(no subject)

[scarfman]

In a comment on the message board at whedonesque.com Joss Whedon has categorically denied that any Serenity sequel is in the works. He states that recent sightings of him in the company of Firefly cast members are because they're pals, which suggests to me that he's merely denying that there'll ever be a movie sequel, so hope remains for the comics sequels I've always postulated as a likely Plan B.

He also confirms that the reason Spike ran off to deepest Africa at the end of BVS season six was that Marsters was up for the part of Mordred Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis. Since I've always believed that Spike was resouled in order to participate in plotlines that had been conceived for Angel before Angel got spun off, the revelation that Marsters may not have been available for season seven gives me two never-weres to wish I'd seen: Marsters as Shinzon and greater Angel crossover in season seven.

In other news, I seem to have eschewed my previous "roundup" entry style for short subjects in favor of just posting when I have the hell something to say.

Comments

[athelind.livejournal.com]

...I've always believed that Spike was resouled in order to participate in plotlines that had been conceived for Angel...

I don't know; watching BVS and Angel, I got the impression that Whedon was the the sort of auteur who let the story develop naturally from the interactions of the characters, rather than railroad it along some master plan. I'm sure he had some general outlines for each season, but I don't think that the Buffyverse had the same kind of I Know The End Already Grand Plan that, say, JMS had for Babylon 5.

Smallville is a good look at what happens when you have strong characters and chemistry and a grand plan. It's been dancing merrily 'round the shark tank for several seasons now, as the Predestined Paths The Characters Must Follow Because It's A Prequel conflict with the way the characters -- for lack of a better term -- want to grow. If this weren't de facto and de jure the "Adventures Of Superman When He Was A Boy", Lex would have supplanted Clark the protagonist. He's the stronger character, with a more interesting developmental arc and, curse of curses, the more charismatic actor.

You can see the writers struggle with it, and I think it's a main reason why the storyline has grown so complex and confusing. They have to keep PUSHING Lex into the sinister roles, and, frankly, they have to do the same to keep angsty, whiney Clark heroic.

[athelind.livejournal.com]

Oh, and Marsters should have been the one to play the title role in Constantine.

[billfl.livejournal.com]

Here's something I've wondered for some time now: when the demon gave Spike back his soul at the end of S6, it seemed to me as though he had tricked him.

The general feeling I get, from both later canon and ficcers, is that Spike's whole purpose going to Africa was to get his soul back. My impression, though, was that Spike wanted the chip out of his head and to get enough power to take down the Slayer once and for all. The demon just (shock, horror) betrayed him at the end.

Am I wrong? Or am I just nuts? (That I could be both is certainly an option).

[blinovitch.livejournal.com]

I read it as a fake-out on the writer's part. They wanted the audience to believe Spike endured the trials in order to be able to take revenge on the slayer, only revealing at the end it was his intention all along to gain a soul.

[scarfman]

That was, what, four or five years ago now?

My immediate reaction was the same as yours. But either scarfwoman or scarfmom told me no, Spike was after that on purpose, though I don't remember whether it was her own personal interpretation or she'd read it in the fan press. I recall that at the time I was able to look back on what Spike muttered to himself in the immediate wake of the attempted rape in the bathroom, and see that it was worded purposefully ambiguously. Actually, I'm not sure that I didn't decide fairly quickly on my own that the soul was what he'd been after all along. Oh, I dunno, I don't remember. The bottom line is, I got the same impression you did but, yes, later developments show that the soul is what Spike was after All Along.