An animated Firefly series is in development

It's not a promo for some Funko Pops, an audio drama, or a live action series. During the Firefly reunion panel at AwesomeCon in DC, Nathan Fillion revealed that an animated series based on the series is in the works.

Nearly a quarter century after it debuted on Fox, the science fiction series grew an enormous a cult following, and despite the boom in streaming shows and nostalgia-laced revivals, a return to the world never quite managed to come together.

Until now. After weeks of teasing a big announcement, the cast revealed that they'll be reprising their roles for the prospective series, which appears to be titled Firefly: Still Flyin'. It will be set in between the conclusion of the television series and the followup film, Serenity.

The show is being developed under Fillion's production company Collision33 and 20th Century Animation, which has recruited producers Marc Guggenheim (Arrow and The Flash)and Tara Butters (Agent Carter and Dollhouse) to serve as showrunners. They've already written a script for it, and at the panel, they've revealed some concept art for the project. Notably, series creator Joss Whedon has given the series his blessing, but he's not otherwise involved in the project.

Crucially, the project isn't a sure thing yet: in a post on Instagram, Fillion explained that while they have a lot of the pieces in place, they still need to find a place to pick the series up to put it into production, and he'll be starting the process to pitch the series to outlets soon.

The announcement comes months after Fillion and star Alan Tudyk started a podcast, Once We Were Spacemen, in which they reminisced about their careers and time on Firefly, and often inviting their former cast members on to talk about the show and their work. In recent weeks, Fillion has been releasing videos with those cast members, teasing some sort of big reveal. Both seem designed to reignite the fan base that surrounded the series and generate hype ahead of the announcement and sales pitches.

Ever since Fox cancelled the series in 2002, fans have wondered if the series would come back in some form. In 2005, Universal produced a spinoff film called Serenity, which brought some of the storylines (and characters) to an end, and in the years since, there's been a handful of tie-in novels and comic books.

While fans have long wanted a live-action continuation of the series, the various schedules and careers of the respective actors seems to have kept that a distant possibility. While the cast has said in interviews over the years that they had continually talked about coming back together, it seems that the stars never quite lined up until now.

On during the panel (which was recorded and released on the Once We Were Spacemen podcast), Fillion provided some details about the project. This has been in the works for five years, and he described it as being at the "final stage." He also explained that he is writing a pair of episodes based on ideas that Tudyk had pitched during the show's original run.

He also clarified that it'll be set within the continuity of the regular series: "I'm not looking to change anything up or make anything new," he explained. "I don't want Wash to be a robot or AI, I don't want Shepherd Book to have passed. I want what I loved.

"I'm only interested in happened before Serenity, with all my friends," he continued, noting that there was clearly some progression between the end of the final episode and the film, and that he had some ideas for what might have taken place in that space.

He also explained that he's been inviting a lot of people that he's worked with over the years who've noted that they were big fans of the series: it'll be interesting to see what familiar faces pops up along the way.

An animated series feels like the best – and probably last – way forward for the series. It allows the story to continue with the entirety of the characters from the series (Wash was killed in Serenity, while actor Ron Glass died in 2016), and allow the returning cast to reunite in a way that works for their schedules and lives.

In a followup interview in Deadline, Fillion explained that he pitched animation to his former castmates as means of convenience: "if I could bring it back, if I could do it in such a way that nobody has to move back to LA and everybody can keep the jobs that they have. If I could do it so that you’re just recording in the back room of your house, whenever is convenient for you. You guys want to bring this back?” Everybody said, yes." He also noted that animation was the only way to bring Book back, and that they will be doing so.

That the series hasn't found a home yet is curious: this feels like a natural fit for the Disney-owned Disney+ or Hulu, both of which have plenty of animated shows in their portfolios. Science fiction animation has been having a bit of a moment in the last couple of years – look at the success of Rick & Morty, Scavenger's Reign, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the continuation of Futurama. Hopefully, someone will be receptive, especially as 2027 will mark the 25th anniversary of the show's original run.

Update: I've added some details that Fillion teased about the series from the panel.

Update #2: added information from the Deadline interview.