With the news that TV’s best space Western Firefly is being rebooted , fans can look forward to the fate of the show’s creepiest villains finally getting the resolution it needs onscreen. In fact, the choice to set this animated sequel between the original series and the movie Serenity essentially guarantees that the Hands of Blue will feature.

These mysterious contract killers employed either by the Blue Sun Corporation, the Union of Allied Planets, or a combination of both, are arguably the most terrifying characters in Firefly. Their appearance in the upcoming animated TV revival of the franchise will resolve the question left unanswered by Serenity about why they don’t feature in the movie.

Of course, those familiar with Firefly’s comic-book sequels will argue that this question has already been answered by the 2005 three-issue release Those Left Behind. However, it will be a different matter entirely seeing the Hands of Blue finally coming face to face with the crew of Serenity onscreen.

Firefly’s Reboot Can Finally Resolve The Fate Of The Hands Of Blue

Firefly’s animated reboot will bring together the main cast of the live-action series once again, for the first time in 21 years. The likes of Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, and Summer Glau will all be back to voice their characters. Notably, Glau’s character River Tam will probably introduce her Serenity crewmates to the notorious Hands of Blue.

As their name suggests, the Hands of Blue are a pair of blue-handed agents contracted by an unknown organization, which is most likely to be the Universal Alliance considered to be the ultimate nemesis of Mal Reynolds and his crew. They spend their time in Firefly in pursuit of River Tam and anyone she comes into contact with.

While carrying out their work, the Hands of Blue carry a special sonic device which they use to kill anyone they consider to be witnesses or possible informants to or from River. Given how effective they are as a frightening screen presence, their absence in the movie Serenity came as a surprise to fans.

This new Firefly revival gives the franchise a chance to explain what happens to the Hands of Blue before the events of the movie. It seems almost certain that these sinister villains will finally get the screen ending they deserve.

The Hands Of Blue Are Firefly’s Creepiest Villains

Firefly’s strength has always been its characters, something which applies to the franchise’s villains as well as its heroes. Surely no villain in the original TV show than the Hands of Blue. Although they only feature sparingly in Firefly’s only live-action season and are never officially named onscreen, every time they enter a scene they instill fear into anyone watching.

Moving their heads and bodies robotically as they work, these contract killers resemble cyborgs, particularly with their creepy blue hands. What’s more, their chosen method of killing their victims is utterly horrifying. They use a sonic device to which they themselves are apparently immune, which causes targeted humans to bleed from every orifice of their bodies.

The fact that we don’t know much about the Hand of Blue, or who exactly it is they work for, only makes them scarier. It’s imperative that the Firefly reboot includes them in at least some of its episodes, but the show just won’t be the same without them.

Firefly Sequel Movie Serenity Replaced The Hands Of Blue With The Operative

Not long after Firefly ended in 2003, it seems that the Hands of Blue were written out of the franchise. In the sequel movie Serenity, they’re replaced by a more straightforwardly human agent played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, known simply as the Operative.

Those who’ve come across the spinoff comic book Serenity: Those Left Behind will have read that the Hands of Blue finally caught up with the crew of Serenity in between the events of the original TV series and the movie. They were primarily tasked with killing River Tam, for using her telepathic powers to expose the secrets of the Universal Alliance.

In the end, though, River and her brother Simon defeated the Hands of Blue, who are incinerated by Serenity’s engine flare as the spaceship makes its escape. Since this event occurs before Serenity’s fiery finale to the Firefly franchise, it fits right into the timeline planned for the upcoming animated reboot.

Naturally, this new TV show could also expand on the existing franchise canon, and tell us more about the Hands of Blue than we can already glean from the comic books. Either way, these iconic villains are highly likely to be making their Firefly comeback soon.

Release Date

2002 – 2003-00-00

Network

FOX

Directors

Allan Kroeker, David Solomon, James A. Contner, Marita Grabiak, Michael Grossman, Tim Minear, Vern Gillum

Writers

Cheryl Cain, Drew Z. Greenberg, Jane Espenson