Serenity’s 20th Anniversary: A Shiny Reunion and a Big Damn Shindig
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of the Universal motion picture Serenity, and there are two events planned to commemorate the occasion that will be of interest to Browncoats all over the ‘verse.
On Sunday, March 9, Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington is hosting a special panel called Big Damn Heroes: Celebrating 20 Years of Serenity on its main stage at 11am PT. Special guests will include cast members Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Summer Glau and Sean Maher, who will reflect on how the cult classic made the journey from television to the big screen, tell stories from behind the scenes and reminisce about their favorite moments during filming. The panel will of course include Q&A opportunities for fans. Several of the cast members will also be available for photo ops and autographs at the con on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9. For more information about the Serenity reunion at Emerald City Comic Con, visit the con’s website at emeraldcitycomiccon.com.
Normally, it wouldn’t get much bigger than a reunion of the cast of Firefly and Serenity, but the California Browncoats have done the impossible. They’ve put together an event over U-Day weekend that can only be described as a Big Damn Shindig. For the first time ever, the two most prestigious Browncoats events in the ‘verse— the Browncoat Ball and Can’t Stop the Serenity— will be united in one location.
The Big Damn Shindig will break atmo September 18-21, 2025, over Newhall, California, a little Los Angeles neighborhood that has been everything from a gold-mining settlement to a fruit-packing town to a shooting location for many a Hollywood Western. Some of the finer details are still in the conjuring stages, but this is what we already know the event will include:
• A Thursday night hangout to meet Browncoats from all over the ‘verse, play games, and visit with friends old and new.
• A bus tour of several Firefly/Serenity shooting locations on Friday, followed by a CSTS charity screening of Serenity on the rooftop bar of the Hotel Lexen with games, food, raffles and more. (Proceeds benefit Equality Now.)
• The Browncoat Ball on Saturday night, with music supplied by a DJ as well as a live set from The Fallen Stars.
• A weekend sendoff, complete with a picnic breakfast in Hart Park on Sunday morning.
More details are being released all the time, and hotel rooms should be available for reservation soon. To stay up to date and make sure you get to be a part of the misbehavin’, visit the Browncoat Ball website (browncoatball.com/2025/) for all the latest information.
And don’t you fret— all the fun and excitement out West doesn’t mean Pittsburgh won’t still have our own 20th annual Can’t Stop the Serenity charity screening this summer. We’ll be sure to bring you information about that shindig as soon as it becomes available as well.
In the meantime, look west… and keep flyin’.
- Chris