Can The Nevers Succeed Without Joss Whedon?
In February, following an onslaught of allegations of toxic behavior on various sets — going back decades — Joss Whedon finally broke his silence in an interview with Vulture. The interview came too late to salvage Whedon’s reputation: the decades’ worth of rumors and reports that had been spilling out since 2017 had already forced Whedon to step down from his latest venture. Yet while the interview was deeply unsatisfying as either an apology or an explanation, it was nonetheless illuminating: suggesting a way that Whedon’s projects could endure, untainted by the tarnishing of Whedon’s personal and professional legacy. That is good news for HBO’s low fantasy/steampunk adventure series The Nevers, which now faces a tremendous task to remain unblemished by his disgrace.
There is no denying that Joss Whedon has built his career on the stories of women. From the title character in Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Firefly's Zoe Washburne to Dollhouse's Echo, strong women are the single constant anchoring a variety of low fantasy and science fiction premises. In the Vulture profile, Whedon admits to being fascinated with these characters because he identifies with them; indeed, it is easy to see how Buffy or Dollhouse doubles as nerd power fantasy (an idea which is also deconstructed, brutally and effectively, in Buffy’s sixth season). The Slayer, who is empowered by destiny is also fighting to live a normal life — couched in a world of vampires and demons is the basic story of modern society. Similarly, Dollhouse uses the premise of programmable people to meditate on agency and the idea of the self — female lenses dominate the narrative, but the story is for everyone.
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