Entertainment
Firefly Is Coming Back In The Best Way Possible
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
At the 2026 AwesomeCon in Washington D.C., history was made during the Once We Were Spacemen podcast panel. Nathan Fillion, co-host of the podcast alongside Alan Tudyk, announced to the assembled nerds that Firefly is coming back as an animated series.
While no one thought we’d ever actually get more Firefly outside of the comic books, the news was made even better: the original cast is returning. Yes, that includes Alan Tudyk, since the upcoming series between the end of the 2001 series and Serenity, the animated series, will include Wash.
Getting the Band Back Together
For the last few weeks leading up to the AwesomeCon panel, Nathan Fillion has been releasing teaser videos walking up to his old co-stars’ homes and saying, “It’s time.” Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, Adam Baldwin, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, and, of course, Alan Tudyk, all appeared in the social media clips. Sadly, Ron Glass, who played Shepared Book, passed away in 2016. He’d be right there with the rest of the crew.
The only notable absence is series creator Joss Whedon, who has nothing to do with the upcoming project as his Hollywood exile is still in effect following multiple #MeToo accusations and the disastrous Justice League production. Instead, the upcoming Firefly animated series is being run by Marc Guggenheim, one of the masterminds behind Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, and Tara Butters, known for Marvel’s Agent Carter and the cult hit comedy series, Reaper. Given their pedigree, the show already appears to be in good hands, but then there’s the animated studio, Shadow Machine, which you might recognize from BoJack Horseman, Clone High, and Robot Chicken.
An Animated Series Avoids The Legacy Reboot Trap
Firefly’s return, 21 years after Serenity, is a huge surprise to the legion of fans, who refer to themselves as browncoats after the same rebel army Mal and Zoey fought for against the Alliance. After years of false starts, video games that never materialized, and the continued success of the cast keeping them too busy to ever make a reunion possible, all hope had been lost. An animated series may not be ideal to some, but it’s the best possible outcome for a revival series.
The death of Wash in Serenity would complicate a sequel series, and if it were a live-action series set 20 years later to explain why everyone looks older, that’s 20 years of off-screen story development. No series could satisfy fans by filling in decades of information that long after the fact. There’s no connection to any of it, no emotional stakes, and it would literally be a history lesson.
An animated Firefly gives us the young characters that the fans know and love from the short-lived series, and doesn’t have to explain why Wash is back in the pilot’s chair. The choice also allows River to move like the anime character she was already meant to be. It’s better this way than a live-action legacy series that never gets off the ground. There’s currently no release date for the new Firefly animated series.
Entertainment
Snag a pair of Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for $50 off
SAVE $50: As of May 6, get the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) for $399 at Amazon, down from their usual price of $449. That’s a discount of 11%.
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If you want to experience your favorite music to the fullest, you need headphones that are up to the task. Bose can typically be counted on to provide that kind of quality, especially with its QuietComfort lineup. You can try its newest model for less right now for less thanks to this Amazon deal, which heavily discounts the cans so you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg on them.
As of May 6, get the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) for $399 at Amazon, down from their usual price of $449. That’s $50 off and a discount of 11%.
Though an incremental upgrade from the previous QuietComfort model, these have some new features you’ll want to try out. But mostly, these comfortable headphones are all about feeling great on your ears and sounding fantastic. They offer noise cancellation and spatialized audio so it sounds as though you’re right where the music is. The new Cinema Mode can help to spatialize and balance background and sound and sound effects when watching movies to help put you right into the film as well.
Beyond that they can be used to take calls with their built-in microphones. They’ll last a long time while you’re on the phone too, with 30 hours of play time when listening to songs, podcasts, or taking meetings.
Mashable Deals
Mashable Lead Shopping Reporter Bethany Allard took the headphones for a spin in her review and and called them a “well-rounded pair of headphones”, praising their blend of “comfort, noise cancellation, and sound”.
If you’re ready to pick up a new pair of headphones at a discount that’ll tick all the boxes for you, grab these before the discount disappears.
Entertainment
Score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
SAVE 64%: Between May 6 and May 17, you can score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
Get up to 64% off plus a free solar panel with purchase
I live in an apartment, so I don’t exactly have a “whole home” to back up. But if there’s one thing I hate, it’s losing power. There goes the AC, the internet, the food in the fridge — it’s a total nightmare. If you actually own a house and have been putting off buying a backup power system because it’s pricey, I have some good news.
The DJI Power 1000 Mini portable power station just launched — U.S. availability is pending
Right now, EcoFlow is running a Mother’s Day Sale through May 17 with discounts as high as 64%. They’re also throwing in free hardware to sweeten the deal: All single orders between $600 and $3,000 come with a free 45W solar panel, and orders over $3,000 come with two free 160W solar panels. If you’re looking for something more portable, their RAPID Power Banks are also up to 53% off right now.
Just keep an eye on the countdown clock — it’s for the Flash Sale items that have even better, limited-time price cuts. If you miss the flash window, the standard Mother’s Day and Home Improvement deals (including a $700 installation discount for larger systems) are still valid through mid-May.
Mashable Deals
Here are a few of the best deals I’ve spotted so far:
Entertainment
Maddies Secret trailer reveals John Early as youve never seen him before
Comedian John Early makes his feature directorial debut with Maddie’s Secret, an offbeat homage to melodrama that he wrote and headlines as its eponymous heroine.
As an aspiring food influencer, Maddie Ralph (Early) is passionate about her cuisine. And at first glance, she’s got a picture-perfect life: a loving husband (Eric Rahill), a devoted best friend (Kate Berlant), and a job at a culinary content studio called Gourmaybe. But as the title suggests, there’s a side to Maddie she can’t stomach sharing with her loved ones. And this secret could kill her.
Out of the movie’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall, I cheered Maddie’s Secret, writing in my review for Mashable, “The film is silly and strange, but even amid campy bits, sincere. So, you’ll laugh at its parody elements, but may well be genuinely moved by Early’s commitment to this strange and splendid film.”
I also said “John Early is a better ingénue than Sydney Sweeney,” comparing Maddie’s Secret to another earnest (but less entertaining) TIFF offering, Christy. And I stand by it.
Maddie’s Secret opens in theaters in New York on June 19, and in Los Angeles on June 26.
Snag a pair of Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones for $50 off
Score up to 64% off at EcoFlow and snag free solar panels with your purchase.
