible.
But like I said, Joss looks forward. He's had his time with Firefly, he's given us something wonderful that keeps the imagination of fans alive for years upon years, and that's something huge, if you dwell on it.
Hey, on the bright side: What if Fox never cancelled the series? Would Joss have still been tapped to helm The Avengers and the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Or would he have moved on with a long TV-helming career?
In a way, everything worked out just fine for all involved. If you could, would you want to go back in time and change what happened? It's the "butterfly effect" thing, which was famously portrayed in the Ray Bradbury story, "A Sound of Thunder."
So maybe not.
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-Bruce
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