I’m far from a Firefly expert, although I’ve seen the entire run at least three or four times, but if I recall correctly–and I might not—showrunner Tim Minear had a much more active hand in the series than Joss Whedon did after the first few episodes. So bring Minear back and bob’s yer uncle?
7 Likes
You mean fairy-tale politics?
Pretty sure rule 34 dictates you don’t have to wait for an official “release” for that…
Instead of the Civil War, I think there are far better comparisons to westerns set later in the 19th century and early 20th century. You actually see the plots to many in the individual episodes. The company town where misery and death is all people have to look forward to, enriching the titans of industry far away, etc., etc.
People moved West only to find the exploitative economic and class system followed them, and in the lawlessness and corruption of the time became something just as bad. The independents didn’t seem like rich plantation owners to me, rather much more like regular people who after making a new life in the West were again victimized by the culture they chose to flee. You actually have episodes of Firefly where people akin to rich plantation owners are shown, but they are the obvious villains.
The third season of Deadwood is a good comparison, I think, with George Hearst’s basically unstoppable tyranny. Also movies like Rio Bravo, where the rich connected family makes their own law. Other films and shows have crooked government, railroad companies, and other titans of industry exploiting the West.
I always saw the Reavers as more akin to the horrible characters in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian, or the guerilla units of the Civil War that went west afterwards because they simply liked the lifestyle of robbery and murder. I pretty much ignore the retcon of Serenity.
5 Likes
That was a shitty idea from the start, partly because that’s literally where every single alternative history goes (unless it’s exploring what would happen if the Nazis won)… Like, with regards to the south… the Confederacy lost but they also won in that they got segregation for decades after anyways… How about an alternate history where reconstruction continued and the Radical republicans won out instead? What does a US rebuilt on equality look like? Now THAT would be interesting…
11 Likes
When did Disney acquire the Firefly rights? It’s currently available on Hulu. Or, does the Mouse own Hulu too?
1 Like
1984: Disney acquires Jim Henson & Co…
…MUPPET BABIES!
2009: Disney acquires Marv-
BABY GROOT!
2012: Disney acquires Luca-
BABY YODA!
Face it, it’s inevitable.
Best case scenario: Baby Reavers. Instead of raping people to death and harvesting their skin for garments, these Reavers will spread chaos via adorable, wacky madcap hijinks, and lots of sassy attitude.
12 Likes
When disney bought fox
It’s had a 60% ownership stake in Hulu since 2019 and is in full control of the company.
This handy, simple chart will get you up to speed on the company’s modest holdings:
(Interestingly, they actually don’t own Tokyo Disneyland)
13 Likes
Jubal Early’s name is a nod to the famous Confederate general Jubal Early.
“Family friendly”? So this is Disney’s master plan, to buy excellent series and put them behind a friggin’ paywall?
No. Leave “Firefly” THE HELL ALONE!
1 Like
And Jane Espenson for writing! 
Which would cover the banter needs as well, @Doctor_Faustus
9 Likes
The lack of Minear on ‘Serenity’ is my number one reason why I loathed that film.
That doesn’t contradict what I said. Firefly took elements and themes from history, even character names, but I still maintain that it’s more derived from said history than a direct point-to-point adaptation or transcription of it.
But, as always, YMMV.
4 Likes
I agree with you. The show didn’t strike me as particularly Civil War-ish. I was kind of surprised they made that reference.
2 Likes
I’ll reserve judgment until I actually see an episode. But if they can get some of the same crew of writers (or Espenson, at least), it might could wind up good enough to watch.
1 Like
I think this is a reference to the showrunners of Game of Thrones show runners who took over the Star Wars franchise for Disney: Devid Benoiff and D.B. Weiss, often referred to as D&D.
1 Like
Ah, you mean Dangerboat from The Tick! No, wait, that’s Mister Nobody from Doom Patrol!
1 Like
I doubt that. Disney hardly own them. That deal was cancelled, they signed a big thing with Netflix instead. And we don’t generally refer to people as “it”.
That also wasn’t “took over”. They were booked to develop a new film series. Around the same time that Ryan Johnson was confirmed to still be working on one, and Taika Waititi and Kevin Feige were both lined up to work on something similar (I think Feige is on board for a single film).
Somewhat unfortunately Star Wars does not have a single Creative in charge of it all. Apparently they’d originally tried to get John Favreau to do exactly that, it’s rumored that he turned it down.
No, I was actually referring to Dungeons & Dragons. However it seems I’ve been misled by someone who’s usually quite knowledgeable on these things. My bad for not checking it first!
