Firefly

In a quick word in this week’s issue of Newsweek, the announcement was made that Joss Whedon will return to his own properties in comics this summer with a prequel to Serenity, Whedon’s upcoming feature film based on his cancelled TV series Firefly, set 500 years in the future.

From the original Universal press release on the film:

The Serenity cast will include such returning Firefly cast members as Nathan Fillion as Captain Malcolm ’Mal’ Reynolds, Gina Torres as Zoe Warren, Morena Baccarin as Inara Serra, Jewel Staite as Kaylee Frye, Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb, Sean Maher as Dr. Simon Tam and Summer Glau as River Tam.

The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, "Serenity." He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family - squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

When Mal takes on two new passengers — a young doctor and his unstable, telepathic sister — he gets much more than he bargained for. The pair are fugitives from the coalition dominating the universe, who will stop at nothing to reclaim the girl. The crew that was once used to skimming the outskirts of the galaxy unnoticed find themselves caught between the unstoppable military force of the Universal Alliance and the horrific, cannibalistic fury of the Reavers, savages who roam the very edge of space. Hunted by vastly different enemies, they begin to discover that the greatest danger to them may be on board "Serenity" herself.

Dark Horse Comics confirmed for Newsarama that they will be publishing the three-issue prequel, written by Whedon and Brett Matthews (a Firefly writer and former comics collaborator with Whedon), with art by Will Conrad. Issue #1 is due in July.

Serenity is due in theaters on September 30th.