Browncoats, rejoice! 20th Century FOX has finally greenlit a reboot of the beloved classic sci-fi series ‘Firefly.’ Unfortunately, in what will certainly be considered a blow to longtime fans, Joss Whedon, the creator of the beloved show, will not be returning to run the show’s reincarnation.

FOX hasn’t said why Whedon was unable to join the reboot, and Whedon couldn’t be contacted before the publication of this article, so we are merely left to our own speculation. What isn’t speculation, however, is who FOX has contracted to take over in Whedon’s stead. “Since Joss wasn’t available, we wanted to make sure we had someone who has a lot of experience rebooting beloved franchises, in order to ensure that the new Firefly is of the highest quality possible,” said FOX spokesman Edward Madera. So who will be in charge of the reboot? Why, none other than director extraordinaire Michael Bay himself!

Michael Bay

Bay is acting as Executive Producer and has confirmed he will be directing several episodes as well, including a double-length pilot. In speaking of his own love of the series, Bay said, “More than anything we want to do justice to Joss’ original vision for the show. Obviously no one could recreate a Joss Whedon show quite like Joss, but we think that with the talent we’re bringing to the table we’ll be able to create something very nearly as good.”

While no announcements have been made concerning who will be in the new cast, some rumors have surfaced that several actors who have worked with Bay in the past will be brought on to the new show with Megan Fox playing the part of Kaylee Frye and Shia LeBeouf as Malcolm Reynolds. There have also been some whispers that Amy Schumer is being considered for the role of Inara Serra.

“We’re really excited to have Michael in charge. We feel that he’ll bring some real subtlety and nuance to the reboot that will be appreciated by fans of the old show while intriguing fans of the newer show,” said Madera.

For those unaware,’Firefly’ was a 2002 western-in-space TV series that followed the crew of a spaceship called the Serenity. The crew consisted of various outcasts who struggle to find work (both honest and… otherwise) on the frontier of another solar system. However, its scheduling was seriously mismanaged and its run was cut short. Fan support was enough to get ‘Firefly’ brought to the big screen in 2005 as Serenity, which acted as a a sequel of sorts as well as closing up most of the major plot threads introduced in the TV show. But aside from a few comics, we haven’t seen anything else since then.

While Bay is certainly an unconventional choice to run ‘Firefly,’ it’s hard to argue with the success of his other endeavors. If nothing else, perhaps the original series will have new life breathed into it as a completely new audience is exposed to it via this upcoming reboot. We can only hope.

The new Firefly reboot is currently slated for release either late 2016 or early 2017.

As you can imagine, this is appropriate news to announce today. April 1st.