Firefly Becomes Cyberpunk In This 26-Part Sci-Fi Masterpiece Series
Joss Whedon's Firefly is one of the best space Westerns ever made, but an earlier show took that genre and added cyberpunk into the mix, creating a 26-episode masterpiece. Firefly is often considered one of the best science fiction shows ever made, and for good reason. The cast of Firefly boasted great actors playing lovable characters, the entire galaxy felt alive, and every episode put the Serenity's found family into a new and exciting misadventure.
Though it was infamously canceled after a single season, Firefly's legacy long outlived it. The show became a cult classic that spawned the sequel movie Serenity and is even getting an animated reboot of Firefly. It also continues to influence the entire sci-fi genre to this day, which is plain to see in more recent sci-fi Westerns like The Mandalorian and Defiance. Simply put, Firefly had a much bigger impact than its single-season run would have indicated.
The only real problem with Firefly was how short-lived it was. Even with the Serenity movie, viewers wanted more of the show's space Western universe and its colorful found family dynamics. Luckily, there's another show that provides exactly that, and it actually predates Firefly. That show is Cowboy Bebop, a 26-episode masterpiece that's considered one of the greatest anime shows ever made.
Cowboy Bebop Paved The Way For Firefly’s Space Western Setting
Joss Whedon probably wasn't directly inspired by Cowboy Bebop, as the former series only premiered in the United States in 2001, just a year before Firefly. However, fans could be forgiven for thinking that based on how similar the shows are. Even just broadly, Cowboy Bebop and Firefly both revolve around a ragtag group of guns for hire that travel across the stars on an outdated and run-down spaceship while trying to make some money.
If you get more granular, Firefly and Cowboy Bebop become even more similar. Spike and Mal are essentially the same endlessly cool captain hiding a deeply hurt and sensitive interior. The crews of the Bebop and the Serenity are all running from something in their pasts, and they all come together to form a found family. Both shows also have those spaceships bring an incredibly gifted young woman aboard without really knowing what she's capable of, Ed and River. The worlds of both shows are broken and filled with unique criminals for the main cast to fight.
They even had similar receptions in the real world; like Firefly, Cowboy Bebop wasn't initially popular due to being aired out of order in Japan, but it found a massive cult following in America (via Toon'd In!). Even the kind of show that Cowboy Bebop and Firefly were is almost identical. They're two of the earliest and most influential space Westerns in television history, and both of them have gone on to inspire everything from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to The Mandalorian. Basically, if you liked Firefly at all, you're guaranteed to love Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy Bebop Leans Further Into Cyberpunk Than Firefly Ever Did
Cowboy Bebop and Firefly do have their differences, of course, but one of the biggest ones works in the former's favor. Cowboy Bebop dives much further into the cyberpunk subgenre of sci-fi than Firefly ever did. Firefly had its share of cyberpunk elements, from oppressive governments to run-down ships, but it was always a space Western first and foremost.
Conversely, Cowboy Bebop was much more interested in blending cyberpunk with space Westerns. Spike, Jet, and Faye routinely go on missions in sprawling and technologically advanced cityscapes. The world of Cowboy Bebop is filled with high-tech, from casino spaceships to a bioengineered dog that can hack anything, yet it also regularly shows how awful life is in the far future. Cowboy Bebop embodies the cyberpunk adage of "high-tech, low life," more than almost any other show, and it gives the series a distinctly unique vibe.
That's the main draw of Cowboy Bebop; it's essentially a way to continue the adventure of Firefly while throwing in the added element of cyberpunk. It's fairly clear to see that these shows are incredibly similar, which gives Firefly fans more of what they already love. Cowboy Bebop's cyberpunk elements add something new to Firefly's formula, and it's well worth watching.