For a few weeks now, Firefly actor Nathan Fillion has been posting a series of Instagram thingies where he gathers together the cast of Firefly for a new project. It was all a big tease, and it definitely worked on me. I was getting my hopes up for a revival show. Those are all the rage these days, even if I haven’t watched the new season of Scrubs. But I would definitely be down for a Firefly revival where all the old people must reunite for one last job.

Well the big reveal was earlier today, and it’s that they’re trying to make an animated revival.

Emphasis on “trying”.

So the announcement is that they’ve got a script, they’ve got some showrunners and they’ve got the cast on board…but they don’t have a show. They don’t have a studio pickup. And they’re actively asking fans to boost their social media to show studios that the support is there.

Here’s my deal…I’m all for this. I would have preferred a live action show, but an animated revival is fine too. More power to everyone involved in making this happen.

But I think they’ve really jumped the gun.

I don’t know how Hollywood works, but none of these actors/showrunners could secure even a pilot order before making this announcement? They couldn’t have waited until they had one of those secured? Nobody has strings to pull or enough money in the bank to even do some real design items?

That artwork is nonsense. The art itself is fine, to be sure, but it’s just a couple drawings of the characters in their classic outfits. There’s no style to it, no sense of animation. When was the last time you saw an animated show that was so photorealistic? They wouldn’t come up with an actual design style for the show yet? They couldn’t come up with an amateur animation reel to show off for how they want the show to look?

There have been countless Firefly comics in the past few years, and all that artwork looks like is just another comic book pitch. That is not concept art for an actual animated series. I am an amateur comic book maker, and even I know enough artists out in the world who could actual give that sort of artwork some personality. I know enough artists out there who could put together some basic animation for a good price.

Instead, we’re just got a random drawing of a couple of the characters and the promise that they’re trying to make a show. They jumped the gun.

Considering the Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival didn’t make it past the pilot stage, even with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Chloe Zhao attached, the chance for an animated Firefly revival looks pretty grim.

But c’mon, when the Critical Role people can get four seasons of two different shows, you’re telling me none of the people involved in this Firefly revival could get any solid footing before making this announcement?

I am going to properly calibrate my enthusiasm for this one. But again, more power to them.

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