Malcolm Reynolds
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Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a
fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
and the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
of the ''Firefly'' franchise. Mal is played by actor
Nathan Fillion Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
in the 2002
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
''Firefly'' and the 2005 film ''
Serenity Serenity may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Serenity'' (2019 film), a thriller starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Diane Lane * Sailor Moon (character), also known as Princess Serenity and Neo-Queen Serenity, in the ' ...
''. In the series, Mal is a former
Browncoat ''Firefly'' is an American space Western drama television series, created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive producer, along with Tim Minear. The series is set in the yea ...
sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
and the captain of the "''Firefly''-class" spaceship ''Serenity''. The character was named #18 in ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' Greatest Sci-Fi Legends list in 2004.


Production details

Conceived by
Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
, the character Malcolm Reynolds was the only definite character he had in mind when formulating the ensemble cast. He wanted a hero, but not a hero in the classic sense; someone that is "everything that a hero is not." In the proposed pilot, Mal was much darker and considerably more closed-off. Fox network executives objected, and asked that Mal be "lightened up". For the second episode ("
The Train Job "The Train Job" is the original series premiere and second episode of the American science-fiction western television series ''Firefly'' created by Joss Whedon. It was the second episode produced and aired on Friday, September 20, 2002, on Fox. T ...
"), Whedon created a more "jolly" Mal Reynolds. Fillion shares his view on the motivations of the character he portrayed. Mal has lost so much that each character in the crew he has gathered on ''Serenity'' represents an aspect of himself he no longer has. "In Wash, he has a lust for life and a sense of humor he's lost. In Jayne, he has selfishness. In Book, he has spirituality. In Kaylee, he has innocence. Everybody represents a facet of himself that he has lost and that's why he keeps them close and safe, and yet at arm's length."


Casting

The role was originally written for ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
'' co-star
Nicholas Brendon Nicholas Brendon Schultz (born April 12, 1971), known professionally as Nicholas Brendon, is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Xander Harris in the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003) and Kevin L ...
(who played
Xander Harris Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Bre ...
); however, the shooting schedule conflicted with his commitment to ''Buffy''. Whedon approached Nathan Fillion to play the lead, and after explaining the premise and showing Fillion the treatment for the pilot, Fillion was eager for the role. Fillion was called back several times to read for the part before he was cast. He noted that "It was really thrilling. It was my first lead and I was pretty nervous, but I really wanted that part and I wanted to tell those stories."Whedon, ''Firefly Companion, Vol 1'', p.26.


Costume design

Los Angeles prop shop Applied Effects was approached by Randy Erikson to create Mal's main gun, a "Moses Brothers Self-Defense Engine Frontier Model B", and gave them a week and a half. Erikson provided a foamcore conceptual mockup and the base guns, one of which was a five-shot .38
caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
Taurus Model 85 The Taurus Model 85 is a small-frame revolver manufactured by Taurus International. In the United States, the guns are marketed for concealed carry and personal protection. Specifications The Model 85 is available in several configurations. Th ...
revolver. Erikson researched
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
-era revolvers for inspiration and the final mockup had a brass or bronze look, with the revolver a little elongated. The biggest challenge was masking the shape of the original revolver and still keeping it operable. On the TV series ''Firefly'', a cast
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
pistol was used, but for the film ''Serenity'', a more detailed replica was created which had moving
action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
and a blank pistol hidden inside, so that it could be fired in
close-up A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...
s. Since this version was quite heavy, a
resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...
replica was also constructed, which in addition to being less tiring for the actors to carry, could be thrown or dropped with less fear of injury. Nonfunctional replicas of the gun are commercially available for
fans Fan commonly refers to: * Fan (machine), a machine for producing airflow, often used for cooling ** Hand fan, an implement held and waved by hand to move air for cooling * Fan (person), short for fanatic; an enthusiast or supporter, especially wit ...
and
collectors Collector(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Collector (character), a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe * ''Collector'' (2011 film), a 2011 Indian Malayalam film * ''Collector'' (2016 film), a 2016 Russian film * ''Collec ...
. GBB Custom Gunleather was tasked with creating Mal's gun holster, which was made out of oak-tanned carving leather. The character's coat, a relic of his time as a
Browncoat ''Firefly'' is an American space Western drama television series, created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as an executive producer, along with Tim Minear. The series is set in the yea ...
, was a collaboration between ''Firefly'' costume designer
Shawna Trpcic Shawna Trpcic (; née Shawna Leavell, born October 18, 1966 in Artesia, California) is a Hollywood costume designer. Biography She got her start in the industry with the 1990 film ''Megaville'', and went on to work as a wardrobe assistant on th ...
and Jonathan A. Logan, a leather artist. Trpcic sketched her idea and a cloth mockup was created before the final was made with domestic-farmed deerskin. The cuffs are actually the sleeves folded back, evoking the style of Oriental robes with their silk linings. Two coats were made for the character, one called "Number 1" coat and another called "The Hero" coat. The Number 1 coat's bullet hole is drawn in, while The Hero version has a detailed cut and sewn repair. As with the gun, replicas of Malcolm Reynolds' coat have also been made available commercially for fans.


Character biography

Malcolm's main mission is to keep his crew alive and to keep his ship flying. As ''Firefly'' writer Tim Minear stated in an interview: "It's just about getting by. That's always been the mission statement of what the show is — getting by." In ''Serenity'', Mal says of himself: " f theWind blows Northerly, I go North."Whedon, ''Serenity'', DVD. Mal was raised by his mother and "about 40 hands" on a ranch on the planet Shadow. Though Mal usually seems more practical than intellectual, he occasionally surprises his friends by displaying familiarity with disparate literature varying from the works of
Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynas ...
to
poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...
by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poe ...
. Mal volunteered for the Independents army during the Unification War against the
Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, gaining the rank of sergeant during that time. His loyal second-in-command Zoe was by his side for most of the war, surviving many dangerous conflicts with him. The show mentions three such battles, including the Battle of Du-Khang in 2510 (shown in " The Message") and a long winter campaign in New Kashmir (as told by Zoe in " War Stories") where he commanded a platoon. Mal was also involved in the ground campaign during the Battle of Sturges (as seen in the comic book '' Serenity: Those Left Behind''), which according to
Badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...
was the "bloodiest and shortest battle in all the war", although Mal considers it a distant second. Mal fought in many more battles, but the turning point for him and the Independents came with their physical and emotional defeat at the Battle of Serenity Valley on the planet Hera. On-screen information in ''Serenity'' shows him to have been attached to the 57th Overlanders Brigade. In the series pilot, Badger calls it the "Balls and Bayonets Brigade". A deleted scene in ''Serenity'' indicates that this was a nickname given to the unit. After the war, Mal acquired his own ship, a derelict 03-K64 ''Firefly''-class transport. Mal named the ship ''Serenity'' after the Battle of Serenity Valley, the decisive battle of the Unification War.


Reception

Fillion won the "Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award — Male" award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA for his role as Malcolm Reynolds. Fillion also won the SyFy Genre Awards in 2006 for ''Best Actor/Television'' and was runner-up for ''Best Actor/Movie''. The character was named #18 in ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'''s "Greatest Sci-fi legends" list in 2004. In 2008, ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' ranked Mal as #34 on their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters. In 2011, ''
SFX Magazine ''SFX'' is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy. Its name is a reference to the abbreviated form of "special effects". Description ''SFX'' magazine is published every four weeks by Future plc and was founded in 19 ...
'' voted Mal Reynolds #1 on their Top 100 Sci-Fi icons of the century. In her review of the film ''Serenity'' for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
had this to say about the character and Nathan Fillion: "Mal is no Neo redux; he's closer to
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
, if absent
Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
's rakishly handsome looks and star magnetism. Like the rest of the cast, Mr. Fillion is a charming performer, but he borrows rather than owns the screen, which dovetails with Mr. Whedon's modest aspirations for this film."


Notes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Malcolm Firefly (TV series) characters Science fiction film characters Fictional gunfighters Fictional ship captains Fictional mercenaries Fictional master sergeants Fictional smugglers Space pirates Western (genre) heroes and heroines Television characters introduced in 2002 Male characters in television