Conventions are a great time for actors to get together amidst promoting new show son the upcoming TV schedule, to share friendly thoughts and maybe snap a photo to get their collective fanbases talking. I'm not sure that was Anson Mount's intention when he came across Nathan Fillion as the two spent time together at Dragon Con, but there seems to be a lot of Firefly and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds fans excited to see them together!
As readers wait for more upcoming Trek shows, and for anything live-action to happen with the Firefly franchise, the Captains of the Enterprise and Serenity crossed paths over the weeked at the Con. Check out the photo Anson Mount shared to Instagram, which fills my sci-fi-loving heart with joy:
I have to wonder if the two men suspected just how much of a hit this photo would be with geekier fans such as myself, or if that was just a pleasant surprise Anson Mount realized as the likes started to pour in. Unsurprisingly, there's no shortage of comments about how cool it would be to see these two actors appear in a series together:
- My wife saw this & immediately said 'If they ever make a show with those two I’d instantly watch the F’ outta it' Just realized this is the colab we all need, two 🐐 of Sci-Fi. - @ChrisMarasky
- Get Mal onto SNW! - @mdlutzz
- Oh, Captains, my captains? When worlds collide! - @fishaann
- Captain Pike meets Captain Reynolds. Shiny! - @alansfigures_and_art3140
- Two epic space captains, together at last! 💯 - @shatterhand2049
Many people who saw the photo were thinking exactly my thoughts in which the two ship captains teamed up in some capacity. But then there's the guy suggesting a crossover happen between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and The Rookie, a concept I don't ever see coming to life.
But I would love to see Fillion appear as the Captain of a ship on Season 4 of Strange New Worlds that just so happens to share a striking resemblance to the Serenity. Filming has already wrapped on Season 3, and I'm just assuming Fillion isn't in on that action, though I can't say for certain.
A Con-set picture on Instagram obviously doesn't dictate whether or not actors will appear in each other's shows, but it's worth mentioning that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner Henry Alonso Myers liked the post. Myers and co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman have taken some big swings in retconning the story of Khan Noonien Singh. Could they ever do something as bold as make the Firefly universe canon in Trek?
It could probably happen with enough legal wrangling , but what seems easier is setting up Nathan Fillion to appear in Strange New Worlds as a Starfleet captain or maybe some smuggler running an operation from under the Federation's nose. Fillion noted years back he'd love to see more Firefly happen, so maybe they could just have an unnamed captain of a ship that's heavily implied to be his Malcolm Reynolds.
I'd be for it, especially since Jonathan Frakes recently made a good point about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The show is beloved because of the big swings it takes, but how long can you maintain that? Each season has to continually raise the bar and keep those watching glued to that Paramount+ subscription because they don't know what the show is going to do next. Considering some of the far-flung storytelling we've already seen, a Firefly crossover might be the required to still keep fans on their toes by the time Season 4 arrives.
While we have no idea whether or not Nathan Fillion will appear on Star Trek, we do know we can expect him to return in The Rookie in Season 7. That's not returning to ABC until midseason 2025, however, so maybe pass the months waiting by rewatching Firefly?
