Disney already boasted the single strongest roster of properties in the industry long before they completed their takeover of Fox. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars and Pixar, along with the animated and live-action divisions of Walt Disney Pictures all under one roof, the Mouse House’s stranglehold over pop culture was enough to make Darth Vader’s Force choke look like a gentle tickle.
And now, having bought out even more of the competition and revealed plans to focus on original streaming content, there are innumerable brands that could be brought back to life under the Disney banner. The news that Noah Hawley and Ridley Scott’s Alien series was set up at FX on Hulu would indicate the company aren’t above resuscitating R-rated franchises, either, especially with Dan Trachtenberg also developing another Predator reboot.
One recent rumor that didn’t go down too well, though, was the report making the rounds earlier this week that a new version of Joss Whedon’s cult classic sci-fi show Firefly was in the works. It may have been canceled close to 20 years ago after just eleven of the fourteen episodes had been broadcast, but the adventures of Mal Reynolds and his crew have retained a fervent following, and a Disney-fied take on the material doesn’t seem to have much support, as you can see below.
Don’t get too excited. Everything about it sounds bad. The only way this could sound worse would be if they announced they were casting the parts using only cast members from the 1980-81 season of #SNL. #FireflyReboot https://t.co/VAGIiDXMK7
— Knon Fodder (@Knonfodder) December 16, 2020
@disneyplus No Firefly fan wants a lame PG reboot. We want a 2nd season with the original cast & Whedon directing. #FireflyReboot
— Banzai Badger 💚 (@Bonzai_Badger) December 16, 2020
#Disney deaf again to the fans of #Firefly. A reboot without @joss? #wtf Hard no. What are you thinking? Bad enough you decided not to use the original cast and give us a season 2. #tvtime
— Jason Harris (@Harriscandoit) December 16, 2020
There is absolutely no way in 'verse that a Firefly reboot will ever be able to capture the magic of the original (especially without Wash and Book???) so why are people pushing for this? Why would you want to sully the memory?? https://t.co/esg9nQwh7x
— Nikki (@bad_anima) December 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/HopeJustice1938/status/1339207184895389696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339207184895389696%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fmovieweb.com%2Ffirefly-reboot-disney-plus-fan-reaction%2F
I love Firefly, but I highly, HIGHLY doubt a reboot would be able to capture the magic of the series. The time and money would be better spent creating something new, or creating a show based on one of the many amazing found family sci-fi novels out there.
— leigh // holiday tiiime (@LeighTeetzel) December 16, 2020
Firefly worked back in 2004 because it was lightning in a bottle as regards to writing, cast and fans. Nathan Fillion IS Mal Reynolds, no one can replace him. A reboot would be a soulless husk of what the original achieved.
— Heel vs Babyface (@heelvsbabyface) December 16, 2020
Unpopular opinion wrt a PG Firefly reboot: It could be just as good if not better. The charm of the show was in the found family adventures. Ditching the shallow pseudo-feminism, slut shaming, lack of diversity, and neo-confederate vibes means more than gore being onscreen.
— Malda Marlys: Mostly updates, chasing bluer skies (@aardwyrm) December 16, 2020
A reboot without the real cast is bad enough. A toned down, PG Firefly is the opposite of what a reboot should do. Not sure I could even bring myself to watch this, despite the original being my favourite show of all time. https://t.co/E9hUA3i1vO
— Emmett Macfarlane 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 (@EmmMacfarlane) December 16, 2020
@Disney @disneyplus IF this is true that there is a reboot in the works as a long time Firefly fan I am pleading with you to not make it more kid friendly by making it PG instead of PG-13.
The fact that the good guys were not 100% good & the bad guys were worse that made the
— Gwars Bane (@Gwarsbane) December 17, 2020
Of course, the number of people that have never even heard of Firefly before is exponentially larger than the amount of diehard fans, and if they want to take another crack at it, then there’s literally nobody that’s going to stop them. After all, based on their relentless quest for complete and utter domination of the entire entertainment sector, it’s Disney’s world now and we all just live in it.
