Joss Whedon fans, rejoice! The man behind fantasy and sci-fi classics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and The Avengers has teamed up with HBO to helm his first series in almost a decade. HBO has ordered Whedon's new sci-fi show, The Nevers, to series.
News broke today that Joss Whedon would act as executive producer, showrunner and writer for The Nevers, making this the first TV show he's helmed since his time on Fox's short-lived Dollhouse, which only lasted for two seasons in 2009 and 2010. According to The Wrap, The Nevers will focus on a "gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and on a mission that might change the world." Aside from being an intriguing setup, The Nevers sounds like it should bring pure Joss Whedon weird wonderfulness back to the small screen when it debuts. This will be the first time Whedon has done a series for premium cable.
Even though his last TV show ended in 2010, Joss Whedon has definitely kept busy in the years since. The creative powerhouse has mainly been focused on film work since Dollhouse ended, and became one of the primary architects of the MCU when he directed The Avengers and its first sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron. He also stepped in to finish Justice League last year when director Zack Snyder needed to step down following a family tragedy. Most recently, he was also attached to write and direct the DCEU's Batgirl movie, but left the project earlier this year after admitting he couldn't quite master the idea for the film he'd previously presented to Warner Bros.
On the TV side in more recent years, Whedon helped the MCU get a toehold in TV by directing the pilot for ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And, just a little over a month ago, it was announced that he is set to executive produce a new Freeform show, the half-hour dark comedy Pippa Smith: Grown-Up Detective.
While fans of Whedon's continue to alternately clamor for/campaign against a Buffy reboot or revival, he's kept busy in the fantasy and sci-fi realm that he's so well known for. I think most fans of his work would agree that if we can't get the original casts of Buffy (or Firefly, for that matter) back on screen, that having a new show in a totally different world from Joss Whedon is certainly sure to be a nice treat. Whedon himself called The Nevers an "odd, intimate epic" that he believes is the "most ambitious narrative" he's created, while praising HBO for understanding what he hopes to do with the idea and being a great network to bring it all to life.
Right now, there's no word on how many episodes of The Nevers we can expect to see in Season 1 on HBO, or when the series might actually debut, but stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we'll keep you up to date as news on the show breaks. For more of what you can catch on the small screen in the meantime, be sure to check out our summer premiere guide.
