“Serenity” at 20: The “Firefly” follow-up that aimed to misbehave

Although the original “Star Wars” is often described as a space western, the franchise didn’t really resurrect the ol’ gunslinger vibe until a certain Mandalorian debuted in 2019. But in 2005 — the same year an ambitious young Jedi’s fall from grace spearheaded a revolution in a galaxy far, far away — another sci-fi movie got busy taking cowboys to the stars.

“Serenity” writer/director Joss Whedon (then best known as the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel”) never made a secret of his love of “Star Wars”, and the influences are everywhere to see. Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is effectively Han Solo with even more malleable morals (he would have shot Greedo first), commanding a rickety old bucket of bolts that would look right at home alongside the Millennium Falcon. He and his associates (a ragtag band of mercenaries and fugitives) grift a living on the outskirts of a “‘Verse” overflowing with rough-‘n-ready Tatooine facsimiles, lawless worlds light years away from the control of the Empire Alliance.

But its futuristic setting is also a darker alternative to “Star Trek“‘s utopia, a 26th century where the resources of “Earth that was” have been used up, forcing humanity out among the stars to terraform new worlds. Meanwhile, the dialect of this anachronistic Wild West is an unlikely mix of quippy, quotable “Buffy”-style slang, the cowboy speak of “Bonanza” where olde worlde phrases like “twixt my nethers” are commonplace, and Mandarin insults. (In this version of future history, global superpowers China and the US have joined forces to create a single, all-encompassing entity.)

Much like “Red Dwarf“, this is a universe without aliens, the principal threats coming from Reavers (space-faring zombie people with severe anger management issues), and an Alliance that wants peace and prosperity for all — as long as it matches their particular brand of peace and prosperity. Reynolds and first mate Zoë Washburne (Gina Torres) have more reason than most to mistrust this totalitarian government, having fought for the losing Independents (known colloquially as Browncoats) in a brutal civil war against the Alliance. Their Firefly-class vessel Serenity (no definite article) is named after the decisive, and very bloody, Battle of Serenity Valley that effectively ended the conflict.

All this information would have been news to most theatergoers, but for a select (and very passionate) few, “Serenity” was the most exciting release in the history of cinema — or, at the very least, 2005. Because for fans of the prematurely cancelled TV show “Firefly”, this was something they never thought they’d get to see, the continuation of a story that had come to an abrupt halt three years earlier.

In most other realities, “Firefly” would be long forgotten, having been cruelly axed by the Fox network in December 2002 after just 11 of its 14 episodes had aired. But unlike “Journeyman”, “Threshold”, “FlashForward” and most of the other one-season wonders that littered network TV in the early-’00s, Captain Reynolds and his crew lived to fight another day.

At the time of “Firefly”‘s cancellation, Whedon said, “I think [the show] has been mistreated shamefully.” It’s hard to disagree, seeing as Fox made the unfathomable decision to broadcast those aforementioned 11 instalments out of order — the double-length pilot episode (also called, confusingly, “Serenity”) didn’t air until the end of the original run.

To their eventual credit, however, Fox did allow Whedon to try to sell the show elsewhere. “That’s no easy prospect,” the show’s creator admitted in 2002. “But I will do everything in my power, as always, to keep this bird in the air… I won’t rest until I’ve found safe harbor for this vessel.”

Statements like this can usually be dismissed as the bravado of a recently scorned writer, but Whedon had an unusually passionate fanbase on his side. Calling themselves Browncoats (in honor of Mal and his comrades), they were happy to express their “Firefly” love online. The show was also a major beneficiary of the new DVD boxset culture of the early 21st century, as impressive sales proved there was an audience for Reynolds and co after all.

Universal eventually stepped in to bankroll a spin-off movie, though the $39 million budget was a pittance in space opera terms. That said, those financial limitations are integral to the film “Serenity” became, with VFX sequences kept to a minimum (the climactic space battle mostly takes place off-screen) and the practical, in-camera elements giving the action the tactile feel the CG-happy “Star Wars” prequels often lacked. Even so, with all of “Firefly”‘s interiors torn down after the show’s cancellation, the film’s set designers had to rebuild from scratch, using the DVDs as a blueprint.

And “Serenity”‘s secret weapon was always its cast, a perfectly formed ensemble whose chemistry was still intact three years after “Firefly”‘s demise. As in many of the best sitcoms, these are people forced together by circumstance as much as friendship, the various tensions between them (whether it’s sexual or bona fide antagonism) ensuring that life on board Mal’s “Boat” is never dull.

Some characters are inevitably short-changed by the two-hour runtime — key elements of companion Inara (Morena Baccarin)’s story were left on the cutting room floor, while the show’s moral center, Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), gets nothing more than a glorified cameo. But most of them get their moments to be “Big Damn Heroes”, before Whedon does something most major franchises are loath to do — kill off beloved characters and keep them dead. At times, “Serenity” is truly heartbreaking.

It also delivers, arguably, the two best hours in the franchise. Because despite the adoration lavished on “Firefly”, it never quite achieved full-on greatness. Sure, there are brilliant episodes over the course of that all-too-brief run, but there’s also plenty of filler as the show finds its space legs. It’s a series of immense promise that was denied the chance to reach its full potential.

As well as introducing its worlds to newbies in an efficient, eloquent style, “Serenity” crams a season’s worth of revelations into its runtime. Questions about the origins of the Reavers and River Tam (an enigmatic psychic on the run from the Alliance, played by future “Sarah Connor Chronicles” star Summer Glau) are answered in style, before Reynolds and his remaining shipmates blast off for exciting new adventures we never got to see on screen. Meanwhile, in Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Operative — a ruthless, monologue-loving Alliance agent hellbent on capturing River — the movie has a chilling, yet strangely sympathetic, antagonist.

With “Serenity 2” still conspicuous by its absence two decades later, it’s no spoiler to say the film failed to set the box office on fire. Even so, the legacy of both the movie and the TV show that spawned it lives on.

Many of the cast have since had successful careers in Hollywood, most notably Fillion (“Castle”, “The Rookie”), Baccarin (“Homeland”, “Gotham”, “Deadpool”), and Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One“, “Resident Alien“, numerous Disney animations). Whedon went on to direct the first two “Avengers” movies for Marvel, and “Justice League” for DC, though several actors have since accused him of workplace harassment. (Whedon has denied the allegations.)

A series of Dark Horse comics filled gaps in the “Firefly” chronology, while the saga managed to have an impact in the real world thanks to the Browncoats, who organized charity screenings of the movie under the Can’t Stop the Serenity banner. They raised a reported $1.35 million for women’s rights NGO Equality Now between 2006 and 2020.

In 2007, the film found its way into mainstream headlines when the readers of UK-based sci-fi and fantasy magazine SFX voted it the best sci-fi movie of all time. While that’s a stretch, it really wasn’t that surprising. After all, the passion of “Firefly”‘s fanbase was the reason “Serenity” existed at all, and — to paraphrase the movie’s communications genius Mr Universe — sometimes you can’t stop the signal.

“Serenity” is available to rent or buy on Amazon, Apple TV, and other streaming services in the US and UK. You can watch every episode of “Firefly” on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK.