Firefly reboot in early development for Disney+

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**Azreal13**

Disney announced a lot of their big plans for the future in a huge investor presentation last week, but they didn’t announce all of them. There’s one property that I’ve been hearing whispers about that didn’t get mentioned. That property is Firefly. The lack of an announcement about it doesn’t mean, however, that Disney isn’t keen to do something with the Joss Whedon cult phenom. In fact, they’re working on a new Firefly series for Disney+. Development on their Firefly reboot is in such an early stage, however, that they couldn’t make an announcement about it during last week’s Investor Day.

Disney acquired the rights to Firefly in their acquisition of Fox back in 2019. There was no immediate move to do anything with the property, but something has changed. That something is the end of movie theaters.

Movie theaters are done. The biggest chain in the world will likely shutter permanently next month and the others are likely to follow suit. As a result Disney’s focus is shifting away from movies and towards producing programming for streaming platforms. Their investor presentation last week demonstrated this with a strong focus on Disney+ programming. To feed the streaming beast Disney needs more and more TV programming. Specifically, they’d like to have something that’s a draw besides Star Wars and Marvel. One of their plans to up the variety of content on their streaming platform is Firefly.

My source tells me that Disney is in early development on a Firefly reboot. The new show would start the story of Captain Mal Reynolds and his crew aboard the Serenity over from scratch, with an aim to make this a long-running series on Disney+. There is a twist here and the twist is that they see the show as ideal family-friendly programming for Disney+. My source tells me they’re planning to target it more at a PG-adventure, family audience and less at the sort of PG-13 dynamic the original Joss Whedon show went for.

This shift in tone suggests the new version of Firefly might drop characters like Inara, who is basically a prostitute. Instead it’ll probably lean more into the fun and adventure aspect of the universe’s stories. Fans may initially be unhappy, but it’s easy to see a way it could work.

My source was unable to confirm to me whether series creator Joss Whedon is actually involved in the new Firefly reboot. Whedon has recently been embroiled in a strange controversy with some of his former actors and it’s made him difficult to employ. Disney, not wanting to court the ire of outraged Twitter activists, may simply be unwilling to have him involved in their brand. It could also end up that Whedon won’t want to be involved, if indeed Disney really is committed to turning Firefly into a gold standard family-friendly adventure series. That may skew too far from his original vision for the program.

Firefly was cancelled by Fox television back in 2002. It only produced 14 episodes. The series would later get something a revival with the movie Serenity in 2005. That wrapped up some of the show’s plots, but ultimately never became the box office juggernaut dedicated Firefly fans thought it deserved to be. Since then the franchise has been dormant, with the cast having moved on to other things. Disney’s Firefly reboot could be just the thing fans have been waiting for.

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/firefly-reboot-disney.html

**petrov27**

>>>>>There is a twist here and the twist is that they see the show as ideal family-friendly programming for Disney+. My source tells me they’re planning to target it more at a PG-adventure, family audience and less at the sort of PG-13 dynamic the original Joss Whedon show went for.

good lord I hope not....

**AduroT**

Hm. Dunno. Basically just an entirely new show based on Firefly it sounds like. Without the original actors it’ll have to earn itself its standing with me all over again.

**BobtheInquisitor**

The basic concept behind Firefly was strained enough even when held together with a great cast and snappy dialogue. The Mandalorian is filling its niche as a space Western. This reboot will have a lot of baggage to overcome to succeed.

**Ahtman**

I had a longer more detailed response but at this point this seemed the most succinct, honest response:

**Overread**

The problem is the original series didn't get very far at all; even with the film they hardly touched the material or setting's potential. That's before you consider that the original series was made on a tiny (for its scope) budget.

IT was held together by really great actors who had a fantastic on-screen chemistry between them.

Can you do it again - sure you can because Firefly is just Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star influenced sci-fi.

Can you do it again and hit the dream of every Browncoat fan - NEVER.

Thing is if they drop the PG13 rating and if they don't have Joss nor any of the original actors then it could wind up being "firefly" in name only. If anything if they reach that point I'd rather it was called something else and allowed to go its own way. It's not as if the name is needed by Disney for marketing and its fanbase, whilst loyal, is probably not easy to court and bring into the fold if there's nothing to connect them to the original (if anything they could wind up an anti-force of early criticism and hate)

**Lance845**

They don't need Joss. They do need the really great writing room crew that made the old one work and/or equivalents along with a great cast. All that being said, we don't know if this is real at all. Some guy on some site says he heard a thing.

I will wait till we hear something official to believe any of it.

**RegularGuy**

*Concern*

**Overread**

Lance845 wrote:
They don't need Joss. They do need the really great writing room crew that made the old one work and/or equivalents along with a great cast. All that being said, we don't know if this is real at all. Some guy on some site says he heard a thing.

I will wait till we hear something official to believe any of it.

Also loads of projects get to that stage and never ever mature. Heck a few years back there were decent rumours that Temeraire was going to get a film directed by Peter Jackson. Author and Director had spoken; he'd read the book; wanted to do it. But we've never heard anything since and chances are its one of a million ideas that never got funded or in the end went anywhere. Not likely abandoned, just never progressed.

**Lance845**

Overread wrote:
Lance845 wrote:
They don't need Joss. They do need the really great writing room crew that made the old one work and/or equivalents along with a great cast. All that being said, we don't know if this is real at all. Some guy on some site says he heard a thing.

I will wait till we hear something official to believe any of it.

Also loads of projects get to that stage and never ever mature. Heck a few years back there were decent rumours that Temeraire was going to get a film directed by Peter Jackson. Author and Director had spoken; he'd read the book; wanted to do it. But we've never heard anything since and chances are its one of a million ideas that never got funded or in the end went anywhere. Not likely abandoned, just never progressed.

Right. And even if it does get green lit and moved forward, anything that this person is saying (which again, could be nothing) is subject to change. They might be talking about the possibility of it being more PG. That doesn't mean it will be in it's final release form. If it ever has any end product at all.

**trexmeyer**

Joss is overrated as a writer and has a tendency to write the same set of characters over and over. IMO, Firefly was good moreso because of the cast and concept than the writing. It was different enough from standard sci-fi and a few of the casting choices really worked out well. It shouldn't be rebooted. As a whole, the setting isn't anything special. It worked in that specific time and place.

**SkavenLord**

Would Disney even have enough material to reboot the series while still keeping it close to the source material? Star Wars had six movies to work with and select pieces of external fluff (ex. Thrawn) to incorporate as well. Marvel had decades upon decades of storylines and heroes. Firefly had twelve episodes and one movie.

It kind of feels like Theseus’ Ship if the ship in question was a raft composed of a handful of planks.

**Voss**

SkavenLord wrote:
Would Disney even have enough material to reboot the series while still keeping it close to the source material?

Honestly, there isn't much source material. There isn't really much to the setting.
Corps, Freedom (with revolvers and accents), Terraforming, Chinese, Whores, Psychics and not-Demons. Spitball it together with snappy dialogue and a decent cast that gelled together fairly well.

Its even unclear if they've got one solar system where they've worked over a bunch of moons, or several solar systems. Start looking under the carriage and there isn't much there at all. The setting is basically a hollywood set- a town that looks good in the background shot, but there isn't actually any building behind the façade.

----
Anyway. Don't think much of this. Its a property they own, so why not push out a few episode and make some cash from it? Cheaper than working up their own ideas for a space adventure series, I guess.

**Manchu**

TBH Firefly is the kind of property that I think is well-suited to Disney developing it. It’s already committed to/defined by a heavy emphasis on superficial diversity and self-righteous progressivism, dressed up in a homespun idiom to make it feel authentic. Not to mention the arcs driven by mystery boxes.

**trexmeyer**

Well, Manchu's description of the series was the most brutal criticism of anything I've read in a long time, so I'll tip my hat to him.

**Col Hammer**

Firefly with new set of actors and (presumably) new writers?

I'd rather they made up a whole new crew rather than the old crew who acts differently from the first series (because of new actors and writers).

Firefly is a ship class, so just make it some other Firefly and not Serenity.

Then the changes wouldn't be so jarring. That's my take on this anyhow.

**BrianDavion**

this would be a waste of time and resources for disney. the firefly fandom crosses over with the star wars fandom so closely I don't think they'd get any new audiance with this. and it would inevitably dissappoint the Browncoats.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

I’m suspicious this is true, to be honest.

As mentioned, The Mando covers the Space Western. And there’s nothing in Firefly you can’t transpose to Star Wars.

Now, the PG thing doesn’t concern me. Mando has shown a pretty mature level of content without crossing into PG-13 (no blood, bad language, nor gratuitous violence). As have the MCU films (think about the poor schmo in Winter Soldier kicks off the boat. Go look at the scene. Imagine the horrific injuries).

But I still can’t see how they could ressurect it without it becoming a Mando clone.

I for one shall await corroborated reports - and an official statement from Disney.

**Cronch**

On one hand no Joss and his grossness, so that's a yay, on the other hand, all five people who still care about it are not going to be happy cause they still think Joss is somehow a good showrunner.
Waste of resources, imo.

**Cybtroll**

Disney that again learnt the wrong lesson from the Mandalorian.

It's the recurring theme of the end of 2020

**Manchu**

trexmeyer wrote:
Well, Manchu's description of the series was the most brutal criticism of anything I've read in a long time, so I'll tip my hat to him.

And I don’t even dislike the show!

**bbb**

Disney has churned out tons of shows aimed at tweens over the years. I wonder if this is an attempt to use a similar model, but target the sci-fi genre, or just utilize IP they now own from Fox.

**chromedog**

It's not a "reboot".

It's an exhumation. Leave it dead and buried in its own mediocrity.

**Turnip Jedi**

So essentially a CW show in spaaaace...

Think I'll pass

**Tannhauser42**

Col Hammer wrote:
Firefly with new set of actors and (presumably) new writers?

I'd rather they made up a whole new crew rather than the old crew who acts differently from the first series (because of new actors and writers).

Firefly is a ship class, so just make it some other Firefly and not Serenity.

Then the changes wouldn't be so jarring. That's my take on this anyhow.

Alternatively, it could still be the Serenity. Just have the first episode start with a retired Mal selling the ship to a new captain. Firefly: The Next Generation.

**jaredb**

I'd certainly like to see more stories in that universe, I'm looking forward to seeing what this will look like. Disney+ has pretty good stuff so far, so I know quality will be there.

**Jerram**

When's Hollywood going to learn, you try rebooting something with new actors playing the same characters and new writers and new tone and the majority of the time it fails with a whimper. In such cases what have you gained by using an existing property when most of the existing fans say Feth that. Stop with the reboots and expand the properties instead of doing the same exact thing over and over and over.

**hotsauceman1**

Color me interested.
I found the original firefly vastly overhyped and just another 2000s era sci-fi show like SG-1, BSG and wchost or other shows.
There isn't much to ruin or isn't gonna be hard to recreate.

**Easy E**

Disney is missing the boat completely. If they want to reboot something, they should go with Space: Above and Beyond!

**SamusDrake**

They always kept banging on about how wonderful this show was back in the day. I saw Serenity to see what the fuss was about and it basically started off with "not this Matrix ********* again..." only to instead end up an enjoyable sci-fi western. Would have been up for a sequel had it got that far.

Never watched the series as some said the film wasn't canon, others a prequel or a sequel. I was happy with the film and still pop it in the dvd player once in a while, but not being sure left it there.

Gut feeling says no to a new cast and crew. 2005 is still "recent" and the thing that shines the most in Serenity is how comfortable the cast were with their roles and each other, and where the story could have been about a trip to the shops for some bread & milk for all I cared, the film as a whole felt like it was in its happy place and in turn quite happy to tag along. After the tiresome SG1, BSG and Andromeda, Serenity felt like a comfortable reunion of sorts which I didn't feel awkward gatecrashing for 2 hours. I felt rather welcome actually!

All I can say is this regarding writing out "ladies of the night" - whats it going to be like when they get round to Alien and Predator? Tongue-punching victim's brains out and slashing'n'skinning? Yeah, good luck Disney turning them into family shows!

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Easy E wrote:
Disney is missing the boat completely. If they want to reboot something, they should go with Space: Above and Beyond!

Good lord, I remember that one! First episode was a bit weak but tuned in weekly all the same.