Television We Are Just Too Pretty For God To Let Us Die. Firefly Reboot

[Laskar]

Now keep in mind that this is just a rumor so far, and rumors are worth what you paid for them. Especially rumors coming from the Firefly fandom, which took ten years and the death of one of the major actors to quit grumbling about getting the crew back together for a new show. But rumor has it that Firefly is coming back. Nearly twenty years after it bit the dust, a Firefly reboot is coming to Disney Plus.

Not much in the way of details so far. Rumor has it that the Acolytes of the Mouse see Firefly as an ideal family program. Like one of those old Western shows that your grandmother loved to watch, except it's in space. If true, that means that some of the family-unfriendly parts might get toned down, like the high-class prostitute renting out one of Serenity's shuttles, or the BDSM beserkannibals lurking at the edge of known space.

What do you guys think? Is Firefly going to be all that unique now that flip and ironic dialog has been mainstreamed by Marvel? Can you see any elements getting dropped? Can you see any of the dangling plot threads getting picked up on?

 

[Sir 1000]

I'm torn between joy and terror. A lot of what made Firefly work was the now older characters. Are the characters coming back or will it be an all new cast? I'm also unsure how they can make it more family friendly. The reavers despite their backstory aren't all that edgy tbh. Crazy chaotic bad guys that eat people isn't something all that new or horrifying for 2020. Same really for 'companions' as the show never really showed a lot of skin. Is there any sources for this at all? I have resigned myself that she would never fly again so i really don't want to get my hopes up.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I thought Firefley was okay. I liked the bittersweetness of the post war setting, where the heroes were the losers but life goes on, and the empire that won isn't evil (well, the movie sorta retconned them into being stereotypically evil).

I won't see any reboot or new show or whatever. Just another cash grab meant to milk your nostalgia because the corporations are creatively bankrupt. The executives never cared about the show when it aired and they certainly won't now.

Is Firefly going to be all that unique now that flip and ironic dialog has been mainstreamed by Marvel?

Maybe a little controversial, but I never liked Joss Whedon's dialogue. I think it's rather cringey to be honest.

Biggest problem the show will face will be competition from The Mandalorian, in that they are both primarily space westerns. Any new Firefly show will have to differentiate itself from the Mandalorian. The Mandalorian has more visual variety with aliens and droids and planets that don't look like Southern California, as well as the special effects budget. I'd imagine that a new Firefly show would play up other parts of the setting, like war between planets trying to resist the Alliance, or colonization/settling of new worlds. Or we follow officers/agents of the Alliance.

 

[Argent]

I'm torn between joy and terror. A lot of what made Firefly work was the now older characters. Are the characters coming back or will it be an all new cast? I'm also unsure how they can make it more family friendly. The reavers despite their backstory aren't all that edgy tbh. Crazy chaotic bad guys that eat people isn't something all that new or horrifying for 2020. Same really for 'companions' as the show never really showed a lot of skin. Is there any sources for this at all? I have resigned myself that she would never fly again so i really don't want to get my hopes up.

I don't think they could a soft reboot like Jurassic World. The movie Serenity killed off one of the main characters and ended a lot of the shows potential plot lines. Overall they would have to do a hard reboot.

Sadly I think it would be a mess. Firefly was made by character interactions and I am willing to bet that any reboot would rely on special effects and sex instead.

Especially with the Companions. They are meant to be more then just fancy escorts but offer the full girlfriend experience and I doubt any studio will do that and instead try to match Game of Thrones or American Gods for how boobs they can show.

I thought Firefley was okay. I liked the bittersweetness of the post war setting, where the heroes were the losers but life goes on, and the empire that won isn't evil (well, the movie sorta retconned them into being stereotypically evil).

The show never got to show the Allience in full. While the movie went a bit over the top the show did have the men in blue gloves as evil minions. Not to mention was happy enough to do human experiments with little moral guidance.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The show never got to show the Allience in full. While the movie went a bit over the top the show did have the men in blue gloves as evil minions. Not to mention was happy enough to do human experiments with little moral guidance.

Before watching the movie, my impression of the Alliance was that they were the highway police. Like that time they pulled over/intercepted Serenity and checked their passengers and crew. The interrogator didn't seem to be evil. It sounds like the Alliance was more of a somewhat oppressive bureaucracy, but not baby evil eating evil.

Well, not until the movie, that was. I was rather disappointed that they decided to just make them out to be just another generic evil empire committing war crimes and such.

 

[Argent]

Ya, the show painted them more as a government trying to bring order to the frontier. But there are hints with the treatment of River and the Blue Glove agents in the show that all is not what it seems. That is one of the reason for the strong cult success. They paint true shades of grey and had the evil hidden. You would not see an Agent with a license to break any laws in the show. The movie decided to make it much more black and white even if the mood altercations started with some supposed decent intentions.

That is what I think a reboot would do. The evil would front and center and none of the shady actions that helped make the original interesting would be around.

 

[Jormungandr]

I love Firefly. I love Serenity. But in this social climate? Fuck, no.

 

[Emperor Tippy]

Fuck no, that is just going to suck.

Handled by Netflix? Maybe it could be alright. But Disney? Nope, they will have to cut too much of what makes Firefly, Firefly to get it past the censors.

It was also a show largely built on the chemistry between the cast, and replicating that is really hit or miss. Not to mention the plotline issues with a soft reboot.

And that ignores the fact that Disney will inevitably attempt to woke it up and thus make it suck even more.

 

[Terthna]

The only way this could work is with completely different characters and a completely different plot. 99% of the charm of Firefly rested with its cast; you can't recapture that, so the smart thing is to not even try, and instead tell a different story in the same setting.

 

[GoldRanger]

A reboot after this long could never hope to be the same. The actors will all be different, for one, and of course there's this horrible political climate that ruins many franchises. The Firefly we all want can no longer ever happen. Maybe if they jumped back on the metaphorical horse 3-4 years after it was cancelled. Not 18.

 

[JagerIV]

Yeah, something like this could work if one was doing a spiritual successor to Firefly. Spiritual successors can work quite well. For example, The Orville was able to take much of what made Star Trek enjoyable while still doing its own thing, to at least acceptable levels.

A spiritual successor can get 90% of the benefit of being a sequel (its like Star Trek was enough to get about 90% of the initial audience of the Orville) without any of the downsides, such as having to "reimagine" a beloved character which would basically have to happen with a new crew, and which almost always turns out bad (see Han Solo nonsense).

 

[Aaron Fox]

I've seen the bemoaning of this, but I'm on the fence with this.

Remember, Firefly was a PG-13 show, and that has plenty of restrictions for TV showing and Disney only recently got out of the 'don't even think about doing a PG-13 movie' phase after the absolute financial disaster that was The Black Cauldron (don't let the PG rating fool you, the only reason that it is PG is that the PG-13 rating didn't exist at the time of its first showing).

It would likely be something with grey but with the black and white being more visible.

If this makes a success, perhaps Disney can reboot Space: Above and Beyond later on...

 

[Argent]

I've seen the bemoaning of this, but I'm on the fence with this.

Remember, Firefly was a PG-13 show, and that has plenty of restrictions for TV showing and Disney only recently got out of the 'don't even think about doing a PG-13 movie' phase after the absolute financial disaster that was The Black Cauldron (don't let the PG rating fool you, the only reason that it is PG is that the PG-13 rating didn't exist at the time of its first showing).

It would likely be something with grey but with the black and white being more visible.

If this makes a success, perhaps Disney can reboot Space: Above and Beyond later on...

I just worry that the magic that made the first show work for me won't be repeated. Firefly for as much as I loved it had a fairly standard Sci-Fi plot lines. There was some unique twists and some good lines. But it was the cast and their ability to sell it that made the show. I just don't think a remake will be able to capture that.

I will take a look at any remake that comes to be. The main thing that gives me hope is that Disney will not go full HBO or Starz and use sex and nude actors instead of plot to distract from plot problems.

I honestly think the fact that it is Disney means that things like the Companions will be handled better then other networks would do. I also have just started the Mandalorian and if they can do something similar with Firefly it could be worth watching.

 

[Aaron Fox]

I just worry that the magic that made the first show work for me won't be repeated. Firefly for as much as I loved it had a fairly standard Sci-Fi plot lines. There was some unique twists and some good lines. But it was the cast and their ability to sell it that made the show. I just don't think a remake will be able to capture that.

I will take a look at any remake that comes to be. The main thing that gives me hope is that Disney will not go full HBO or Starz and use sex and nude actors instead of plot to distract from plot problems.

I honestly think the fact that it is Disney means that things like the Companions will be handled better then other networks would do. I also have just started the Mandalorian and if they can do something similar with Firefly it could be worth watching.

If anything, I wouldn't be surprised that The Mandalorian is what Disney is using as a petri dish to see what and what doesn't work for a 'sci-fi western'. The real problem is going to be the casting, but given Disney's clout in the business...

 

[Argent]

If anything, I wouldn't be surprised that The Mandalorian is what Disney is using as a petri dish to see what and what doesn't work for a 'sci-fi western'. The real problem is going to be the casting, but given Disney's clout in the business...

Ya, Disney can get pretty much any actor or actress they want. I do think that you are right that the Mandalorian as a test show to see what works. Overall it has succeed so we have a chance to see some remakes or expansion or previous shows. I am still hoping that Atlantis get a live action remake since they have been working though every other animated movie in their Library.

 

[Aaron Fox]

Ya, Disney can get pretty much any actor or actress they want. I do think that you are right that the Mandalorian as a test show to see what works. Overall it has succeed so we have a chance to see some remakes or expansion or previous shows. I am still hoping that Atlantis get a live action remake since they have been working though every other animated movie in their Library.

Given that Atlantis is the least crazy overall, it'll probably need to be spread out across three movies, given the time limitations.

 

[Doomsought]

If true, that means that some of the family-unfriendly parts might get toned down, like the high-class prostitute renting out one of Serenity's shuttles, or the BDSM beserkannibals lurking at the edge of known space.

You gravely misunderstand what Hollywood considers family friendly these days.

 

[f1onagher]

Considering that our heroes were implicitly ex-Confederate soldiers I fear for how any modern writer would spin things.

 

[Aaron Fox]

Considering that our heroes were implicitly ex-Confederate soldiers I fear for how any modern writer would spin things.

Given that in the original the Browncoats -including our heroes- were implied to do some horrible things... I'm not exactly afraid. It is just that the Alliance was worse in some regards...

 

[Captain X]

I guarantee you, whether a continuation or a reboot, this show would go full woke, and throw out, or smugly tear down everything that made the show good while seeking out an imaginary "progressive" audience that isn't there. The protagonist would be a diverse female character who is never wrong about anything ever, is loved by her crew and everyone else who is supposed to be good, and the Alliance would be nerfed into what the First Order was like in TLJ, because evil must be stupid so it can never win or present the protagonist with any real difficulties that she can't easily overcome with some cringey feminist one-liner for added bonus points.