When people discuss TV shows that ended too early, the one that always ends up in the conversation is Firefly. The show was Joss Whedon’s cult classic, taking the form of a Western set in space. The TV series suffered a severe blow from Fox, which failed to promote it effectively and ultimately killed it through incompetence.

Fox aired Firefly out of order. It made no sense, destroyed the storytelling that Joss Whedon established, and fans checked out, not understanding what was going on. Even though Fox sabotaged the show with its release, the network blamed Firefly itself and canceled it before the first season was even over.

Serenity Ended Firefly As An Onscreen Franchise & It Went Out With Style

While there were lots of shows that got canceled early and couldn’t finish their stories, Joss Whedon got lucky with Firefly. Thanks to the immense success of the show on home video, where it was finally shown in order, Whedon convinced a studio to release the movie Serenity, allowing him to wrap up the story.

The movie followed the events of the show’s final episode, and all the actors from the TV show returned. Chiwetel Ejiofor also joined the cast as The Operative, a man working against the Serenity in the name of the Alliance. However, the main plot sees the crew battling the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Reavers.

While this movie ended things explosively, it also came with some devastating losses. One of the toughest things to take was the death of one of the show’s most beloved characters, as Alan Tudyk’s Wash dies while saving the rest of the crew with his piloting.

The movie also ended with lots of hints at the future. Zoë is pregnant with Wash’s baby, River (Summer Glau) becomes the new pilot of Serenity, and the Operative admits that the Alliance might still consider coming after the crew, sending them on their way.

In the end, Serenity captured all the excitement of the TV show, and the Firefly actors retained what fans loved so much about them from the show. The Reavers were just the right level of ᴅᴇᴀᴅly, and it made fans realize what could have been if Fox hadn’t screwed up so badly with Firefly.

20 Years Later, The Firefly Franchise Ending Still Feels Wrong

The fact that Firefly ended at all was disappointing. Joss Whedon never had it easy with his TV shows, despite having a rabid and devoted fan base. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was his most successful, but even that had roadblocks set up along the way, making it a difficult journey.

Angel was a better TV show than Buffy, but it was knocked around a lot by the network, and Whedon almost didn’t get to make his final season there. When he got the chance, he had it shortened and had to rush to the end, rather than letting the story unfold as it could have.

Firefly had it even worse. Fox releasing the episodes out of order confused fans and doomed the series before it ever had a chance. If Fox had handled the series correctly, it could have been a mᴀssive success, as its later home video success proved. However, it didn’t, and Fox canceled the show before the season ended.

There were even three episodes that Fox didn’t air, and they never appeared on television until the Science Channel picked up Firefly in 2011 and added those unaired episodes to the run, playing everything in order. However, it was too little too late.

Firefly & Serenity’s Story Has Continued In Comic Books

In much the same way that he did with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Joss Whedon was able to continue his Firefly story in comic book format. In Buffy, Joss showed the next generation of Slayers and what happened to the Scooby Gang after the battle that destroyed the Hellmouth. Angel picked up after the apocalypse.

Firefly also continued its stories in comic books, which allowed the characters to live on, albeit not with the actors on screen that people had fallen in love with. However, things become a bit messy when it comes to following the exploits of the Serenity crew in literature, as three different companies publish these stories.

тιтan Books has a series of novels that continue the story, while Boom! Studios publish the comics, and the two timelines differ greatly. Just looking at the comics, Dark Horse initially created the comics, which тιтan Books continues the story from, while Boom! Studios mostly ignored the early comic stories.

Dark Horse published the Firefly comics under the name Serenity, releasing 22 issues and one graphic novel. However, it barely moves the story forward outside the six-issue “Leaves on the Wind” storyline. Book and Wash are gone, and the crew deals with more minor problems.

Boom! Studios used the name Firefly and kicked off with a 36-issue series, written by Greg Pak (Planet Hulk, Death of the Silver Surfer). This mostly continues the story, and there are also two one-issue stories and a short graphic novel that keep the story going. However, nothing makes up for losing Firefly, the TV series.

What Are The Chances Of Another Serenity Movie?

One problem with bringing back Firefly, or a sequel to Serenity, is reᴀssembling the cast. It also hurts that Alan Tudyk won’t be back since Wash died. However, there was news earlier this year when Morena Baccarin hinted at the possibility of a return.

While appearing on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, Morena Baccarin said that “There’s always talk. There’s always people asking about it.” However, she then realistically stated that it would be challenging to get these actors back together again, as they all have varying levels of success.

There have also been suggestions that most of the cast wouldn’t do it without Joss Whedon, who has been absent from Hollywood since allegations of workplace harᴀssment were leveled against him in 2020. While fans loved Firefly, they might have to accept that Serenity was the explosive conclusion to the story.