Was Mr. Universe supposed to be in Firefly? by OPPYH

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Was Mr. Universe supposed to be in Firefly?

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POSTED BY: OPPYH
UPDATED: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 04:39
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/yAZw6s
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Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:20 AM

A question we may never know the answer to, but what do you think?

Did Joss have him lined up as a recurring character had Firefly gone into a second season, or did he just whip him up for the film Serenity?

Mr. Universe is one of my favorite characters in Serenity, and its a pretty genius idea that Joss had for our BDH stay in touch with he rest of the verse.
Any insight, or a definitive answer would be appreciated.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:23 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Since there were indications that they had dealings with him in the past would indicate that if the film's storyline had been put into a season, he probably would have appeared in that season at least a few times.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:53 AM

STORYMARK

Not being a fan of the character myself, I may be biased, but Im thinking no. At least, not as we saw him. He felt a bit too much like a Deus Ex Machima device introduced to expedite the sotry. Perhaps there would have been an information broker character at some point, but I doubt he would have been quite so omnicient.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:53 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

I liked him too. I thought he was a great character. I liked the fact that playing on one of his MANY screens was the Flash Gordon serials. We can only wonder at the myriad of characters that Joss & Co had lined up for us.
Was the idea that he lived on that planet/moon all by himself? If that's the case, his back story would have been very interesting.

(I found the lovebot element the hardest to deal with. I wonder too if there were to be Lovebots in the Firefly verse...?)

Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:31 AM

OPPYH

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
He felt a bit too much like a Deus Ex Machima device introduced to expedite the sotry. Perhaps there would have been an information broker character at some point, but I doubt he would have been quite so omnicient.

I see your point, but being the eyes, and ears of the verse he was sort of important in my opinion. He could have become an very well liked character given some time to flesh him out. Heck I liked him in the short time he was in the film. And so did the crew, they even buried him next to their own.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:40 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Quote:
Originally posted by TheSomnambulist:
Was the idea that he lived on that planet/moon all by himself? If that's the case, his back story would have been very interesting.

The novelization has a bit of information on that, as well as how he came to associate with the crew. I don't know how much of it came from early drafts of the script and how much came from the author's mind, but it makes a lot of sense to me.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:44 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by OPPYH:
Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
He felt a bit too much like a Deus Ex Machima device introduced to expedite the sotry. Perhaps there would have been an information broker character at some point, but I doubt he would have been quite so omnicient.

I see your point, but being the eyes, and ears of the verse he was sort of important in my opinion. He could have become an very well liked character given some time to flesh him out. Heck I liked him in the short time he was in the film. And so did the crew, they even buried him next to their own.

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I could definietly see a character of that type working on the show, no doubt. It was just, as presented, he felt more like a device to keep the plot moving.

"Goram it kid, let's frak this thing and go home! Engage!"

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:53 AM

THESOMNAMBULIST

Originally posted by PhoenixRose:

Quote:
The novelization has a bit of information on that, as well as how he came to associate with the crew. I don't know how much of it came from early drafts of the script and how much came from the author's mind, but it makes a lot of sense to me.

Thanks Rose... Kind of like the idea of having a planet all to oneself...

Cartoons - http://cirqusartsandmusic.blogspot.com

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 1:09 PM

ZEEK

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Not being a fan of the character myself, I may be biased, but Im thinking no. At least, not as we saw him. He felt a bit too much like a Deus Ex Machima device introduced to expedite the sotry. Perhaps there would have been an information broker character at some point, but I doubt he would have been quite so omnicient.

I agree. It really felt like the character was created just to serve a purpose.

Though I do like the character and think he fits into the verse pretty well. I could see him being a recurring character. I just doubt he was thought up before the movie.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 1:31 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

I'm never reading the novelization, I've heard it wouldn't be to my liking or my view of the verse.

I didn't really like Mr. Universe either, he just sort of appeared and was sort of flat, just there to accomplish the plot but without substance in his own right. If there had been a few episodes about him then he might have grown on me.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 2:22 PM

VEXEM

Since Serenity is supposed to be a super-abridged season 2, I'd say yes he would have shown up in a few episodes.

I like the character and the way he was portrayed. I can see how some think he was flat, but I just think of it as subtle and nuanced.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:36 PM

VERASAMUELS

The novelisation is [IMHO] very good. Keith R A deCandido is a cunning wordsmith :-)

Devout Keeper of Jayne's Lunchbox

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Friday, January 27, 2012 12:13 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
He felt a bit too much like a Deus Ex Machima device introduced to expedite the sotry. Perhaps there would have been an information broker character at some point, but I doubt he would have been quite so omnicient.

I agree with this, at least as to how he was presented in the movie, maybe in the series he would have come off differently. His character also gives the story a more comic book tone - 1 guy running and managing all of that? Really? and his name is Mr. Universe? - and away from the idea of the 'Verse as a real place a bit too much for me.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Friday, January 27, 2012 3:21 AM

ZZETTA13

I see that the opinions of Mr.U here vary around 50/50 (likes vs not so much). Anyway, guess I would call him a “not really concerned” character in my opinion. Meaning, I really wouldn’t have cared if he showed up in a season 2 of Firefly or not. Just the feel I got from him. After all didn’t he try to turn in the crew of Serenity, FOR MONEY!!! What kind of friend would do a thing like that?

I donno, maybe he had a trick up his sleeve and was planning a double-cross of the operative, only the operative got there first. He did redeem himself a bit with the Love-Bot thing, (Lenore informing Mal about the second broadcasting station), which brings up another issue……

The Love-Bot….I’m with Somnambulist on this too. I mean I get the love-bot thing and all, but it seems that Mr. U and the love-bot slant opened up a whole new side to the space-western themed show. I’m supposing that IF Mr. U, a genius, inhabiting a world all alone, could fab a cyborg, why couldn’t a ruling government who sports the greatest minds in the verse (by hook or crook, either way)? War-bots coulda been used against the Independent Army so that no purplebelly lives woulda been lost.

Getting off the subject a bit so I’ll stop there. Anyway I liked the BDM enough to rent FF, and that’s were my real enjoyment of the verse began. I do wish at some point a season 2 will come about. If it’s GREAT then we can call this a win! If not, it will simply be ignored and hoped to go away.

ZBP

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Sunday, January 29, 2012 8:51 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Interesting point about bots, if we can make love bots then we can make war bots and no one has to fight in the trenches, trenches: the worst way to fight a war, why would anyone ever do that again?

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012 3:07 AM

LEMMING

'Cos having a battalion of ED 209s stomping about with corrupted civilian/military discrimination circuits isn't at all a scary idea?

:-)

Joss of course has visited the robot idea more than once. (And if you think military and lovebots are future fic, just Google them and see that they are already here, at least in early form): the whole Buffy Bot thing (and prior to that Warren's lovebot turned stalker and also an ex boyfriend of Buffy's mother who turned out to be a bot.)

Also, in the Serenity comic Better Days, the story concerned at least in part the theft of a high end military robot.

The problem (using robots for war) has been dealt with in many SF stories over the years and has featured in "mainstream" media like Star Wars, Robocop and Star Trek. (To name just a few)

Trouble is, once you posit self reliant, adaptable, widely available and affordable (even if relatively expensive) robots, they are too damn useful to not become very widespred and probably have a major impact on the society concerned (again dealt with in many SF stories - Asimov's future society being a notable example.)

I suspect that Mr Universe, Badger, YoSaffBridg and even Jubal Early may have made further appearances in Firefly if it had been picked up and I'd certainly have had no problems with that.

Nick

The Signal < www.serenityfirefly.com>

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012 7:48 AM

M52NICKERSON

DALEK!

Ignoring the comics....

Lenora did not seem all that advanced. Mr. Universe did need a controler in his hand to make her wave. She did not move at all in the wedding video. She watched Mr. Universe killed without a responce, and then just kept playing Mr. Universe's least message over and over.

I do not fear God, I fear the ignorance of man.

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012 4:39 AM

GWEK

Universe was created for the movie. As with many things in the translation of a (for lack of a better term) more expansive medium (such as a TV series, novel, or comic book) into the condensed format of a motion picture, everything in a movie must serve multiple purposes. Here, Universe is a superior information source, as well as a potential safe haven and a venue for the crew to get the message out to the 'Verse.

If Joss had continued the story of the crew as a TV series, he would have had the luxury of not having to "double up" all of those ideas (just as, due to a rights issue, he would have had the luxury of using Badger rather than Mingo & Fanty).

Now, does the fact that Mister Universe was created for the movie mean he WOULDN'T have shown up in the series? That's unknown, and quite possibly unknowable. Could be that Joss himself doesn't know what his detailed needs for the continuing show would have been.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

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