It’s Not What Fans Wanted, but an Animated Firefly Show Is Secretly Better Than Live-Action

Nathan Fillion and the rest of the cast have officially confirmed a continuation of Firefly via an animated show. Admittedly, it isn’t ideal, but it’s better than a live-action series.  Created by Joss Whedon, the seminal sci-fi series premiered in 2002 and built a cult following despite only running for just one season on Fox. Ever since it was canceled, Firefly has garnered cult-classic status, proving that it had an interesting premise enough that ended up being unexplored before it could even realize its potential. Through sheer interest from its loyal fan-base, Firefly got a follow-up story a few years since it was canceled via the film Serenity, which effectively continued the story of the series. The narrative also expanded through other formats, including comicbooks.

24 years since the cancellation of Firefly, Mal and the rest of the original crew are coming back for a proper continuation of the series, albeit with a major caveat. Rumors of a reboot started when Fillion started sharing teases about an announcement with regard to the beloved project with his former co-stars. The return of Firefly was officially announced, but instead of a live-action series, it’s coming back through animation. The cast will provide the voice for their respective characters, but admittedly, a live-action return was the ultimate dream for many. Given the circumstances, however, an animated continuation is the best-case scenario for the project.

A Live-Action Firefly Revival Sounds Good On Paper, but Is Extremely Limiting

Developed via Fillion’s production, Collision33, in partnership with 20th Television Animation, the Firefly revival will be set between the events of the original series and Serenity. Marc Guggenheim and Tara Butters will function as showrunners, with Whedon not involved in any way, although he granted the project his blessing. The announcement for the endeavor made it clear that the ensemble is interested in bringing back the series, but despite their eagerness, a live-action reboot poses issues beyond recruiting the cast back to reprise their respective roles.

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For starters, it’s currently virtually impossible for a live-action Firefly reboot with the complete cast to happen now or anytime in the near future. Some of the original actors are currently committed to other projects that would make it very difficult to come up with a schedule that would work for everyone involved. While they can do multiple projects at a time, the nature of Fillion (The Rookie), Morena Baccarin (Sheriff Country), and Gina Torres’s (Memory of a Killer) ongoing shows don’t allow any room for them to do a proper Firefly revival on TV because they are all working on traditional broadcast shows, meaning they only really get a few months of filming break every year between spring and summer. Simply put, they can’t add workload to their current contracts.

Secondly, aside from allowing the whole cast to be involved without forcing the situation, an animated project is a lower risk when it comes to revival. The limitations when it comes to the narratives that they want to tell don’t really exist, as it is easier to do them than in a live-action format. Additionally, a Firefly animated sequel will also have a lower production cost because of the medium that it is in, setting it up for a multiple-season run. This doesn’t mean that the quality will be bad. If anything, it’s the opposite of that because it will give the creative team the freedom to try anything, of course, as long as it doesn’t contradict the established canon. If

A Proper Live-Action Firefly Revival Can Still Happen, but Not As A TV Show

Despite the aforementioned factors, a proper Firefly revival is not fully off the table. There’s still a way to see a live-action continuation of the show, but it won’t be via a full-season on TV. Instead, the best bet for this option is via a Serenity sequel. This obviously depends on how successful the animated Firefly show in-the-works, but if it ends up getting the reception that Fillion and the rest of the cast want, then they can cap off its run with a Serenity follow-up. Based on the official details about the upcoming project, it will tackle the events up until the film. From there, the cast can take over for a proper send-off for the crew with a sci-fi movie.

While still going to be tricky with regard to coordinating the actors’ schedules, a film has a less rigorous production timeline than a full season of TV. Even with Fillion, Baccarin, and Torres still with their respective broadcast shows, they could make some special arrangements with their respective networks so they can participate in a Firefly movie. In any case, at that point, several years would have already passed, giving them time to strategically plan for the proposed project.

Firefly is available to stream on Hulu.

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