There's something sort of comforting to seeing random lists like this one mentioning characters from Serenity, or the movie itself. You accept that, for the most part, our fandom exists outside of general public awareness. Unlike Star Wars, Star Trek, X-Files and other more well known franchises Buffy, Angel and Firefly/Serenity just aren't common knowledge. As important as these shows are to us Whedon fans, most people will probably never have a clue that they exist, let alone are adored by so many dedicated fans.

Now and again though, you see an article like this appear out of the blue and realise that maybe Serenity has made more of a name for itself outside of the fandom than we believe. Of course, the article might have been written by a member of Whedonesque for all I know. I prefer the more optimistic option. ;)

Kaine | June 08, 20:35 CET

I never really saw him as a hitman, more of an enforcer or a weapon of last resort.

Simon | June 08, 20:41 CET

Anyone who is willing to kill everyone I know in an effort to wipe me out is a hitman in my book. I don't care if he carries a badge or has parliamentary approval.

Best line... his weapon of choice a sword. (A swhat?) LOL!

Cordrone | June 08, 21:13 CET

To me a hitman is surely someone that exclusively kills people (i.e. James Bond is, at times, a hitman for HMG, the oft-quoted "blunt instrument" but that's not all he does, he's also a spy). The Operative is ambiguous in that sense - we don't actually see him do anything else except try to kill those that might reveal the Alliance's secrets so by that I think he qualifies. He's a state sanctioned hitman IMO.

(good choices in there - Léon is probably a natural for the top spot - no women, no kids ;) - but it's cool to see Martin Blank so high up - that actually is a genuinely good fight scene at his high-school reunion, even if the setup is mainly for comic effect. It feels skilful but still brutal, kind of Bourne before Bourne)

Saje | June 08, 23:08 CET

Hmmm, Mal would have made the Operative totally angry if he had called him a hitman instead of an assassin. Either that or hitman is totally not a word 500 years from now or means something else.

Anonymous1 | June 09, 02:08 CET