Joss Whedon ‘Firefly’ Shocker: What ‘Buffy’ Stars Would Season 2 Have Featured?
We realize that the prospect of a 'Firefly' shocker a decade after the show had been cancelled seems like a bit of a stretch, but a recently-revealed bit of trivia from Joss Whedon has proven too good to ignore. In promoting 'Much Ado About Nothing,' Whedon revealed his own past Shakespearean ambitions for 'Firefly,' having once envisioned an episode guest starring 'Buffy' / 'Angel' alum and Whedon favorites Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, and James Marsters!
Speaking in an interview with TotalFilm, Whedon explained that he previously conceived a Shakespeare-themed episode for the cult sci-fi legend that would have seen Acker, Denisof and Marsters as a troupe of actors that somehow became embroiled within the crew of Serenity, no doubt to the extreme eye-rolls of one Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion).
I had planned to do an episode of Firefly with Amy [Acker] and Alexis [Denisof] and James Marsters as part of a traveling Shakespeare troupe. Because it's sort of a staple of the John Ford westerns is that there's always that over-the-top theatre guy, and I thought it would be terrific having them trying to put on a play in the cargo bay. But, I don't know if you know this, but we were cancelled; so I didn't get to do it.
Of course, with the mammoth success of 'The Avengers,' the resulting downtime that enabled Whedon to direct a cavalcade of other alum in 'Much Ado About Nothing,' and the inevitably titanic 'Avengers 2,' we're hard pressed to argue against the universe's compensation for denying Joss his vision.
Oh well. If nothing else, it would make fine fodder for the inevitable comic continuation fans have been craving so. What say you? Would you have wanted to see 'Firefly' go Shakespearean with Buffyverse alum from an episode tragically never to be?
Watch the interview below, and give us your thoughts in the comments!