Firefly Returns! Well, sorta . . .

Wired News is reporting that Joss Whedon's Firefly will be returning in the form of a MMORPG:

Like Capt. Mal Reynolds stumbling in after a bar fight, the short-lived but much beloved sci-fi series Firefly will soon make an unexpected return, not as a TV show, but as a massively multiplayer online game.

Now that's shiny.

Multiverse, maker of a free MMO-creation platform, plans to announce Friday morning that it's struck a deal with Fox Licensing to turn the show into an MMORPG in the fashion of Star Wars Galaxies or Eve Online.

Update: The Slashdot thread is here if you're interested in more discussion of the topic.