Browncoats from all over the verse made their way to the IGN Theater on Saturday night at New York Comic Con for the ‘Firefly’ 10th Anniversary panel. Fans began lining up and camping out at the very beginning of the day just to get their spot for this panel, despite not knowing who the surprise guests would be making appearances at the panel.

Once the doors opened and every single seat in the theater was filled, the moderator introduced a few cast members that would be joining the evening’s festivities. Live and in the flesh were Jewel Staite, who was unable to attend the festivities in San Diego this past summer, and Sean Maher. Then, via cell phone, Nathan Fillion called in to greet the fans at New York Comic Con. However, Fillion, ever the showman, faked out the whole crowd and walked out on stage about ten minutes after the panel started.

Sean Maher, Jewel Staite, & Nathan Fillion

There was a lot of story sharing, reminiscing, hugs, tears, and laughs from this panel. Amidst all the warm fuzzy feelings shared by all the fans in attendance to hear Captain Reynolds and his crew discuss the show, we were also treated to some clips from the Science Channel’s anniversary special titled ‘Firefly 10th Anniversary: Browncoats Unite’, which premieres in November. In one clip, the cast discussed the show’s cancellation and Joss Whedon’s reaction to it. After that clip, Staite recalled that she had never seen Joss so furious because he’s usually such a laid back guy. Fillion described the feeling of being cancelled like having the most wonderful girlfriend who was just right for you in every way break up with you and move out immediately. Because of how quick she left your life, there really wasn’t time for anger.

On the topic of being cast, Maher remembered being approached for the role before there was even a script, but after meeting with Joss Whedon for the first time, he told his agent, “I don’t care about the script. I just want to work with this man.”

Some other topics that were brought up were a ‘Firefly’ musical, followed by a discussion about what songs would be in it, like Kaylee’s first song ‘Can’t Fix Nothing If You Don’t Love It First’, as suggested by Nathan Fillion, and a possible animated series as a way to continue the adventure, again suggested by the Captain as an easy way for the cast to still work on their new shows while still doing something with ‘Firefly’. Seriously, that man has some great ideas that networks should listen to. I mean, ‘Firefly The Animated Series’?! Let’s make that happen, please!

The panel concluded with a huge thank you to the Science Channel for bringing the show back and an uproarious applause for Simon, Kaylee, and Mal. While I enjoyed a lot of things at NYCC this year, I probably enjoyed this the most.

Be sure to tune in to ‘Firefly 10th Anniversary: Browncoats Unite’ on November 11th, 2012 on the Science Channel, which will feature all new interviews and a recap of the events from SDCC, followed by an all-day marathon of the show.