An interesting story. A hyper-loyal fanbase. A multi-faceted plot with some truly shocking twists. And not a lot of potty humor…well, not in English, anyway. SERENITY packs a powerful sci-fi punch that can breeze away those September celluloid doldrums with its pithy wit and dusty, grimy, cannibal-inhabited universe. Truly, it’s good fun.

In fact, you should go check this flick out even if you weren’t a fan of the TV series or one of the several hundred thousand people who bought the DVD.

You see, that’s one of the reasons SERENITY gets a wide-release feature film… fans have power these days. Especially sci-fi fans. See, we’re not just a bunch of con-attending pale-skinned hopelessly myopic nerds who amuse ourselves by making free phone calls with Captain Crunch whistles and typing out ASCII art. (Okay. Some of us are.) But more importantly, now that we’re getting a little older, now that we’re taking the reins of the economy (yikes), we’re more to the movie studios than just a sub-standard group of viewers. Trust me. I work at one.

Y’see, now we’re a demographic. They want to hear what we want to see. Because it makes them money. FAMILY GUY is still on TV because fans spoke up and bought DVD’s. SERENITY got a feature film release for the same reason. The point is, even if SERENITY isn’t going to break any box office records, you people should get off your Cheeze-whiz fed butts and put’em into the seats for SERENITY because of what it is: a well-told tale, with humor, horror, a tiny bit of battery operated sex, and hope that audiences will respond to something they’re not used to seeing this year: detailed stories that aren’t exactly like everything else that has come before.

Enter Joss Whedon. I’ll admit, I wasn’t a fan of BUFFY…I just didn’t have the time to get into that whole thing. Same with ANGEL. Whedon is a heck of a writer. Did you know he was nominated for an Oscar? Seems this guy wrote a screenplay to a little movie called TOY STORY. So he knows his stuff. And he’s flexing his creative deltoids with this spacey tale. Read on to hear what Joss has to say about strong chicks, and what’s next for him…

AT: FIREFLY, the TV show that SERENITY is based on, had an unusually powerful fan base. They were so vocal when the show was canceled, that you were able to make this movie. Who are you trying to reach with this film, your loyal fanbase, or Joe Onthestreet who’s never heard of you?

JW: I’m trying to reach everybody. I spent a huge amount of time in the writing, and even more so in the editing, making sure that you didn’t need to have seen the show to watch the movie. At the same time, no matter how I tried to put myself in the head of someone who hadn’t seen it, I couldn’t. So, we put it up in front of audiences who hadn’t seen it and didn’t know my work and my sensibility. We watched where we lost them, and where we confused them, and where emotionally they weren’t ready to follow us, and we spent a lot of time adjusting. We wanted it to be what it was supposed to be, which is a story for absolutely everybody.

AT: So you feel comfortable with this cut of the film being good for a universal audience?

JW: I do. We’ve shown it to a lot of audiences now who haven’t seen the show and the reaction has been really positive.

AT: How do you feel about the sixty or so grass-roots screenings that happened before the film came out? Was that a good move?

JW: It made me nervous because I wasn’t really seeing the big picture, which studio was. I thought, ‘What if we ring the dinner bell and everybody’s full?’ They said that the screenings were just a small portion of my fans, and that it was an even smaller portion of the people we’re trying to reach. What they were trying to do with the screenings was not just excite the fans and satisfy some of them, which was part of the point, but also to have them to make enough noise to have people who might not have the same level of interest say, ‘What’s all that noise about?’

AT: Without giving too much away, you make some very bold strokes in this movie. It’s very firm in its storytelling. Do you see potential for SERENITY to develop as a movie franchise, or have you ended this journey for this particular group of characters?

JW: I did what I always do, when given the opportunity: I did both. The movie must be self-contained and have a sense of finality. Ever since they didn’t un-freeze Han Solo at the end of Empire, I felt there was an unfairness to that kind of thing. Even if something were part of a trilogy, ultimately it has to stand alone. I love the idea of a SERENITY franchise, but I certainly wasn’t arrogant enough to assume there was going to be one when I made this, so I made this movie in an uncompromising fashion, assuming I never would see these characters again. The only thing I cared about was making this movie as exciting and meaningful and painful and funny as was possible.

AT: You’re known as a true fanboy who made good, which is a rarity. Knowing that you’re ‘one of us’, as it were, how do you feel about the live action STAR WARS TV series that’s on the way. Do you think that’s a good move?

JW: Actually, I think it’s bitchin’ and I’m jealous of whoever’s doing it.

AT: With your background as a heavy hitter in the world of sci-fi TV, has there been any talk that you might get to direct part of that series at some point?

JW: No, I haven’t. But I have to say that I’ve been sitting by my Princess Leia phone, waiting for the call. [Laughs] It’s not like I lack for things for do, but if someone were to call and say, ‘Do you want to make a STAR WARS TV series?’…you wouldn’t be able to get the drool out of my carpet.

AT: You recently finished a 12-issue ASTONISHING X-MEN comic storyline? Are you going to return to X-MEN? If so, when?

JW: I think our first issue will come out next year. The deal was always that we finish the first twelve, and then we get to take some months off because Johnny has some other projects he needs to concentrate on, and quite frankly, so do I. And then we’ll come swingin’ back in.

AT: Speaking of comics…you’ve got a feature film version of WONDER WOMAN in the works. What are you looking for in a lead character?

JW: Oh, only every damn thing. She has to be not only beautiful, but in a kind of specific way, almost exotically beautiful. She has to be able to act. I never make it easy on anyone. There’s going to be a lot of comedy. There’s going to be a lot of extreme drama. I’m really going to put her through her paces…and she has to be able to do a lot of physical stunts without any elbow or knee pads. I’m looking for somebody who might have to be made out of clay, because I don’t know anybody like that. I’ve been spoiled because of I’ve been working with Summer Glau. To find two of those in one lifetime…that’s going to be tough.

AT: How loyal do you plan on staying to the WONDER WOMAN comic?

JW: It will have an origin similar to the one we’re used to seeing. I feel that WONDER WOMAN has never been perfectly defined. There is no canon you can point to and say, ‘This is it, this is the era where she absolutely exists.’ I’m dedicated to the integrity of the character, but at the same time the world she’s in and the villains and the structure of the thing are going to me.

AT: What can you tell your fans about Wonder Woman's villain?

JW: [Laughs] Not much.

AT: Who does she face off against?

JW: Well, I can tell you this. The villain is not from the comic books. The villain comes from me. It's something I've discovered in my own extensive reading. I can tell you this: you're really going to like him.

AT: Summer kicks some serious ass in this film, but she also has the grace of a dancer. That must have been tough to develop, yes?

JW: Not at all. In fact, it was kind of a no-brainer for me. When we got the opportunity to make the movie, something I couldn’t really do with the TV show was to send her to fight school for months. She’s a dancer, she’s incredibly limber. I thought that if we just sort of re-applied her skills to martial arts, which took a lot of re-training, she’d be able to do stuff that no American action star could ever do. Including act.

AT: So you‘ve got River the super weapon, and Buffy monster killer, and now Diana, the Amazon. What is it about the strong female protagonists that draws you so strongly?

JW: I just love ‘em. They’re just the thing I want to write about. I have this very strong identification with them, and a small amount of creepy objectification, with these women who are just strong. I was raised by a strong woman. I married one. They’re the people that interest me. The people you don’t expect to be strong, that’s the thing I inevitably write about. That includes [SERENITY’S Captain] Malcom Reynolds. I don’t care how big and handsome he is, he doesn’t come off like a hero until it’s time for him to do so. That’s the story I love to tell: somebody finding strength in them that the world has always told them they didn’t have.

AT: Was there a conscious decision to stay close to the visual style of FIREFLY?

JW: They style was part of the world. The world of FIREFLY was very gritty and lived in. It wasn’t beautified. I had to down the handheld camera work, though. You can’t do as much shaky cam, and whip cam, on a movie screen, or you’re going to have people throwing up. The movie opens itself up to the idea that it is heroic, so the camerawork becomes more arched, more revealing. The movie starts out as the TV show, and then goes to directing your eye in a very purposeful way, and becomes the movie. That was deliberate.

So there you have it. Joss Whedon is trying to make movies for people just like you. Get out there and support him. And who knows? Maybe we’ll have a slate of less crummy movies to look forward to before too long.

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Tony’s Note: From a strictly academic standpoint, I had to ask Joss about this. But if you haven’t seen the film, do yourself a favor: don’t read this question until after you see the movie.

AT: Lots of people die in this flick. When you’re going to off one of your major characters, how do you decide which babies to barbecue?

JW: It’s a complicated process. You have to pick somebody where you don’t feel completely depressed by the end of the movie. At the same time, you have to pick someone who doesn’t have a target on their forehead, so you don’t see it coming. Believe me, there was a draft where nobody died…there was a concept where everybody died. You just sort of go through it. You weigh a ton of different factors. It’s never easy, but it’s always funny.

AT: “I am a leaf on the wind…” What a moment…

JW: Yeah. Well, if you don’t convince your audience that this battle is real, than the last 40 minutes of the movie is just noise.

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