You got a job, they can do it, don't much care what it is. So what is the
crew of the Serenity doing all these years after Firefly’s end?
Captain Malcolm Reynolds wasn't just another Han Solo clone. An atheist for good reason,
and an active rebel against an intergalactic Alliance that devalued personal freedom,
he serves as the core of the Firefly-class Serenity's ragtag crew.
"Don't forget to call him sir. He likes that."
Nathan Fillion's appeal made Reynolds an icon, and that same charisma saw him take
center stage in 2006's Slither. Fillion hit it off with fledgling director James Gunn,
and he's been one of Gunn's go-to crew ever since, appearing in every Guardians of the Galaxy movie
and delivering a hilarious 10 minutes as The Detachable Kid in 2021's The Suicide Squad.
"Your name is TDK, correct?"
"Yeah."
"And it stands for what?"
"It stands for me."
Elsewhere in the DC universe, Fillion's provided the cartoon voice of Green Lantern Hal Jordan
since 2011. Meanwhile, while appearing in the long-running series Castle and The Rookie,
Fillion had multiple Firefly alums join him for cameos.
"Hey."
"Hey. I was just trying on my Halloween costume."
"Wash" Washburne, the Serenity's eccentric pilot, sometimes played with plastic dinosaurs and
sometimes pulled off mindblowing aerial stunts. Alan Tudyk imbued Wash with cornball charm,
a trait the performer has used to good — and sometimes scary — effect
ever since. He followed Joss Whedon to his next doomed-but-fascinating series,
Dollhouse, playing a rogue Active named Alpha.
"Steven Kepler. Is that you?"
"Well, there's a lot of aspects to that question. You're not from the Thai place, are you."
Today, Tudyk ranks as one of the best voice actors in the industry. He's a Disney veteran,
appearing in nearly every animated feature in some form and voicing the droid K-2SO in Rogue
One. He also stands out on Harley Quinn. He voices a Joker that can match Mark Hamill's iconic style,
by putting his own wild spin on the character, and also voices an equally terrific Clayface. He's a
joy as well in SyFy's "Resident Alien," where his stranded alien tries to fit into a small town,
and the first season of Max's "Doom Patrol," as the terrifying yet pathetic Mr. Nobody.
And there's more to come. He's slated to join James Gunn's animated "Creature
Commandos," as Doctor Phosphorus. We can't wait to hear him again.
Zoe Washburne, team tactician, warrior, and a former Browncoat rebel, found both the number
two chair and a devoted husband waiting for her on the Serenity. Gina Torres' unshakeable poise
features in almost every performance, but few of her post-Firefly roles can be called retreads. She
met and married Laurence Fishburne around the time she appeared as another ship captain in The Matrix
Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Torres would also co-star with Fishburne in several episodes of
Hannibal, another series with a small but fiercely loyal fanbase. The couple divorced in 2018.
"Think it's too late for us to have kids?"
"It is for me."
Tudyk and Fillion's web series Con Man sees her swing by for a visit with old friends,
and Westworld gave her a small but fascinating storyline as Bernard's estranged wife. It's
Transformers and Star Wars that really keep her in the nerd loop, though. In Transformers Prime,
she voiced the Prime Decepticon Airachnid, and in the latter, she's the Mandalorian Ketsu Onyo,
who helped the Rebels crew towards victory on Lothal. Today, she co-stars in 911: Lone Star,
an emergency services procedural spun off from the original hit show.
There's a lot to unpack about Whedon's notion of ethical sex work in Firefly,
but Inara, a professional Companion, brings wit and elegance to the Serenity,
despite Captain Reynolds' best efforts to filth the place up.
"Maybe you should think twice about letting go of Saffron. You two sound like quite a match."
Actor Morena Baccarin didn't have to rely on her striking beauty to convey Inara's competency,
and it's a gift she's since used to ground the Deadpool movies and
their glorious gutter comedy in the occasional moment of genuine emotion.
Baccarin was also the face of the 2009 revival of the classic sci-fi miniseries
V. As Visitor leader Anna, Baccarin took on a frosty commander's stance,
making the role her own. She's also dropped in on the DC universe, recurring on Gotham
until its end in 2019 and voicing the AI assistant Gideon in the CW's The Flash.
Kaylee Frye was Serenity's engineer, a living cinnamon roll of optimism with a penchant for
machinery. Kaylee is the heart of the group. Jewel Staite never made Kaylee's
bubbly personality a drawback; if someone hurt her, we felt it. She made us invest in
Kaylee's deserved happy ending, whether or not it involved her crush, Simon. Like Gina Torres,
Staite joined Nathan Fillion for an episode of Castle that let her show off her darker side.
Staite appeared in Stargate Atlantis from 2007 to 2009, playing Dr. Jennifer Keller,
who began as a recurring character and became Atlantis' chief doctor. She also co-starred in
Legends of Tomorrow as an engineer with a talent for robotics. Most recently,
Staite headed the successful Canadian legal drama Family Law.
"I used to do personal injury law. But then I got fired from my last
firm for barfing in a courtroom after a bender."
As Abigail Bianchi, Staite plays an alcoholic lawyer and mother
who hits rock bottom. It's up to Bianchi if she wants to stay there.
Simon Tam came off feckless and icy in equal measure when he arrived on the Serenity. A
top surgeon with a sheltered upbringing, all he really cared about was his traumatized sister.
It's a wedge that kept him from seeing Kaylee's adoration until the last minute.
"You are pretty funny."
"And you're pretty pretty."
Sean Maher was a relatively new young actor when he assumed the role of this awkward gentleman,
but he transformed Simon's distance into something we could empathize with. He's kept in touch
with his former crew through Nathan Fillion, popping up in both Con Man, and in The Rookie.
Maher also belongs to the DC Universe club, as one of the go-to voices for
Batfamily alumni Dick Grayson, in his older Nightwing incarnation. In addition,
he guest starred in two episodes of Arrow as a reimagined version of the villain Shrapnel,
who falls afoul of his orders on Waller's Suicide Squad. They're great appearances, and their
brevity lets Maher handle his biggest role: being a dad with two children, alongside his partner.
Any Western-styled saga has its preacher,
and Shepherd Book fit the bill to a T. With a mysterious past, the ever-capable,
peace-loving Book wasn't above defending those he cared for. He's the first big loss in Serenity,
defending the planet of Haven and proving to Captain Reynolds that life on the run isn't
the answer. Previously best known for his role on Barney Miller, Ron Glass gave Book a gravitas and
earthy humor that kept him relatable, even to fans who prefer Mal's religious pessimism to faith.
"Shouldn't you be off bringing religiosity to the fuzzy wuzzies or some such?"
"Oh, I got heathens aplenty right here."
Glass landed a few notable roles after Firefly, including two appearances in
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Dr. Streiten, one of the doctors who brought Agent
Coulson back to life. He was also in the American remake of Death at a Funeral.
Sadly, Glass died in 2016. The loss brought the crew of the Firefly and
its fans together as online tributes poured in. That's when it came out that Glass was
a quiet philanthropist, donating his time and money to the Wooten Center,
which helps Los Angeles kids embrace their educational potential.
River Tam was the unfortunate victim of Whedon's "strong female" shtick, aka the
"woman as a weapon" trope. Reduced to a fragile state by years of experimentation, but granted
extraordinary combat abilities befitting an undercover assassin, River could've been nothing
more than a plot device. But actor Summer Glau turned River into someone we wanted to see healed.
"He's bleeding."
"He looks better in red."
By the end of Serenity, she's earned that much. After Firefly ended, Glau followed Whedon,
appearing in four Dollhouse episodes as one of Topher's scientific peers.
Glau later co-starred in the cult sci-fi series Terminator:
The Sarah Connor Chronicles as an advanced T-900 unit named Cameron, sent back in time
to prevent John Connor's death. The actor went on to recur on Arrow, as a reimagined Ravager
named Isabel Rochev who eventually wrests Queen Consolidated from Oliver's control.
Where Zoe was the martial mind of the group, Jayne Cobb was basic muscle. A mercenary with
flexible loyalty, he nonetheless stayed by the Serenity crew's side when it mattered. It was
clear there were depths to this lunk. While he reunited with Fillion in an episode of Castle,
and Torres on 911: Lone Star, he's also the guy the fans have to just sort of... accept.
"Yeah, Mal?" "Jayne?"
"You got any enlightenment to shed on this development?"
"No, Mal."
A steady prime-time worker, Adam Baldwin — not a member of the Hollywood Baldwin clan — landed
his best role since Firefly as Commander Mike Slattery on The Last Ship. Based on a novel set
during a Cold War nuclear holocaust, the series shifted the setting to a viral pandemic. The show
wrapped in 2018, well before our real-world pandemic, but it probably did nothing for
Baldwin's mindset. A staunch conservative whose most notable post-Firefly nerd contribution is
getting involved with the then-nascent Gamergate movement, he's since devolved
to touting Ted Cruz's leadership potential and granting interviews to gaming rags whose
stock in trade is making young men angry about "woke libs." At least the Jayne hat still rules.
In only two episodes, Badger, underground figure and a master smuggler, became a Firefly breakout.
"I don't like the way you look down on me. I'm above you. Better than. Businessman, see?"
He represented the grimy side of the future and helped the Serenity crew
secure money to keep flying. Actor Mark Sheppard had already guested on Star Trek:
Voyager when he was tapped for the role. Sheppard would also join Whedon for Dollhouse,
turning up three times as an FBI agent unconvinced of the Dollhouse's dangers.
Sheppard then recurred on the SyFy hit Warehouse 13, graced seven episodes of Battlestar Galactica,
and growled his way through a term as the king of Hell in Lucifer's absence
for eight seasons of Supernatural. But for discerning Firefly fans,
he may be at his best in Doom Patrol, as the scruffy chaos wizard Willoughby Kipling.
"Name's Kipling. Willoughby Kipling. Knights Templar, in case you're wondering."
Though he doesn't get much time versus the villainous Mr. Nobody,
Sheppard is a treat in the later seasons,
helping the Patrol face off against werebutts — trust us, just go with it — and zombies.
Saffron represented Serenity's Irene Adler, as smart as Holmes' femme fatale yet still
stymied by the rough, gruff Serenity team's antics. Christina Hendricks was
near the start of her career when she joined Firefly, but the talent she'd
display in the years to come was right there in her fantastic portrayal of Mrs. Reynolds.
"Mr. Reynolds, sir. I'm your wife."
Hendricks evolved Saffron into the sharper Joan Harris on AMC's Mad Men,
earning six Emmy nominations for her work as a woman who leverages her skills and sexuality to
find her own power in a misogynistic world. She's also in Nicholas Winding Refn's repertory company,
appearing in both Drive and The Neon Demon. But Hendricks isn't
above returning to sci-fi on occasion. She lends her voice to Solar Opposites,
and starred in Ryan Gosling's cult fantasy film Lost River. Of all the actors in the
cast, it may be Hendricks who's moved the furthest away from her Firefly beginnings.