The Nevers, HBO’s ambitious new fantasy/sci-fi show, is in a weird place. We’ve seen (and mostly enjoyed) the first six episodes, with another six to go. But after the cast and crew shot those first six, creator and showrunner Joss Whedon — famous for creating shows like Buffy and the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, not to mention directing the first two Avengers movies — quit, citing “exhaustion” and the difficulties of making the show under pandemic conditions.
And while I’m sure Whedon was tired, it’s hard to look at the timing of his exit and not wonder if it had something to do with the criticisms he’d received from Justice League cast member Ray Fisher and the ones he was about to receive from Buffy and Angel vet Charisma Carpenter. At this point, it seems like Whedon has more or less left show business, which left his new show in a lurch and the cast unsure of what was going to happen next.
“I think we were all worried, and thrown for a loop when it happened,” said Denis O’Hare, who plays the twisted surgeon Dr. Edmund Hague. “I don’t tend to be very good at current events and gossip. I tend not to read things, just because it’s not where I put my energies. So I was completely in the dark about anything that was swirling around him. And honestly, we don’t really know what happened. We were just told, ‘He’s leaving’.”
The Nevers back on sure footing with new showrunner
I can only imagine how confounding that must have been for the cast and crew. The Nevers, about a group of Victorian women gifted with superpowers they use to fight a hostile aristocracy, is a complicated show, especially when the latest episode threw time travel and aliens into the mix.
Happily, HBO quickly hired screenwriter Philippa Goslett to replace Whedon as showrunner, and O’Hare told Digital Spy that she was the “exact right choice.” Although in the beginning there was some nervousness about that, too. “I think all of us were sort of scrambling. We all had Zoom meetings with Philippa. We were all scrambling to go, ‘Hi! I can tap dance! I can also sing and play piano! I can be really dark, I can be really funny, I can do a back flip. Hire me! Don’t kill me off!'”
"Whatever plans were afoot for the first [season], who knows what’s going to change? We have no idea. I think Philippa will make it her own. She will imprint it in her own way. I think she’ll keep the best aspects of the madness of the world, and perhaps go in the same direction but in a different lane."
I’m glad the show will continue in some form, and maybe Goslett will be able to keep what worked — the creativity, the carefully drawn characters, the sense of whimsy — while jettisoning some of the clutter that dragged the show down.
At the moment, we don’t know when the next six episodes of The Nevers will debut on HBO, but they’re coming.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels