Serenity/FireFly

[Ryan Ruck]

Well, since we don't have a Castle thread I'll just post this here...

Anyone else catch the latest episode? The plot is a murder that is committed at a SciFi convention. It was an immensely entertaining episode!

It was directed by Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes (who makes a cameo!) and was chock full of Firefly, Star Trek, BSG, and Star Wars references.

It was a lot of fun and I loved it! Plus, it doesn't get much better than a William Shatner sung song on prime time TV!

[Luke]

One of the best castles to date! Ms. Luke looked at me like I had lost my mind everytime I laughed out loud.

[Ryan Ruck]

Final Reminder!

The Science Channel’s Browncoats Unite special airs Nov. 11 at 10 p.m. Eastern

There's also a Firefly marathon starting at 7:00am Eastern if you don't have anything to do all day.

[Ryan Ruck]

I was a little disappointed to not see Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass, Jewel Staite, and Gina Torres at the roundtable but at least Morena, Gina, and Jewel filmed some parts for it. I know Morena might have been tied up with Homeland (a great show!). Not sure what Gina and Jewel have been doing. Wonder why Ron seemingly had nothing to do with this get together at all???

It was interesting to see the actors and actresses 10 years on, though a little depressing.

It really is criminal that Fox canceled the show when they did. Had it been given a fair shake, I think it could have been on for many more seasons and developed quite a story arc.




Fuck you Fox execs! Fuck YOU!











By the way, am I odd for wearing my Jayne hat during the show? I don't think so...




Also, I don't know if anyone else has thought about this or knows but, I know Summer is a professionally trained ballerina and I've seen some of her skills in Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles but, I've always thought it would be interesting to see her perform live in a ballet, a completely different environment than the standard acting I've seen her in (T:TSCC, The Unit, etc.). Just a thought I've had...

[Ryan Ruck]

Gina Torres is on Castle tonight!

[Ryan Ruck]

I was just watching American Dad that I had DVR'd earlier and...

[American Patriot]

I don't get it.

I started watching Firefly last night. My daughter lent me the CD set... all... I guess 14 episodes. We got through the 1&2 episode (was combined I guess), and then the 3rd one (train robbery). Guess we'll catch the next one tonight.

It was good!

[Ryan Ruck]

Okay, I'll give a hint.

It's dead center of the picture.





By the way, about time Rick!

[American Patriot]

LOL NOW I see it! hahahahaha

[Ryan Ruck]

Another bit of a Firefly Easter Egg in tonight's Castle.

[Ryan Ruck]

[American Patriot]

Lol!

[Ryan Ruck]

Following in the footsteps of Jericho...

Exclusive: Dark Horse Comics Unveils Zack Whedon’s SERENITY: LEAVES ON THE WIND



October 9, 2013

Ten years since Joss Whedon’s western-in-space cult classic Firefly went off the air, the rabidity of its fandom, better known as the Browncoats, hasn’t waned at all. Rather, since the advent of streaming video services like Netflix, the show has found even more fans, as its fourteen episodes and subsequent follow-up film, Serenity, became more easily accessible than ever for those of us who maybe missed the boat back in 2002-2003. Couple that with Joss Whedon’s unparalleled success at the box office with 2012′s Avengers, and you have a fever pitch for all things in which the Firefly maestro has had a hand. But the perennial Change.org petitions to bring Firefly back from the grave aren’t going to get the job done. No, Firefly/Serenity‘s phoenix is rising from the ashes of cancellation in a different form: a comic book.



After teasing fans for months with a #WheresSerenity social media campaign, Dark Horse Comics is kicking off NYCC with a bang, revealing to Nerdist that its much-whispered about Firefly-verse comic is finally here, and it’s even got a Whedon, to boot. Break out a bowl of strawberries to celebrate, because Zack Whedon is officially going to write Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, a six issue mini-series for Dark Horse Comics with the potential to be ongoing. We already knew that the delightful Georges Jeanty (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) would be handling artwork, but pairing the artist with Zack Whedon seems like a match made in nerd heaven. Now, we are faced with the Sisyphean task of containing our excitement until January 29th, when the first issue finally hits stands.

Despite being related to the franchise’s creator, a property like Serenity has a lot of fan expectation attached to it. As one commenter wrote on the #WheresSerenity announcement page, “If you eff this up….consequences.” Granted, most of those consequences will come in the form of angry digital fist-shaking, but no one wants to anger their audience. Fortunately, Whedon has considerable experience working on comic books based on existing franchises like Terminator and Star Wars, so this isn’t his first rodeo based on a beloved title. If anything, Firefly’s well-established world allows Whedon “to find these characters’ voices more easily, probably because I have so much existing material to draw from.”



As for the pressure, Whedon feels up to the task, noting that “the challenge is to create something that feels of a piece with the existing franchise… but the Serenity/Firefly world is where I feel most confident.” He added, “beyond that, the challenge is to make something good, something that feels like it is building on what is already there rather than just mimicking it.” Serenity: Leaves on the Wind allows Whedon to “plow forward into the future of these characters and tell new stories which has been a lot of fun.” Don’t worry, though, he’s cognizant of the degree to which fans have been craving more Firefly in their life: ”I know fans have been starving for story, so I don’t hold back in that regard.”

For the most part, Whedon was left to his own devices in crafting the Leaves on the Wind narrative. Considering how Joss collaborated with other brother Jed on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., I was curious if Joss was something of a backseat driver where Leaves on the Wind was concerned. Zack noted that comic books are “one medium where you can reduce the number of cooks in the kitchen, and I love that.” The pair had a general conversation before Zack got started to talk about “stories they were thinking about doing if the series had gone forward and such.” Since that conversation though, Joss has left him alone, partly due to the immense amount on his plate, and has given Zack a chance to make the story his own. Ever humble, Zack also noted, “Hopefully he’ll enjoy what I did… Yikes.”

From what we’ve seen so far, he’s done just that. The subtitle, Leaves on the Wind, is a reference to Wash’s final words (“I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I…”), so, clearly, the story takes place in the aftermath of that fatal encounter with the Reavers. According to Zack Whedon, the story moves forward about nine months later, 39 weeks, which means that if Zoe had gotten pregnant before Wash’s untimely demise, she’d be about to give birth. Spoiler Alert: We are out in the middle of nowhere when the story begins. The crew is hiding out. They dealt a blow to the Alliance at the end of Serenity and now they’re suffering the consequences. A ragtag crew on the lam? Sounds familiar…in a good way.


Cover by Georges Jeanty, Karl Story and Laura Martin

That being said, we grilled Zack in an effort to find out what we could and could not look forward to from Leaves on the Wind. First and foremost, will there be Wash flashbacks aplenty? “No, not really,” Whedon confessed. “I called it that because I felt like it was a way to honor Wash and the effect his death had on the crew. They are still reeling from that event in many ways, and beyond that they are drifting a bit, pushed all over the ‘verse by forces out of their control.” Sorry you had to find out this way, Wash fans, but honestly, this is better for the grieving process.

Are there any other narrative no-fly zones for Whedon? On the Firefly reunion special last year, Morena Baccarin revealed that if the show were to have continued, that her character, Inara, would have revealed that she had a terminal illness. Is this unused plot thread going to be picked up or discarded? According to Whedon, no, but he hopes “someone else will pick that up in a future run.” And when questioned about whether we’d encounter the Blue Sun Corporation, the author was quite succinct: “Nope!”

So no Blue Sun, no Wash, no terminal Inara – now that we know what we can’t expect, what can we look forward to? What sort of hijinks and adventures can we expect the Serenity crew to get up to in the new book? “Hijinks do not ensue much in this series,” Whedon explains. “They’re too ‘almost dying’ for that.” In the wake of events of the Serenity film, “they are on the defensive a bit, they’ve been painted one way by the media and the Alliance is trying to stamp them out harder than ever,” he said. For those of you hoping for some lighter-hearted adventuring, Whedon remains optimistic. “Hopefully when this adventure is done, they’ll be able to hijinks it up a bit more.”

Speaking of “when this adventure is done,” that is, perhaps, the most burning of questions related to this new announcement: will Leaves on the Wind continue after its six issue run? Potentially, but not with Whedon attached. “I sincerely hope that someone will take the baton when I am done,” the writer told us. “I am leaving a lot on the table to play with and resolve. I think it would be amazing if the book was passed from writer to writer, each one putting their stamp on it, telling the stories they wanted to see in the series.”

Before we go, take a look at this exclusive painted cover of Serenity: Leaves on the Wind from artist Dan Dos Santos:


Cover by Dan Dos Santos

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind, written by Zack Whedon and illustrated by Georges Jeanty, is coming to a local comic book store near you on January 29, 2014. What do you think of this announcement? Are you excited to return to the world of Serenity in comic book form? Let us know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter.

[Ryan Ruck]

First Look: Firefly Online

Quantum Mechanix shows off some Firefly Online goodness

December 12, 2013



Firefly didn’t last nearly long enough and we all know it. That’s why it’s amazing that there is an actual Firefly MMO coming out where fans can continue the journey through space accompanied by some potentially questionable — but still really good people — shipmates. Back at SDCC, Firefly Online’s launch video was revealed by the game’s developer Quantum Mechanix — who are know creators of various types of Firefly merchandise and great lovers of the franchise. That plus their ability to develop made them the choice team for this project.

Now, QMX has more to reveal. The team recently spoke with io9 about the game and showed off some really nifty screenshots and concept art.



So what do we know about the game?

Well first: Firefly has a “free Flight Engine” that will give players a reactive 3D user interface. According to QMX’s Andy Gore: “If you could imagine the map of the verse (complete with the nebula gases), in 3D, with all the planet renders that you can zoom in, zoom out and fly through. It looks utterly amazing.” Gore also spoke about “jobs” – Firefly Online’s quests — and some of the concepts might sound a bit familiar to EVE Online players. Players can go on “side-jobs” while completing parts of the game related to the overarching story. Even better. Players can create jobs for each other.

For us, the most exciting thing is player-created “jobs”. There will be a job-creation system where players will be able to craft adventures for other players to partake in. We’re looking forward to seeing what people do with that system. And there will be *a lot* to do beyond quests. You can focus on pimping your ride, getting a new ride, hiring a crew, keeping them happy, trading, crafting, collecting swag, or just flying around the multitude of terraformed worlds of the Verse in the freeform flight simulator.

In addition to discussing the jobs feature, Gore also answered a very important question for any Firefly fan. “Will there be Revers?” The answer is… .”Absolutely.” Gore also took some time to show off various weapons, ships and more. All in all, a Firefly game is a very exciting concept. And I’m sure most people can’t wait to see how it turns out. To see the full interview, check out the link above.

More pictures at the link!

[Ryan Ruck]

Just a heads up, my DVR is showing a Firefly marathon on Science Channel on Sunday starting at 8:00am ET.

[Ryan Ruck]

Check this out...

This is out new for the Oculus Rift VR system.

Serenity Virtual Reality Tour

[Ryan Ruck]

Looks like Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk are working on a crowdsourced comedy show called "Con Man". See the video for their project...



Project crowdsourcing page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/con-man

They've already far exceeded their goal.

[Ryan Ruck]

Adam Baldwin is back on Castle in tonight's episode.

[Ryan Ruck]

Earlier I was reminded that 12/20 was the airing of the final episode of Firefly, badly out of order of course with it being the showing of the pilot episode.

In honor, I figured I'd post this fun, fan music video from earlier this year I just found out about.

[Malsua]

I'm sorry, was that video? All I saw was a pair of tits. Maybe I should watch it again....nope. I only see tits.