15 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From Serenity

Few fans were optimistic for more Firefly content once the show was quickly canceled by FOX in 2003. After all, the sci-fi/western concept was so niche that the network likely saw no potential for it to bring in major amounts of viewers. While FOX wasn’t initially off with its assumption, the show hit home with audiences. It quickly became a cult classic.

Following plenty of fan support and encouraging commercial sales, FOX gave Joss Whedon the go-ahead to make a film that would serve as a continuance of where Firefly‘s season 1 finale left off. Everyone from the original cast returned and the moviemaking process was relatively smooth, contrasting the troubled development cycle that the original show went through. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t some interesting details or problems that came up during each production phase.

Whether it’s a fun fact about pre-production details or interesting developments following the film’s release, Serenity offers plenty of intrigue beyond just its 2 hour runtime. For all of you fellow Firefly fans, we’ve assembled a list of the some of the most interesting details we could discover about the show.

Here are 15 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets From Serenity.

15 The Cast Did A Lot Of Their Own Stunts

When it comes to the many positive qualities of Serenity, the strong action scenes are a highlight. The mix of special effects and great stunt work help maintain a sense of authenticity and establishes consistent tension. Part of that authenticity comes from much of the cast actually doing their own stunts.

Specifically, Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Sean Maher, and Chiwetel Ejiofor did many, if not all, of their own stunts. Glau’s place in that list isn’t very surprising given her dancing background, but her physical work is always something to behold. As for the rest of them, it’s great to see that they were willing to put in that extra effort to legitimize their roles even more. After all, when you see Mal make a big jump or get in a crazy shootout, it’s even more engaging when audiences know that it’s not a stunt double doing it.

14 Mal Has Scars On His Body Visible From Firefly

The Firefly universe has a great habit of incorporating little details into every part of the world, even in the smallest ways. In the case of Mal, the make-up team offered a look at his past in a subtle but effective way: his scars.

Four scars are visible during a Mal and Inara scene, with each being a reference to an injury sustained during Firefly’s 15 episode run.

His chest scar is the one inflicted by Crow in “The Train Job” episode. The visible diaphragm scar is from “Out Of Gas” and the one on his side came from his duel with Atherton Wing in the episode “Shindig.” Finally, Mal’s left shoulder mark comes from a bullet grazing him in the pilot. Since there was little time to recap events of the show, this was a great way of incorporating the show’s history with everyone’s natural character progression.

13 Universal Studios Previewed The Movie Before It Was Finished

As a production studio, Universal wanted to build up anticipation for any big project as much as possible. This is especially the case for anything that isn’t a guaranteed hit, like Serenity. For some, Firefly may seem like a sure-fire thing, but consider its initial struggles to find an audience, and it becomes a bit questionable. As a way of combating this issue, Universal Studios made sure to preview the movie as soon as possible, even if it was before the movie was actually finished.

Universal was so adamant in getting the movie out to as many eyes as possible, that they didn’t let it get finished beforehand. While likely bothersome to director/writer Joss Whedon and company, it’s doubtful they raised much of a fuss. Besides, each screening sold out and Whedon was still able to make the movie he wanted, so everybody wins.

12 Simon And Kaylee’s Kissing Scene Took 20 Takes

Simon and Kaylee’s steadily growing relationship was an emotional staple of Firefly — it added depth and provided audiences a relationship to engage with outside of Mal and Inara’s “will they/won’t they” relationship.

In the moments during Serenity’s climax, where Simon was injured and finally kisses Kaylee, everyone wanted to make sure the moment hit all the right notes.

That’s why when it came to finally capturing this big moment, it took exactly twenty takes. It wasn’t explained why it took so many, but clearly Whedon felt something was missing with each one. It wasn’t until that twentieth take that Whedon finally agreed that they got the moment right. Sean Maher and Jewel Staite likely weren’t too excited about doing the scene so much, but hopefully the fan approvals softened the likely arduous experience.

11 The Whole Cast Was Told They Were All “Expendable”

Over the years, Whedon has developed a reputation for doing away with fan-favorite characters, and he seemed intent on maintaining it with his cast. According to Nathan Fillion, Whedon warned cast members on the set that they were all expendable. Considering that the movie was seen as Whedon’s chance to finish for the series, it makes sense that he went in with a fitting mentality.

While Whedon isn’t quite the same level of sadist as the Game of Thrones showrunners, it was still difficult predicting how brutal he’d be in the total body count. While he only ended up dealing two major passings, they were still heartbreaking and effective. It may have been meant as a fear tactic just to get the cast worked up, but there’s a good chance Whedon legitimately wasn’t certain just how many characters would get the axe by the time credits started rolling.

10 The Avengers followed Serenity

Considering Serenity‘s strong reception from both fans and critics, it’s surprising a sequel never happened — the first movie didn’t light up the box office, but it wasn’t a flop either. However, it wasn’t just Universal who made the decision.

In the end, if Whedon had a choice between a Serenity sequel or doing The Avengers, we know what he ended up choosing.

Whedon couldn’t be blamed for possibly choosing what ended up being a billion dollar movie, but it’s unfortunate that we lost any opportunity for a continuation of this series with the whole cast. More than a decade later, and with much of the cast busy with their own projects, it looks like there won’t be any continuations anytime soon.

9 The reason for Wash and Book’s fates?

A big part of blockbuster movies nowadays is the potential of establishing a universe/setting up sequels. After all, studios think about the big picture when they fund these major projects. Serenity was no different as Joss Whedon had his stars sign on for any potential sequel. Unfortunately, Alan Tudyk who played Wash, and Ron Glass (Shepherd) were reportedly unable to commit to these planned sequels. This may have decided their characters’ fates.

If Tudyk and Glass didn’t sign on for sequels, Whedon’s options for characters to get rid of became obvious.

Fans likely don’t forgive Whedon yet for this decision, even if it was something that needed to happen. Some characters needed to pass in order to heighten the stakes, and Whedon said that he’d hypothetically have brought them back if he could’ve, but it’s too late. Clearly, the damage has been done to all Firefly fans.

8 The Reaver Ship Destroyed By Serenity’s Gun Was “Betty” From Alien Resurrection

If you ever work on a big project, you’re likely going to take some part of it with you into the future. In Joss Whedon’s case, he took an experience that may not be a huge highlight and used it in his passion project. While Serenity‘s art design team took inspiration from multiple sources, one ship stood out among the rest.

The Reaver ship that Serenity’s gun took down was in fact the “Betty” ship seen in Alien Resurrection.

Whedon served as screenwriter on the film, and although it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, it did offer him a high-budget sci-fi film early on in his career. In a sense, it seems fitting that they’d destroy an Alien ship in the film as it’s a representation of the miserable experience getting gunned down and removed. Considering much of his career ever since, Whedon must be pleased.

7 Kaylee Should’ve Been Done Away With, According To Jewel Staite

For many fans, Kaylee represented an untouched innocence that almost everyone onboard the Serenity lacked. She had an upbeat, positive attitude that was difficult to sway or resist. This made moments she was in danger all the more tense as that innocence/naiveté made her so likable.

Naturally, she should’ve been done away with just like Wash and Shepherd — at least, that’s the perspective of both Jewel Staite, the actress who played Kaylee, and Nathan Fillion. Staite felt that Kaylee’s passing would’ve been brutal, and Fillion seconded this opinion, stating that her passing would’ve been heavily unexpected and would have raised the stakes even further. Fans are lucky enough that they’ll never have to see that scene, but there’s no denying another passing of a Serenity crewmate would’ve been tough to swallow.

6 The Entire “Firefly” Set Had To Be Rebuilt

Cancellations are the worst — when Firefly was canceled, all of the sets and props were destroyed as there was no longer any use for them, or at least, they thought so. To everyone’s surprise, Serenity was greenlit, which meant they needed the old set again. Immediately, everyone saw the problem with that statement; glee was replaced by annoyance as everyone had to rebuild everything from the original Firefly set.

Thankfully, Nathan Fillion actually kept the blueprints from that set as a keepsake, giving the design team an easier building process.

In the end, they were able to recreate the Serenity with ease, allowing old fans to appreciate a return to the familiar setting. In commemoration of this situation, some boxes in the movie are labeled “Reusable Container: Do Not Destroy” as a playful wink to this debacle.

5 The Lost Colony of “Miranda” Was A High School

Miranda was a memorable section of Serenity for a number of reasons. It served as both the setting for the biggest plot twists in the film, as well as the most disturbing moment. A beautiful location that is undoubtedly creepy, the setting makes all of the important events that occur on it even more effective. What may surprise you is that the “real” Miranda is actually a high school in Diamond Bar, California.

Many negative qualities are associated with high school, but some of Miranda’s major highlights don’t seem all that familiar. The set design team deserves proper recognition for its work, as very few watched the scenes set there and saw anything close to a school setting. If this has shown anything, it’s that a good set design team can turn a standard school and make it an otherworldly abandoned paradise.

4 Cast Members Would Yell “Summer!” Every Time They Messed Up A Line

No actor is perfect. Every so often, someone’s going to mess up a take and everyone will have to redo the scene. The set of Serenity was no different as each cast member had their own line flub blooper.

What sets Serenity’s cast apart from others is the way they’d handle messing up lines.

Once it happened, they’d stop and yell “Summer!” This was in reference to a time during the shooting of a Firefly episode, where Summer Glau made a mistake during a long, difficult scene, forcing everyone to do it again. The mistake was evidently very notable for her fellow cast members since she rarely messed up.

With this movie’s amount of dialogue and ambitious scenes, Glau’s name was likely yelled out many more times than anyone would like to admit.

3 Joss Whedon Has Other Plans

Ever since the initial show was canceled and Serenity was left as a standalone story, fans have demanded more Firefly. Some fans have launched Kickstarter campaigns for it, others have simply talked to everyone involved non-stop about a possible revival. Today, the likelihood of there being any continuation is just as improbable as it was a decade ago. Even with its leading man ready to jump on any opportunity, it can’t exist without its creator’s support.

Unfortunately, Joss Whedon doesn’t seem very eager to bring the series back. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he remarked how recent TV show revivals rarely live up to expectations and that it’s not worth bringing back shows that don’t exactly need to return. Although fans crave some new Firefly content more every year, Whedon’s point may be the painful truth that fans must accept.

2 The Cast Reunited Through Castle And Con Man

For such a seemingly tight-knit group of people, it’s unsurprising that the Serenity cast has reunited many times. Much of them were at Comic Cons all over the United States, but some came in the form of guest roles in TV shows.

Nathan Fillion’s Castle connected itself rather closely to Firefly, as it not only had plenty of references hidden throughout the series, but certain actors looked awfully familiar.

Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, and Summer Glau have all had guest roles in Castle at some point. There was also Fillion’s Con Man (which he co-created with Alan Tudyk), following a struggling actor who used to be on a canceled sci-fi show that became a cult hit, which sounds familiar enough. While they may not all be on the same project, you can always count on seeing Firefly stars together at some point or another.

1 FOX Is Interested In Continuing The Series

After being the network who put the nail in the coffin of the show in its prime, FOX has interest in reviving the series. Hindsight is 20/20, so the network is likely able to recognize the massive mistake they made in the first place. However, FOX’s president David Madden had only one requirement to be met before he’d give the go-ahead on a continuation: Joss Whedon has to be involved. You see the problem with that requirement.

Whedon’s disapproval of reviving old shows has been established, and that’s for shows that aren’t his creation. Something as personal to him as the Firefly series would certainly not fit the bill, and he likely would not want to tarnish what he’d previously made. Much of the original cast may be game, but if the creator isn’t, then the project will likely remain a concept until further notice.

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Did we miss any behind-the-scenes secret about Serenity? Let us know in the comments!

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