Comic-Con 2012: Firefly 10th Anniversary in Ballroom 20

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Greetings comic book enthusiasts, movie lovers and everyone else in between! 2012 SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL will officially be kicking off starting Wednesday and ending on Sunday and the JoBlo team will be here covering the biggest panels, one-on-one interviews with the big stars, other large events as well as cool photos and videos from the exhibit floor.

I never could have imagined just how insane this event was going to be and this was the first time I had ever set foot in Ballroom 20 (which is just as busy as Hall H most times). From big laughs to soft tears, there was a lot of emotion for this panel as big fans of the cult sci-fi TV series and movie (including myself) joined in celebrating one of the best television shows ever made. Most of the cast and crew were there for the big event minus Jewel Staite and some others but it was still an extremely solid appearance. With that in mind I’ve broken down the events of the panel below for you along with some great pictures and finally a small video from the very end of the panel which was an extremely heart-warming moment for Joss Whedon and the fans. Enjoy!

– Nathan Fillion started out saying that nobody would give him a lead role in anything, just the 5th extra or some girl’s prick ex-boyfriend.

– They call the show a classic post-apocalyptic western much to the approval of the crowd.

– The moderator asked Nathan Fillion if it was difficult starting out but he zoned out and missed the question entirely causing a huge laugh from the audience. Alan Tudyk instead answered for him saying Nathan instead use to play name games with the cast when they started and rigged it so he would always win.

– Adam Baldwin is then asked about the famous warm hat he wears on the show and then surprised the crowd as he pulled out a replica and wrapped it around his microphone, the crowd went nuts.

– He then asked a trivia question to the audience (“Which planet did Tracy wish to be buried on?”) and whoever got it right won the hat. There was mic difficulties for the audience members at first but eventually one girl got it right and won.

– Summer Glau was asked if it was tough when she started out and did Joss still think she was the best person for the role. This led to a funny joke from Joss saying that if George Lucas can use CGI to replace his actors on STAR WARS, so can he.

– Joss was then asked why Nathan Fillion was perfect for the captain role to which Joss sarcastically replied that sometimes “we need to compromise” resulting in a huge laugh and funny expressions from Nathan. He also noted Nathan as being “extremely Canadian” resulting in all the Canadians in the room including myself cheering like crazy.

– The cast and crew then went on to say that the show has survived only because of the massive fan following. Fillion refers to the show not as a “cult following” but simply a “cult”.

– Joss mentioned that for Dark Horse Comics, the “Firefly” series is still their #1 selling to date.

– When asked by an audience member what their favourite piece of fan art was for the show, Alan Tudyk revealed that his sister created a painting when the show was cancelled that depicted Joss protecting a Firefly inside a small glass jar from the executives of Fox Television. This was met with epic applause.

– Another audience member then asked if there was going to be a possible animated TV series of FIREFLY to which the cast and Joss instead said they’d like to do it as a radio show. They then asked everyone to close their eyes as they acted out a hilarious scene.

– Fillion said he had a fever…and the only prescription…was more Firefly. I’m sure this will be on t-shirts very soon.

– Joss revealed that the show actually had a much smaller budget than both BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL.

– An audience member then asked if any of the cast or crew have ever camped out for an event in their lives and where. Joss then brilliantly replied “Yeah…I went camping”. Big laughs!

– Finally at the end, Joss was asked why the fans of the show and movie are so special to him which resulted in a roller-coaster of emotions and one of the biggest audience applause’s I’ve ever heard. You can watch the whole thing below.