More than 11 years later, Browncoats are still pleading with the Powers That Be to have mercy on us and bring back Firefly. Our hopeful hearts pitter-patter at every hint of a revival (like the Firefly cast reunion coming up at the end of May). But the sad reality of it is that we’ll likely never see an “official” revival of the ‘verse. That doesn’t mean that all’s quiet on that front, though. The ‘verse lives on through comics, conventions, charity screenings, and fan films. We’ve already been gifted with the fan-made movie Browncoats: Redemption, and now something new is coming out of the black…
Firefly: Origins, a 3-part miniseries made for Browncoats by Browncoats, “[documents] the adventures of a young Malcolm Reynolds as he finds himself drawn into the war for independence against the Alliance. [Origins] takes place in the early years of the Unification War, over a decade before Firefly…”
As far as a Firefly film goes, not using the original writing or acting team (sorry, Browncoats…not yet), we look at it like this: 1) Better fellow Browncoats than some greedy FOX execs trying to cash in on a cult following they prematurely, let’s call it like it is, murdered. Joss aside, who knows what Browncoats want better than Browncoats? 2) Better a pre-story than a post-story. For starters, a young Malcolm Reynolds will be decidedly different than the Captain Tightpants we all know and love; and 10 years is a long time for him to grow and change (looks and personality wise), so buying a new guy in the role won’t be as difficult as, say, picking up where Serenity left off. Additionally, we can confidently say that these new guys are no Joss Whedon. …and that’s no offense to them, as Joss is on a plane all his own. But in the case of a pre-story such as Firefly: Origins, Joss has already set up the end result, so this younger Mal has something to become…something to work towards. As do the writers. We actually sort of dig the idea of getting into the brain of a younger Mal… The only question is: do these new guys have the chops?
From their Kickstarter page, what we can tell so far about their “creds” to make this film is: 1) These guys dig Firefly. While a ship can’t sail on love alone, it’s a start! In the words of our own Captain Tightpants, “Love keeps her in the air when she ought’a fall down.” 2) They’ve got an award-winning cinematographer/director by the name of David Kirk West captaining this ship. We’re not familiar with David’s work ourselves and don’t know much about the rest of the crew, but we’ll at least be keeping an eye on the project to see what else this bunch has up their sleeves. We know fan films are a touchy subject, but we encourage you to have a look at the Kickstarter page and at the video below, maybe do a bit of your own research, and then decide if you think bringing a young Mal to life is worth your money.
What do you think of Firefly: Origins? Let us know in the comments! Seriously, we want to know!
got a nerdy mind? Write about it! Have something you'd like to write for us or read from us? Take a look around to make sure we haven't done it already, or at least that you have a new spin on it in mind, and let us know! Keep up with all our new stuff by following @NerdyMindsMag on Twitter and liking Nerdy Minds Magazine on Facebook
Nerdy Minds Magazine 
Really cool. Looking at a younger Mal will be really neat, and don’t forget Zoe. I am proud to say that I know these guys. So, here is hoping that I can be an extra. Keep up the good work.
LikeLike
A young Mal would be hard to live up to.
About their cred, they have none. They show no experience on their kickstarter. No idea of what they’re planning other than “a prequel”, they don’t have a proper budget breakdown, they don’t account for Kickstarter reward fulfillment in their “budget”, they plan on purchasing equipment instead of renting it like most productions would, and they still haven’t responded to many of these questions on reddit or Facebook, though they are aware of them.
This looks like some people trying to get some free money from the Firefly fan base. If we even get a delivered video, it will likely be a rather sad attempt at a fan film….
Until I see them answer some of these questions, I’ll be advising everybody to stay away. If they are legitimate, they should have waited to make a Kickstarter until they had something to show us, and a better written proposal.
“The only risk is not trying.” Yeah, right. The only risk it seems here is being robbed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
this sounds like a good idea but it seems there isn’t much interest to get people to donate. the CG is ok though looks very similar to the Firefly online game.
LikeLike
They used real guns. They do realize films use modified firearms that shoot blanks?
Or are they going to snuff everyone on set? Let’s hope so.
-It’s poorly executed, lacked any conceptual footage whatsoever. Two talking heads? C’mon! What are investors supposed to buy into? Drop $2K of your own money, cut something together to give us a vision of what you’re going for – not lifted CG footage from another source.
LikeLike
Pull back a little further and make a 3 movie prequel:
1. Exodus – leaving the Earth that Was…
In the Firefly series, we see the predominance of American, English, and Chinese culture – who went to space, and who got left behind ?
2. TerraForma – the exploring and altering of the new planets.
Firefly hinted there was no alien life, but was there? and after shake-n-baking all the useable planets to Earth standards, what happened to what was there-before?
3. Discord – The very start of the War of Independence. How the planets ended up unequal, and unbalanced, divided and the planets choosing sides. And the first battle.
Followed by a TV Show, 3 seasons, the War of Independence, ending with
Unification Day.
LikeLike