Although the original "Star Wars" is often described as a space western, the franchise didn't really resurrect the ol' gunslinger vibe until a certain Mandalorian debuted in 2019. But in 2005 — the same year an ambitious young Jedi's fall from grace spearheaded a revolution in a galaxy far, far away — another sci-fi movie got busy taking cowboys to the stars.
"Serenity" writer/director Joss Whedon (then best known as the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel") never made a secret of his love of "Star Wars", and the influences are everywhere to see. Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is effectively Han Solo with even more malleable morals (he would have shot Greedo first), commanding a rickety old bucket of bolts that would look right at home alongside the Millennium Falcon. He and his associates (a ragtag band of mercenaries and fugitives) grift a living on the outskirts of a "'Verse" overflowing with rough-'n-ready Tatooine facsimiles, lawless worlds light years away from the control of the Empire Alliance.
