Shiny!: ShadowMachine To Animate ‘Firefly’ Revival With Original Cast

Like a leaf on the wind, Captain Mal Reynolds is lifting Firefly back into orbit, this time in an animated adaptation coming nearly a quarter-century after the cult sci-fi series was unceremoniously canceled by Fox. Standout indie studio ShadowMachine (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, BoJack Horseman) is attached to animate.

Mal’s actor, fandom favorite Nathan Fillion, revealed over the weekend that an animated adaptation of the cult sci-fi western is currently in development, with plans to reunite much of the original cast as voice actors. According to a social media post by Fillion and a Deadline report, the project already has significant pieces in place, including showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Tara Butters and a completed script. The proposed series is expected to be shopped to buyers soon, with Fillion’s production company Collision33 developing the project alongside 20th Television Animation.

Fillion made the announcement during a panel at Awesome Con in Washington, D.C., where he appeared alongside several former co-stars from the short-lived 2002 Fox series. He also posted the video below to Instagram, outlining the current state of affairs.

 

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In the video, a brief glimpse of a script appears for a pilot episode titled “Athenia” and labeled as “Episode #1, 201.” The 201 suggests the series would pick up where its live-action predecessor left off, but the presence of Walsh actor Alan Tudyk seems to suggest it will take place before the 2005 franchise feature Serenity, in which his character dies.

The animated format would allow the original ensemble to return to their roles decades after the show’s debut, solving the real-life issue of aging. As teased in the social media post, cast members, including Tudyk, Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau, are all on board to reprise their characters. Sadly, Ron Glass, who played Shepherd Book, passed away in 2016 and will likely need to be recast to maintain continuity.

Embattled original Firefly creator Joss Whedon is not involved, though Fillion has said that Whedon has given the project his blessing. For now, the project is still seeking a distributor, but if it lands a home, animation may finally bring fans back to a universe they’ve long been begging for.