TV creator and film director Joss Whedon revealed last Friday night at San Diego Comic-Con that his cult hit “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” will air for the first time on television this season on The CW, and talked a little about the upcoming Firefly comics series coming soon from Dark Horse.
During the “Joss Whedon: Dark Horse” panel at the annual San Diego event, Whedon discussed his love of television, his iconic shows and a sequel to his cult hit “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” which will air for the first time on TV this season on The CW.
Whedon, his two brothers and his wife created the 2008 musical tragicomedy miniseries for the web during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. “Dr. Horrible” tells the story of aspiring supervillain Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris), his nemesis Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion) and the woman they both love Penny (Felicia Day). The little miniseries that could was a huge hit with members of the Whedonverse and critics.
As for “Dr. Horrible 2,” Whedon couldn’t say much, but he did tease some details. “We’re going to do three prequels, but they’re going to suck,” Whedon joked to the crowd via Newsarama.com. “We’ve been working on it for about two years. We have a bunch of songs, we know exactly where we’re going. I can’t wait to tell you more about it … That’s gonna start happening hopefully soon … some of the actors in it are kind of successful!”
He commented that he would like to return to television at some point, though he described what it was like working with Fox Television by pantomiming being trapped in an invisible box. “Most of the good storytelling going on in America is done through television,” he said. He doesn’t currently know what project he’d try to bring to television or what form that would take.
The Dark Horse panel, which was assembled to celebrate the much-beloved Firefly series’ 10th anniversary, reunited most the main cast and featured many tears and standing ovations from both fan and cast alike. The Avengers director also talked about his upcoming comic book series from Dark Horse, which will pick up some time after Firefly and Serenity. At the conclusion of the panel, when asked how he felt about the show’s fans (affectionately called “Browncoats”), Whedon found himself at a rare loss for words. Fans and cast members encouraged the overcome Whedon with an uproar of cheers, and teary-eyed applause.
When he was able to regain composure, a still slightly choked-up Whedon said “… When I see you guys, I don’t think the show’s off the air. I don’t think there’s a show. I think that’s what the world is like. I think there’s spaceships. I think there’s horses. The story is alive. “After his kind words, Whedon’s Firefly teammates joined the packed crowed in a standing ovation to the show’s creator.
Beyond the upcoming Dark Horse comic book series, the fate of Firefly is still up in the air; but during the panel, Whedon talked about how the series would have explored more of the Blue Sun conspiracy and revealed more about the mysterious lives of fan-favorite Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) and Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin). Whedon also talked about how the series would have wrapped up much differently if he knew the end was near.
