Victorian Sci-Fi, huh?

[beer_good_foamy]

Joss Whedon Sci-Fi Drama 'The Nevers' Ordered Straight to Series at HBO

Joss Whedon is returning to television.

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum has landed a straight-to-series order at HBO for Victorian drama The Nevers. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the drama landed at the premium cable network amid a competitive situation with multiple bidders, including streaming giant Netflix. An episode count and premiere date have not yet been determined.

The Nevers is described as an epic science fiction drama about a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies and a mission that might change the world. Whedon will serve as writer, director, exec producer and showrunner on The Nevers.

"I honestly couldn't be more excited. The Nevers is maybe the most ambitious narrative I’ve created, and I can’t imagine a better home for it than HBO," Whedon said. "Not only are they the masters of cinematic longform, but their instant understanding of my odd, intimate epic was as emotional as it was incisive. It's been too long since I created an entirely new fictional world, and the HBO team offers not just scope and experience, not just 'prestige,' but a passionate collaboration. I could go on, but — I’m impatiently grateful to say — I have work to do."

So if it's "Victorian", I guess it's set in Britain? I'm sure all my British friends are breathing a sigh of relief that Joss will once again get to indulge his anglophilia?

Comments

[ozma914]

Hm ... we'll see. Well, I won't, since I don't get HBO. Hope it goes well, though.

[kerk_hiraeth]

As I commented when someone posted this story on facebook.

"Good to see Hollywood's willingness to punish serial abusers at work."

kerk

[frogfarm]

"The cast are all senior citizens playing Victorian spinsters, I hope."

[shadowkat]

Sounds like Steam-Punk? And it doesn't necessarily have to be in Britain, although...it's hard to do true Victorian without it being in Britain. But, he apparently likes that time period, if you think about it -- all the vampire flashbacks for Buffy where in the 1800s.

Hmmm...I'm not a fan of steam-punk, mainly because I think the Victorian Age has been overdone, just as WWII has been overdone in fiction. But has there been a steampunk television series? Also Joss likes to play with sexual repression and sexual gothic horror which lend themselves rather well to the Victorian Age. After all, I think the Victorians were the ones who invented the whole vampire as sexual repression trope. (Maybe not).

[local_max]

IIRC, a while back there was a Victorian-set comic called Twist Whedon was set to write, which he described as kind of Dark Willow-esque (!!!), and it never materialized, so I wonder if this is somehow related to some of the ideas from that. Time will tell, I guess!

[elisi]

Freshen Ya Drink, Guv'nah?

Eh. Don't get HBO, and I would need very strong recommendations from the most ardent feminists before I had a look. Unless he has taken steps to correct his flaws, I don't know that I would be terribly interested.