Skip to main content

Firefly alumni reunite for upcoming Web series Con Man, ecstatic crowdfunders make it rain

alan tudyk nathan fillion con man web series
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Firefly fans who have been waiting to see two of their favorite stars reunited on screen found something to be excited about on Tuesday, when Nathan Fillion announced on Twitter that he and and co-star Alan Tudyk were crowdfunding a new comedy Web series, Con Man, on Indiegogo. Only two days after the campaign’s launch, not only has it been successfully funded, but it has nearly tripled its initial goal.

At least part of the series’ premise might sound a little familiar to fans of Firefly. Tudyk plays Wray Nerely, a co-star on the cult sci-fi series Spectrum, which (of course) was canceled before its time. Nerely spends his time on the convention circuit, while his friend and Spectrum star Jack Moore (Fillion) has become a major movie star. The show focuses on Wray and the strange things that happen to him between these conventions and other events.

Tudyk, who is the driving force behind the project, is quite open about his motivations in creating the project, writing on the Con Man Indiegogo page: “I wanted to make a show that featured all of my favorite convention artists and friends together. Not only that, I wanted to celebrate the world where heroes, villains, zombie hunters, and space pirates all overlap. I especially wanted to work with my friend Nathan Fillion again.”

The show will air exclusively on Vimeo, and a pledge of at least $25 gets backers early access to the entire series in HD. This is limited to a 90-day period, presumably because after this point the series will be available for everyone. There is no limit to how many times each episode can be streamed during the 90-day period.

While the Con Man Web series has already been successfully funded and has a long way to go before the end of the campaign, there are a number of stretch goals that, in addition to the usual crowdfunding goodies, add more episodes to the series’ first season. The initial number of episodes was three, though at the time of this writing four more have already been added and the fifth, unlocked at $1,150,000, has nearly been unlocked. Four more are unlockable at higher stretch goals, with the highest being at $1,750,000.

The campaign comes to a close on April 10, and there is currently no telling if more potential episodes will be added if all current stretch goals are unlocked. Check out the series’ campaign video below.

Con Man Indiegogo Campaign
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
7 most overrated Netflix shows of all time, ranked
Eleven, Will, Mike, and Jonathan standing and staring in a still from Stranger Things Season 4.

Netflix is home to great television. The best shows on Netflix usually dominate the pop culture discourse, earning positive praise from critics and fans alike. Some even make it all the way to the Emmys, with projects like The Crown even claiming the top prize.

However, not every show from the streamer is a home run. Even those that are widely acclaimed can easily be blown out of proportion. The quality of these shows has been severely exaggerated by both critics and audiences, and while they remain worthy and entertaining additions to the streamer's ever-increasing library, they might not be the masterpieces some consider them to be.
7. Stranger Things (2016-present)

Read more
25 years ago, The Matrix led a mini movement of sci-fi simulation thrillers
A man walks into a simulation in The Thirteenth Floor.

One way to grasp how fully our relationship to computers changed over the 1990s is to look at the cyberthrillers Hollywood made during that time. Mass surveillance, identity theft, the hacking of the soul — all the nascent technological anxieties of this new era were uploaded to movie screens like a virus. But there was no stopping what was coming, and over just 10 years, a world merely flirting with mass connectivity went irreversibly online. By the end of the decade (and, by extension, the century and millennium), the internet had become a major part of everyday life for many people. In turn, the word of warning evolved at the movies. Suddenly, computers weren’t just threatening your safety, your privacy, and your humanity. They were replacing life itself.

In the spring of 1999, the American multiplex was inundated with variations on that scary conclusion. First came The Matrix, a savvy sleeper blockbuster that used irresistible pop philosophy as the Krazy Glue of its spirited genre pastiche. Mere weeks later, eXistenZ, a weird Canadian thriller, dabbled in similar ideas, while bending them into the less mainstream shape of a drolly deranged espionage movie. And a few weeks later still, on Memorial Day weekend, we got The Thirteenth Floor, a twisty neo-noir about realities within realities that had the misfortune of opening in the wake of not just Matrix mania, but also the box-office event that was Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace.

Read more
7 best 2010s fantasy movies, ranked
Neville, Hermione, Ron, and Harry inside a dark tunnel in HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

For the fantasy genre, the 2010s were a time of both bittersweet endings and exciting beginnings. Dominated by epic franchises that would captivate fans across the globe, there were significant contributions to the genre and cinema as a whole from that era. Of course, there were also acclaimed standalone fantasy movies from talented directors who would use the best aspects of the genre while pushing its boundaries.

From the magical clash within Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to the captivating story of The Shape of Water, the best fantasy movies of the 2010s offer spectacular and otherworldly viewing experiences for audiences of all ages. Full of rich fantastical realms, well-written heroes and foes, and spell-binding stories, these films have cemented their place in cinematic history as must-see significant entries in the fantasy genre.
7. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Read more