Joss Whedon says you shouldn't expect a FIREFLY Kickstarter… Yet

So on Wednesday afternoon, all the mainstream news sites were awash with stories about how some old Argentinian guy got a new funny looking hat and car after having a smoke with some his buddies in Rome. But for film geeks like myself, the bigger story was of course the ridiculously successful Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter. The entire time that I was reading up on it though, there was one thing that kept going through my and probably every geek’s mind: Firefly.

If fans can do this for a Nancy Drew wannabe, then imagine what we could do to revive Joss Whedon’s much loved, but prematurely killed off sci-fi western series? Whedon himself though, thinks we should hold our space horses.

Speaking to Buzzfeed, the fan favourite writer/director – so much of a huge Veronica Mars fan himself that he even appeared in one episode – revealed that he was having the exact same thoughts as most fans when he saw the Kickstarter news, but he just has a much more realistic view on it.

“My… feeling when I read about [the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign] was a kind of dread. Because I realized the only thing that would be on everybody’s mind right now. I’ve said repeatedly that I would love to make another movie with these guys, and that remains the case. It also remains the case that I’m booked up by Marvel for the next three years, and that I haven’t even been able to get Dr. Horrible 2 off the ground because of that. So I don’t even entertain the notion of entertaining the notion of doing this, and won’t. Couple years from now, when Nathan [Fillion]’s no longer [on] Castle and I’m no longer the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe and making a giant movie, we might look and see where the market is then. But right now, it’s a complete non-Kickstarter for me.”

Pushing a little further, Whedon admitted that it wasn’t just about managing calendar availability though. There was also the fact that a Veronica Mars movie certainly needs a whole lot less cash than a Firefly/Serenity movie would.

“We come to Veronica Mars to hear her talk and hear her father talk. But Firefly/Serenity [the 2005 feature film that was made to tie up Firefly’s unfinished plot thread], it’s kind of a different animal — and then there’s also the question of what kind of animal it is. Because some people are talking about Firefly episodes. Some people are talking about [a new] Serenity. I think anything we could get off the ground would be appreciated by the fans. But what form it would take is I think under some debate.

For me, [Kickstarter] doesn’t just open the floodgates. God knows, things are cheaper now than when we made even Serenity. Good effects can be done in a different manner. Nor is that universe all about spectacle either. But it is a tad more expensive — and a little all-consuming! And of course, there’s the other fear: What if it’s not that good? I can do something that’s not that good — that’s fine. But if I do that and it’s not that good, I’m going to feel really stupid.

Because I’m too busy to deal with it, I did have a moment of just, “Oh my god! I’m in trouble now.” I’ve always said, “Yes, I’d love to do another one,” and it’s still true. But I sort of got slapped in the face with it. Or probably will.”

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

Jokes aside though, what Whedon says is completely correct. I’ve gone 8 years without any new Firefly and can afford to go a few more if it means that we might either get some top quality episodes or a proper Serenity sequel, instead of a slapdash, stop-gap effort, just to stop us fans from grumbling for a bit.

Last Updated: March 15, 2013