Nathan Fillion and Firefly cast members are posting videos teasing a new project

So far he's visited five of the show's other cast members to tell them, 'It's time'

It's been 23 years since Fox summarily canceled Joss Whedon's single-season science fiction show Firefly before even airing all its episodes, and 21 years since the spin-off movie Serenity brought the cast back together for what seemed like a final story. The series earned a passionate fan base during its short run, and was popular enough to spark a series of spin-off novels, comics, and graphic novels. Since then, there have been convention cast reunions and periodic rumors of a possible series revival, but nothing more concrete. For the past week, though, Firefly star Nathan Fillion has been teasing something new for the Firefly crew.

Fillion, who played swaggering former rebel leader Mal Reynolds on the show, has been getting Firefly fans' hopes up by posting cryptic videos on Instagram, where he visits his former castmates at what appear to be their homes or the sets of their current projects. Each of these videos has some reference to the effect of "It's time," or "It's happening," followed by the two Firefly actors sharing a meaningful silence, while nodding, staring off into the distance, or making dramatic eye contact.

So far, Fillion has posted videos with Firefly co-stars Gina Torres (who played Mal's second-in-command Zoë Washburne), Morena Baccarin (Inara Serra), Sean Maher (Dr. Simon Tam), Summer Glau (River Tam), and in the most recent video, Jewel Staite (Kaylee Frye).

Comments on these videos from another Instagram account, "oncewewerespacemen" — the official account of a podcast Fillion records with Firefly co-star Alan Tudyk (Hoban "Wash" Washburne) — have promised an announcement to come on Sunday, March 15. The account has also debunked a few fans' guesses about what Fillion is teasing: "Some of you have guessed convention, podcast, or cross-over. You are wrong," the account posted on the Sean Maher video.

So far, the Firefly fandom seems reasonably cautious about these teases. While some may hold out hope for an actual 20-years-later Firefly series continuation, this coy, teasing lead-up on an actor's personal social media account doesn't seem like the way 20th Century Studios would announce a prominent project.

It also might seem hard to imagine a Firefly spin-off proceeding without Whedon, given how much the series centered on his specific writing voice, sense of humor, and narrative quirks. Whedon who disappeared from film and TV in 2021, after being accused of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct on the sets of Justice League, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other projects, and giving a disastrous response interview in response. He's largely been silent and absent from public life since then. Then again, Hulu is currently moving forward with a Buffy The Vampire Slayer revival/sequel series, reportedly with no involvement from Whedon.

A full Firefly revival would also inevitably be bittersweet for fans, given that two of the series' close-knit ensemble of rebels died in Serenity: Tudyk's character Wash and Glass' character, Shepherd Book. Glass himself died in 2016, but Tudyk continues to have an active career, often specializing in dramatically transformative voice roles (for instance, as K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Andor, Gary the robot in James Gunn's Superman, and a host of roles on Harley Quinn). So it's always possible he could cameo as a new character, possibly in voiceover. But Wash was enough of a fan favorite that continuing the show without him would likely provoke some negativity and disappointment for a nostalgia-driven audience.

It seems far more likely that the Firefly cast is planning some sort of joint project or appearance together — and the fact that it's being set up in such a circuitous fashion, in a way designed to get fans theorizing and hoping, suggests it might wind up being a small enough event that the participants felt just announcing it wouldn't make enough of a splash among their followers.

But I'm ready to be wrong about that. If this series of videos ends with Fillion visiting Whedon, that'll be huge news, and something really surprising to see. In the meantime, it seems like Fillion's followers are intrigued, but already feeling a little defensive about being baited this way. "I hope you all recognize that most of your fan base is currently perimenopausal and hanging on by the threads of our pretty floral bonnets," Instagram user Jen Brophy posted. "If this is a tease, we will make [Firefly cannibal villains] reavers look like golden retriever puppies."