Those who like FIREFLY tend to light up whenever it is mentioned.
In fact, you could make the argument that all of creator Joss Whedon’s shows have a distinct type of cult following that will fervently fight for the right to high quality sci-fi viewing. (Yes, even in the case of the somewhat disastrous DOLLHOUSE.) So it hasn’t been surprising to continually hear of the possibility of FIREFLY returning to a television reality after its untimely cancellation in 2002.
For those unfamiliar, FIREFLY takes place after a galactic civil war in the future. The show largely documents an endearing cast of characters who make their living as mercenaries as they fly around the outskirts of the solar system.
Even after the public managed to squeeze a full-length movie from Whedon in the form of Serenity, speculation about a possible return to primetime is still rampant online, and not just from fans.
Netflix: A New Hope
Renewing FIREFLY on some network or another has been talked about for years in a “what if” capacity. However, with the recent success of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and HOUSE OF CARDS on Netflix, Alan Tudyk, who played Wash, the lovable every man pilot on FIREFLY, sees a series reset on Netflix as not just a possibility, but rather an ”inevitability.”
Alan even has the structure of the first episode envisioned:
You could find Mal living on some moon somewhere, and then somebody finds him. It’s that old set-up where somebody finds him and they’re like, ‘you’re needed.’ Something happens that he saddles back up, gets in the ship and goes. And he puts the band back together. And finds everybody wherever they are, to go do something. (Source)
Perhaps not the most inspired synopsis, but certainly Launchpad enough to for Joss to craft up enough literary fuel for Serenity to blast off into space once more, right?
Wrong.
Locked Away in a CASTLE
The main thing that seems to be stopping FIREFLY’s triumphant return to television is the professional success of the show’s main star and director/creator, Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon respectively.
Fillion, who now stars on the hit police drama CASTLE, saw ABC announce via Twitter last month that CASTLE had been renewed for its sixth season.
Meanwhile, Joss Whedon is booked up solid “for the next three years” filming for the Marvel universe, which (let’s be honest here) is just objectively cooler than the FIREFLY universe.
During a recent interview with Coming Soon, Whedon expressed that the reality of diving back into the post-Earth futuristic dystopia as extremely unlikely to occur.
“Right now I’m happy to say everybody is working doing good jobs. There’s a real fear of ‘The Monkey’s Paw,’ you know? You bring it back to life and it isn’t the same. Even if it’s GREAT and it isn’t the same. I’m dying to get on a ship with those guys again, but I’m also doing yet another goddamn huge ensemble movie [‘The Avengers 2’]. Why can’t I do a movie about just one guy? So right now I can’t even access that part of my brain. If all the planets align that would be great, but I’m not going to do what I did the first time and move heaven and earth to make it happen.”
FIREFLY was cancelled over 11 years ago, and support for a series renewal has stayed salient and strong the entire time. It remains to be seen if after a 15-year break the show can be reunite the crew of the Serenity once more, but if there is any benevolent force in any fictional universe that can make it happen, it is surely Netflix. 
Simon is a writer and content specialist who is addicted to being on the front page of anything. A graduate of Dalhousie University, he specializes in using the em dash too often. Currently, Simon rests his typing hands in Vancouver, Canada. Check out his most recent thoughts on gaming.