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‘Firefly’ Spoof ‘Con Man’ To Star Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion, Funded By 46K Fans, All-Star Comic-Con Panel Premiere [Video]

By Dionne Charlet
Published on: 05:48 PST, Jul 10, 2015

The Firefly spoof Con Man, created by Firefly star Alan Tudyk, is an upcoming web series made possible by funding by 46,000 fans, according to Entertainment Weekly. The show will star Tudyk and his former Firefly Captain Malcolm (Mal) Reynolds, portrayed by Castle star Nathan Fillion.

The trailer premiered Thursday during a Comic-Con panel hosted by the all-star cast for Con Man.

In the upcoming web series, Alan Tudyk spoofs the fandom and popularity of Fillion’s Captain Mal and Tudyk’s own Firefly persona, Hoban “Wash” Washburne.

The poster, part of the set backdrop throughout the web series, features a larger than life Nathan Fillion as Jack Moore, whose fame from the fictitious Spectrum show granted him A-list actor status. Meanwhile, in the background, Alan’s character, Wray Nerely, isn’t nearly as successful as his co-star. The series focuses on Nerely and his hilarious ordeals as a less-well-known character from a beloved canceled cult television show on the convention circuit.

In reality, Tudyk is a current show stopper on the convention circuit, beloved by loyal followers of Firefly and Serenity for his portrayal of pilot Wash on the decade-old sci-fi mega-hit. In addition to his cult actor status as Wash, Alan is known for his roles as Wat from the movie A Knight’s Tale, Alpha from the TV drama Dollhouse, and Dodgeball’s Steve the Pirate.

Alan performed as the evolved robot Sonny from I, Robot. Per IMDb, he was the voice of the Duke of Wesleton in Disney’s Frozen, Cholly from Ice Age: The Meltdown, the 2014 voice of Superman in Justice Leauge: War, and countless other animated shorts, series, and movies.

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Tudyk recently commented on the momentum the Con Man project has engendered from the public.

“We hoped the fans would embrace this show,” Alan shared with Entertainment Weekly. “They absolutely did and still haven’t let go. It’s like a bear hug without the teeth and the claws.”

The one-season-wonder Firefly became hugely popular with fans, or Browncoats, as they call themselves, rising the show to epic cult status and garnering its own annual fandom track at big science fiction conventions like San Diego Comic Con and DragonCon in Atlanta.

Fox canceled the series after airing only 12 of the 15 episodes for the season. Fans reacted with a push to move Firefly to a new network, and the resulting saga catapulted embattled creator Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) into hero status throughout his fight for the continuation of the Western science fiction drama. With a boost from the fandom community, Whedon produced Serenity, the movie followup to the series finale, and fans still wanted more, even ten years later.

Tudyck heard the cries of the people, and he hit Indiegogo with a fundraiser for his Con Man project. Firefly fans responded. In fact, 46,000 people responded with donations, making a record contribution of $2.6 million.

“We gotta go to the crappy town where I’m a hero!” Hoban “Wash” Washburne, portrayed by Alan Tudyk, said in the Firefly episode “Jane’s Town.”

The panel showcased a long list of featured stars from Con Man, which includes supporting roles and cameos by Seth Green, Henry Rollins, Milo Ventimiglia, Felicia Day, James Gunn, The Walking Dead’s Emily Kinney, Firefly alum Gina Torres, and even Joss Whedon himself.

Battlestar Gallactica’s Tricia Helfer is on board, as previously outlined in the Inquisitr. Helfer will play a love interest to Alan’s Nerely. Michael Trucco, also of BSG, tweeted this cast panel photo.

A Twitter clip from the panel shows Alan Tudyk paying ketchup tribute to his fallen Serenity character, Wash.

It seems Firefly will live on in spoofdom as long as Comic-Con attendees can line up in browncoats to fund their own spin-offs and favorites from the show like Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion are willing to perform.

The Con Man web series will air this September on Vimeo.

[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]

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