Screenwriter-filmmaker Joss Whedon’s career hit a pretty ignominious downturn for someone who indisputably changed pop culture twice over. His creation “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” became the template for a whole generation of genre television, and Whedon cemented cultural dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he wrote-directed 2012’s “The Avengers,” pulling off the world’s first superhero team-up movie.
That’s not to say Whedon’s current situation is unfair. Numerous allegations of him being a toxic, bullying boss came out in the 2020s, from all the way back to him running “Buffy” to him directing reshoots on 2017 “Justice League.” These made him persona non grata, to the point Whedon’s latest TV project — HBO’s sci-fi period piece “The Nevers” — indeed never had a chance. Not even after Whedon exited “The Nevers” in 2020, shortly before its premiere, and ceded showrunning to Philippa Goslett.
“The Nevers” premiered with six (out of 12) episodes in 2021 on HBO Max. Before the back half could air, the series was canceled in late 2022 and yanked off the streamer. The only way to legally watch it today is when Tubi irregularly streams it. The series is not part of Tubi’s regular video library; it only streams at specific times, like old-school broadcast TV. This is how the last six “The Nevers” episodes originally premiered, meaning many never even saw them.
Compare Whedon’s still-beloved space Western “Firefly.” It premiered and was swiftly canceled in 2002, but attracted enough fans over 14 episodes to get a movie spin-off. More than 20 years on, the cast is also lobbying for an animated “Firefly” Season 2, showing that the show’s light still burns. In the age of streaming glut, though, “The Nevers” completely slipped through the cracks.
The Nevers was Joss Whedon’s attempt to mix X-Men and Victorian England
I remember “The Nevers” didn’t only spark disinterest due to the allegations against Whedon. The premise also seemed like him creating on autopilot. Set in Victorian England, the series followed a group of people (mostly women) called “The Touched,” who developed superpowered abilities and faced fear and judgment from their repressive society. In other words, a transparent attempt by Whedon to combine his anglophilia and his love for the X-Men.
Some backstory on Whedon: he’s a lifelong fan of British (pop) culture, from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and even spent three years at British boarding school Winchester College. Being a teenage nerd in the late 1970s to mid 1980s, he was also the target audience for Chris Claremont’s defining run on “X-Men.” Claremont’s influence runs through Whedon’s writing in blatant and… even more blatant ways; Whedon has described the X-Men’s Kitty Pryde as the primary model for Buffy Summers. Whedon also literally wrote “Astonishing X-Men” from 2004 to 2008 (and created several lasting Marvel characters doing so).
The “X-Men” influence on “The Nevers” is especially obvious with some characters. Amalia True (Laura Donnelly) plays the role of Professor X in gathering and instructing other Touched individuals. Lucy Best (Elizabeth Berrington) can’t touch things without breaking them, and wears gloves to inhibit her rather Roguish powers. The Touched being mostly women is also an echo of the all-female Slayers like Buffy. It’s the sort of female empowerment Whedon made his name on, but in 2021, it rang hollow knowing how he treated some actresses behind the scenes.
“The Nevers,” in playing to Whedon’s writing strengths, may have only exposed the upper limit of them — if HBO had given the show a genuine chance to build an audience.
