Serenity Comics Due Soon

Joss Whedon, director of the upcoming SF movie Serenity, told fans that he will oversee a three-issue Dark Horse series of Serenity comics as a prequel to his upcoming SF movie of the same name, based on Fox's canceled SF western series Firefly. "Dark Horse is putting out a three-issue prequel to the movie Serenity that will sort of bridge the show and movie for some people," Whedon, an avowed comic fan and creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, told an audience at WonderCon in San Francisco on Feb. 19. "That's going to be coming out starting in the summer. ... It's going to be written by Brett Matthews [who authored Dark Horse Angel comics] from a story we're working on."

Whedon added that each issue will have three variant covers drawn by different prominent comic artists, featuring all nine principal Serenity characters. "The first of which, of course, is John Cassaday, who will be drawing Mal [Nathan Fillion]," he said. "I have seen just a few of the covers. I called basically my dream team of artists. Nobody turned me down, and I've seen a few of them, and they're extraordinary."

Whedon also screened a clip from Serenity with footage from the film, featuring cast members Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau and Gina Torres, and showing a robbery that is interrupted by the arrival of the show's feared villains, the Reavers. Serenity, to be distributed by Universal Pictures, opens Sept. 30. Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

Meanwhile, Whedon announced that he has signed on to write a second year of 12 issues of Marvel Comics' Astonishing X-Men. After finishing the current run of 12 X-Men issues, he said, "We're going to take a brief respite after that and come back with another 12 and then finish up with our own giant-size ... Astonishing X-Men annual number one," Whedon said with his X-Men artist, Cassaday.

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JOSS WHEDON PANEL @ WONDERCON: FULL REPORT

After sitting through a "War of the Worlds" presentation, the crowd was hungry. The only thing that would satisfy their thirst was Whedon. Joss Whedon the reluctant genius of "Buffy" and "Angel" fame greeted a roaring crowd of die hard fans as the "Serenity" panel opened Saturday at Wonder Con 2005.

"I'm still making this movie!" joked Whedon. "At some point I'm supposed to finish. I think I will. Not positive, I might just workshop it for a few years."

Whedon immediately surprised the crowd by introducing "Astonishing X-Men" artist John Cassaday. After an adorable back and forth between the two on stage, Whedon decided Cassaday should tell fans the big news. "We decided to do a second year on Astonishing X-Men!" Once again the crowd went ballistic. When they calmed down, Whedon gave the details. The team will finish out their current run with 12 issues, then take a brief respite and come back with another 12 issues, culminating in their very own "Giant Sized Astonishing X-Men" #1.

Then he dropped another big announcement. Dark Horse will publish a three-issue "Serenity" prequel comic intended to bridge "Firefly" and the "Serenity" film. The comics will be written by Brett Matthews and will have three variant covers drawn by different great comic book artists; nine covers in all that will feature each cast member of the film. Cassaday will draw the first cover with Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds.

"I got to see a few of the covers. I got every artist I wanted. Nobody turned me down," said a proud yet humble Whedon.

Whedon went on to introduce Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, and Nathan Fillion from the cast of "Serenity," before continuing on with his show and tell - footage from the new "Serenity" movie.

The crowd got quiet and the lights went down. The footage had the cast going into some kind of bank with the River Tam character using her psychic powers to find someone in a crowd. After roughing up a few people, the crew headed into a basement to try to get into a vault. As I looked behind me the crowd was glued to the screen. Not a frown in the house - just looks of sheer joy. Then a "Reaver" space ship came out of the sky and the footage ended.

After the cheers died down, Whedon opened up the floor mic for Q & A for the thirty-some fans already waiting in line. He seemed to reluctantly serve as Internet Rumor dispeller for the first few questions. He fielded questions about "Firefly" and "Buffy." He graciously told the fan there are no plans for an "Angel" or "Buffy" film, and that he got lilies on Valentines Day from people on who want a Spike movie. "All I have to say is I do, too."

Fans continued to ask questions about how each actor enjoyed working with Whedon. "Joss is boss!" said Nathan Fillion. "Everything that comes out of each of our mouths is 100% Joss." Fillion elaborated on Whedon as a captain who always works enthusiastically with each actor.

Other questions where directed at the actors. Summer Glau was asked where she draws her character River from. "River is me when I was 15 and how I felt as a young woman." Adam Baldwin spoke about how a lot of the credit for the chemistry of the cast comes from Nathan Fillion. "Nate is the captain of the ship and the driving force behind motivating most of us. He has most of the lead dialogue and is a real inspiration." To this Nathan smiled jokingly agreed and said "Totally."

The next series of questions were about the origin of the "Reavers" and if they will be actually seen in the film.

"The movie deals with the Reavers in a way that 'Firefly' would have as time went on," said Whedon. "Every story needs a monster. In the stories of the old west it was the Apaches." He explained how he removed the racial aspect of the Apache metaphor by using the Reavers. "I used that example by saying that anyone who goes out into space and goes mad can become a monster." He also commented on the use of a strict western and horror vernacular to create his story.

Some fans just wanted to thank Whedon for his and the casts support and posts on the now defunct Fox "Firefly" Web site. Another fan asked Whedon what medium he enjoyed working in most.

"I don't play favorites. I'm just doing my first film and it's an unbelievable experience. I do love television because it has a depth you can't get in movies. The comics are like having the best cast, the best DP and the best director and it's all just one guy sitting over there." Whedon motioned towards John Cassaday. "I can't choose, but the film is at the forefront of my life right now. I love me some art and I hope I never have to choose between them," he said calmly. "If I could do something I have never done before it would be to write a ballet."

The session closed with Whedon thanking the cast of "Serenity" and the fans. Electrified by the speakers and eager for more the fans left the auditorium with high hope and anticipation of all Joss Whedon projects in the coming year.

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February 18th, 2005

Spring has sprung! It's still damn cold, but I see cherry blossoms, so I've convinced myself that pretty soon the winter jackets will have to be stored away. Then again, come February, isn't everyone slightly delusional that spring has arrived? Unless you're lucky enough to live somewhere where it's warm all year round?

I am SO excited to be going to New York at the beginning of April for I-Con. We're trying to stay for a few more days in Manhattan somewhere, just to feed that New York craving a little bit. My husband's never even been there, and it's kind of indescribeable (pretty sure I spelled that wrong), so I'm hoping that works out. I am also hoping there's a BIG turnout for the convention, since now's the time to get the buzz generating for "Serenity". I'm hoping it will build higher and higher and higher, so when the movie actually opens, the theatres will be packed to the brim with people.

We're all pretty thrilled with the responses the movie has been getting at the 'test screenings'. I wish I could be there, hiding in the back, just to hear those reactions. They need to do one in Vancouver!!

Oh, Happy belated Valentine's Day. We had "tandem" massages (that's the couples massage where you're side by side with two masseuses... spelled that wrong too, didn't I?), and pink champagne, and went to dinner at our favorite restaurant. The massage was very good, but I was really sore the next day. I made the mistake of telling my (male) masseuse that I could handle a lot of pressure, because I'm cocky like that... and the next day I had trouble putting my shirt on, I was so sore. I feel great now, though. I think it sort of pays off a few days later.

I think I've done enough blah-blah-blahing for right now. Will report again soon.

Take care...

Jewel

Serenity

This was definitely the most interesting and entertaining presentation of the day. Joss Whedon started off the presentation by announcing his run on Astonshing X-men will last another 12 issues and will wrap up with a “Giant Size” issue after that. Tragically, I’ve never seen Firefly (although I do own it... it’s a long story) so as a newcomer to this series I was deeply impressed. Joss, Nathan Fillion, and Adam Baldwin were absolutely hilarious and played off of each others jokes while Summer Glau sat there looking gorgeous. The clip shown was a full scene from the movie and involved the Serenity crew robbing a bank. The scene had a few short fights (including one shot where Adam’s character trips a guard, catches his feet in mid air, and pile drives him), some humorous moments involving guns and guards asking for bruises (to appear as if they fought back), and ended with a Reavers ship containing a rival psychic arriving which forces the crew to defend the people they just robbed. Joss mentioned that you will learn more about the Reavers in this movie and where they come from (apparently when you reach the edge of space you lose your mind). He also explained that his inspiration for the Reavers followed the Western theme of the fear of Indians. The main “villains” of the Old West were Apache Indians, and people were frightened of a group of savages who knew the terrain and would torture and mutilate anyone they captured. Of course he was talking about the Indian stereotype of the time and did not mean to insult anyone. He then went on to say that if the movie is successful he would love to do more movies/TV episodes but until then the future of the series is up in the air. He joked that if it is a success then he’s sure Fox will milk every type of media from it (soundtrack CDs, etc). At present there will be a 3 issue comic series that ties the end of the TV series with the movie, and each comic will have 3 variant covers created by different artists (his “dream team”). Next, he addressed the dismissal of the music composer and the replacement being David Newman (Galaxy Quest). He seemed really excited about this and even claimed that River’s new theme nearly brought him to tears. The only question he evaded was when confronted that one of the nine crew members was going to have a very limited role in the movie (“Next question” was the reply). Finally, Buffy/Angel/Spike movies were addressed but Joss claimed they were out of his hands but he was interested.

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Ah, I'm glad you asked for my opinon!

I am always quick to read the "I saw Serenity" threads, just to see how much is being given away about our movie..!!! Luckily it hasn't been a whole lot, and there are still many surprises to be had for those of you who haven't seen the film yet.

It is so funny to see your reactions (those of you who have seen it) to that line of Kaylee's! I can tell you that when I read the script for the first time, I was howling with laughter when I read that line. Nothing could be MORE appropriate to show Kaylee's true nature.

Some of you still haven't seen the series yet, so I can understand why a line like that could come as a bit of an inappropriate shock. But for those of you who HAVE seen all the episodes of the show, how could you expect any less of Kaylee? She may be sweet and sensitive, but she's also very sexual, and very blunt. I remember while delivering that line during the filming of that scene, my first instinct was to sort of mock-whisper it, but Joss said, "No, no, no..! Kaylee's not that way! She's not shy about this! She says it because she wants everyone around her to know about it!" He wanted me to sort of yell it out, loud and proud!

It wasn't meant to be offensive. Well, maybe it was a little, knowing Joss. He does write true to his characters, and we have to remember that these are HIS characters. He knows them inside out, better than us actors do. He wouldn't write something that was inappropriate to the character. He's much smarter than that!

There will be many things in this movie that will shock you and may even make you angry, but it's Joss's vision, and no matter what, he has to stay true to that, right?

Anyway, there's my two cents.

Jewel AKA the infamous and completely inappropriate KAYLEE

The Future May Belong To Those Who Speak Mandarin

One of the things folks have long loved to complain about when watching a science-fiction series on television is, "How come all the aliens speak English?"

The right answer, of course, probably is, "Because you're watching an American TV show, buddy."

But can you imagine a future in which folks of all persuasions speak not entirely in English -- but some other Earth language instead?

In his short-lived, space-western series, "Firefly," Joss Whedon already has. Throughout the dozen or so episodes, Whedon and his writers have his characters (none of whom are Asian) occasionally break into Chinese.

Think it's odd for Caucasian and black characters set 500 years from now to be uttering Mandarin phrases out of the blue?

Not really, when you think about how events could likely go over the next five centuries. In fact, Whedon is prescient for weaving the rise of China, its language, and its culture into his series given that today, we only see the beginnings of how the giant nation may grow in years to come.

To be sure, English will continue to be a dominant lingua franca around the globe, reflecting the worldwide preeminence of American commerce and culture worldwide.

However, English could increasingly be challenged in that dominance by Chinese, as China becomes a world superpower on its own. And "Firefly" captures perfectly that rivalry for supremacy that may exist between the two centuries from now.

China's increasing power on Earth is not based merely in its gigantic population, which already numbers more than 1.3 billion people.

Rather, it comes from China's ongoing efforts to, one, expand its economy and, second, modernize its military.

You may have noticed that everything from the shirt on your back, to the computer screen you are reading this on, was likely made in China.

In one of his articles, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius likened China's economy to the boom years of the late 1990s in the United States.

"Drive down one of [Beijing's] broad boulevards and you'll find billboards advertising 'Season's Park,' the latest fancy apartment complex that bills itself as 'Home of the Tycoons,'" Ignatius wrote. "The entrance is decorated with images of the Statue of Liberty and the Arc de Triomphe, and there's a telephone 'hot line' so newly wealthy Chinese can rush to buy a piece of the dream.

"The race to join the tycoons is suggested by some statistics: Investment in the Chinese steel industry grew 96.6 percent last year; in aluminum, 92.9 percent; in cement, 121.9 percent," he added.

So while the so-called communist Chinese look to out-compete the United States in the arena of capitalism, they are also working to modernize what once had been a hopelessly outdated People's Liberation Army.

I have to add a personal note here. I am, in my day job, a journalist who writes about world security and the defense industry for a living. It's in this capacity that I come into contact on a regular basis with the latest news of how China's military is ever-approaching a point of being able to effectively vie with that of the United States.

In fact, just before starting this column, I wrote a piece about Chinese efforts to acquire new weapons from European nations -- efforts which could, among other things, threaten U.S. power in the Pacific.

As one wag here in Washington said recently, "This is not your father's PLA."

I say all of this to illustrate how China is very likely in coming years going to become a superpower similar to the United States today in its day-to-day worldwide power and influence.

Some 500 years from now, Chinese and English may co-exist as the two prevailing languages on planet Earth.

So, you see, in that way it's not all that surprising that in the future, folks of any ethnicity may be running around spouting Chinese, in the same way that today people of all colors and backgrounds around the world may communicate in English.

Now, a "Firefly" fan has created a "pinyinary" of all of the Chinese words and phrases that have appeared on the series.

A pinyin is a system for transliterating Chinese characters into the English/Roman alphabet, and the "Firefly" pinyinary also translates the meanings of the Chinese words, which in "Firefly" are often vulgarities or epithets.

For instance, in the episode "Serenity," when he learns of the approach of an Alliance cruiser, Mal utters, "Ta ma duh!" which, according to the pinyinary, translates as "Fuck me blind!"

Or, in the same episode, when the cruiser scans the ship Serenity, Wash exclaims, "Ai ya, hwai leh!," or "Shit on my head!"

The "Firefly" pinyinary is a must for any serious fan of the series like myself, to help them gain an even greater understanding of how excellent this series was, and just what a shame it was that Fox killed it young.

The pinyinary is available online by clicking here.

A former entertainment journalist, Scott Nance is a member of the USS Chesapeake, an independent science-fiction and Star Trek club in the Washington, D.C., area. He is a columnist for SyFy Portal, and can be reached at [email protected].

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Chiwetel Ejiofor On Serenity

Actor Chiwetel Ejiofor first got attention for his leading role in Stephen Frear's Dirty Pretty Things as an immigrant bellhop, and after a minor role in Spike Lee's last film, he kicks off 2005 by being the first black actor to have a major role in a Woody Allen film, the upcoming Melinda and Melinda (pictured left).

Later this year, he will be starring in a few bigger films including Joss Whedon's science fiction epic Serenity, a feature film adaptation of his FOX show Firefly. While in Allen's hometown of New York to talk about Melinda and Melinda, Ejiofor told ComingSoon.net how working with Whedon compares to working with Allen on a significantly more moderate budget. "That was a very big jump, because Joss' mind in terms of science fiction is very different," he told us. "With both of them, there is an extraordinary amount of detail that goes into everything, but just the scale of it is extraordinary. It deals with universes and so on. It's the world of sci-fi but very intelligently put together. It was an extraordinary experience and I get to fight, a bit of general martial arts and hanging on wires."

He talked about playing a villain in the film. "I think that one of the great things about the profession is that you're able to tap into very different parts of yourself, and it's always exciting to do that. Villains are always pretty interesting to play. What he's trying to achieve in 'Serenity' is, in his belief, perfectly valid and can be argued for, so it's not an out-and-out villain in a sense. It's more someone who does bad things, but for what he perceives to be very good reasons.'

Ejiofor also just finished shooting The Kinky Boot Factory, about an Englishman trying to save an old shoe factory, and he'll be playing a bad guy in John Singleton's next film Four Brothers, a revenge-thriller which he shot in Toronto.

Melinda and Melinda opens in New York and Los Angeles on March 18. Serenity is scheduled to open on September 30, and the tentatively titled Four Brothers is scheduled to open on August 12.

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Ejiofor Plays Bad In Serenity

Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays the main villain in the upcoming SF movie Serenity, told SCI FI Wire that he enjoyed working with writer-director Joss Whedon on the big-screen version of Whedon's canceled Fox TV series, Firefly. The film reunites the cast of Whedon's show, including Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk and Morena Baccarin, and features Ejiofor in the pivotal role of a character referred to simply as The Operative. "You know, Joss is just a terrific talent," Ejiofor said in an interview while promoting his new film, Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda. "And if you've seen any of his TV shows, his line of science fiction is very intelligent and drama- and character-based. That's what he brought to this."

Like Firefly, Serenity centers on the crew of a salvage ship 500 years in the future. "I'd read the script, and I thought it was great," Ejiofor said. "I hadn't really thought of doing science fiction, but just reading the script was really inspiring. I thought it was great." Asked to describe The Operative, Ejiofor said, "I'm just hunting them down, basically."

The role is a major change of pace for the British actor, who's best known his dramatic works in such films as Amistad, Dirty Pretty Things and She Hate Me. "It's so different from anything I've done," Ejiofor said. "Like I say, SF and all that involves martial arts and wires and green screens. It's a whole different world in terms of the acting experience." Universal Pictures will release Serenity on Sept. 30. Universal is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.

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ON THE SET: 'Firefly' Actors Enjoy a New 'Serenity'

"I'll talk about 'Firefly' until the cows come home," says Adam Baldwin in January interview. "It was a labor of love. It was hard for us to be under the gun early on. We didn't hook a big enough audience, that's the bottom line. I'm not going to second-guess why."

In the short-lived FOX series, Baldwin played Jayne Cobb, the brawn to everyone else's brains aboard the rickety, Firefly-class cargo ship Serenity, some 500 or so years in the future.

"He's a pragmatician," Baldwin says in Jayne's defense. "He's like, 'What works? Finish the job. Get it done. I'm scared. I'm scared. I need to fire back. Return fire.'"

Created by Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel"), "Firefly" - a blend of the Western and science fiction genres, with a little Chinese cussin' thrown in - got an early pickup from the network, premiered in the fall of 2002 with a lot of fanfare (with its second episode, not the two-hour pilot, which aired at the end of the run) then was yanked with several episodes left unaired.

Through sheer force of will, Whedon managed to get studio 20th Century Fox to relinquish the rights, then set the thing up as a feature film at Universal. Called "Serenity," the film is set to premiere Sept. 30. "Firefly" has also had brisk DVD sales, which reinforced Universal's decision to move forward.

"When people speculate on the whys and wherefores," Baldwin says, "it's an energy waste. All I know is we have huge DVD sales. We have millions of fans who are very much looking forward to this movie coming out, and if they all show up on the first weekend, we get to make two or three more movies."

Baldwin is also not bothered that the show's debut is delayed from its original April launch.

"This way, he says, "we come out at a time when they'll be able to attach the trailer to another big movie over the summer, and people will know it's coming out. People that have never heard of us will find out."

Baldwin has seen a cut of "Serenity," and reveals, "Mmmm, it's hot. It's tasty. It's opened up. You will see more worlds. I can't recall if we have any horses, but everybody looks great. We had this lead-time, so everybody's like, 'Go to the gym!'

"We also had 15 episodes of workshopping it. We all know who our characters were, plus two weeks of just sitting in a room with Joss rehearsing."

"The series being canceled was such a heartbreak," says Nathan Fillion, who plays Serenity's Capt. Mal Reynolds, in an interview conducted on the set last August. "I broke the cardinal rule of, 'Don't fall in love with what you do, because your rug can get yanked out from under you.' When it did, I was heartbroken.

"Joss had it in his head that he was going to have it made as a movie. That's a great dream, and I really wanted to have it happen, but I couldn't fall in love with that idea again, just to be heartbroken again. I don't think it actually settled in until three weeks into filming, that we were actually making the movie."

"When we actually got to do the movie," says Gina Torres, who plays Mal's right-hand woman, Zoe Warren, speaking in February, "which for all intents and purposes should never have happened, it was a miracle. We just had a hoot. We thought, 'Oh, my God, they are actually paying us money to do this. Let's just do our lines and hang out.'"

Fillion earned the nickname "Capt. Tightpants" during the series, and Baldwin says that continues in the movie.

"His pants are tight," Baldwin says. "He had a lot of trouble bending over. He's great. It's a hot movie."

Although Fillion now claims that Sean Maher, as Dr. Simon Tam, has taken over as "Dr. Tightpants" in the movie, Torres disagrees.

"I have the tightest pants in the movie," she says. "Thankfully, there was a little Spandex thrown in that mix, so I could have lunch."

Asked if "Serenity" is worth the wait, Fillion says, "Yeah, I think so. It's going to be an enjoyable experience. It's going to be very satisfying on a lot of levels. It'll wrap up some things that were left hanging."

As to whether there's any romance in Mal's future, Fillion says, "Does Mal get a girlfriend? I can't tell you that." "We had an opportunity to redeem ourselves," Baldwin says. "Some people that I've talked to look at it as, what's the word, what's a synonym for vengeance? I don't look at it that way. I look at it as a chance for redemption.

"People will find their way back to the TV show, to the DVDs, and to the 'Serenity' world. It has a really great shot of being very successful, and having seen it, I say that with confidence."

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