It’s nearly 15 years to the day that Firefly was canceled back in 2003. How fitting, then, that as we approach that most traumatic of anniversaries, we can share with you the following news: Joss Whedon is making a new science fiction drama, and it’s going to be on HBO.
According to Variety, the pay-cable giant has given a series order to The Nevers, a brand-new show from a guy who has been making some very fun comic-book movies for the past decade (and also, um, Justice League), but who is frankly long overdue to get back to doing what he did for so long: make very good TV shows. The Nevers is described as “a sci-fi epic about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.” That sounds about right.
HBO landed the series after a bidding war that saw the channel beating out Netflix for the chance to produce Whedon’s new project, and the writer-director sounds pretty chuffed to be working free from the constraints of network television for a change—and probably very excited to be nowhere near the vicinity of the Fox network:
I honestly couldn’t be more excited. The Nevers is maybe the most ambitious narrative I’ve created, and I can’t imagine a better home for it than HBO. Not only are they the masters of cinematic long-form, but their instant understanding of my odd, intimate epic was as emotional as it was incisive. It’s been too long since I created an entirely new fictional world, and the HBO team offer not just scope and experience, not just ‘prestige,’ but a passionate collaboration. I could go on, but—I’m impatiently grateful to say—I have work to do.
There is no word on when the series is expected to debut. Whedon will continue to serve as an executive producer on the upcoming Freeform series Pippa Smith: Grown-Up Detective.