Malcolm Reynolds - Reception

Reception

Fillion won the "Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award — Male" award by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA for his role as Malcolm Reynolds. Fillion also won the SyFy Genre Awards in 2006 for Best Actor/Television and was runner-up for Best Actor/Movie.

The character was named #18 in TV Guide's "Greatest Sci-fi legends" list in 2004. In 2008, Empire ranked Mal as #51 on their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters. In 2011 SFX Magazine voted Mal Reynolds #1 on their Top 100 Sci-Fi icons of the century.

In the New York Times review of the movie Serenity, Manohla Dargis had this to say about the character and Nathan Fillion: "Mal is no Neo redux; he's closer to Indiana Jones, if absent Harrison Ford's rakishly handsome looks and star magnetism. Like the rest of the cast, Mr. Fillion is a charming performer, but he borrows rather than owns the screen, which dovetails with Mr. Whedon's modest aspirations for this film."

In the video game Halo 3 a soldier is named "Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds" in a nod to Malcolm Reynolds, and was also voiced by Fillion. Also he voiced the Helljumper named Buck in the video game Halo 3: ODST, after Bungie decided to include his face as a soldier.

In Fillion's new series Castle where Fillion plays crime writer Richard Castle, there are numerous fan Easter Eggs and references to Firefly and Malcolm Reynolds hidden around Richard Castle's office. In the second season Halloween episode, Castle dressed in full Mal Reynolds garb as a costume; in a further metafictional reference, Alexis Castle - the daughter of Fillion's character - comments that he wore the outfit five years ago (The real-world time that had elapsed between the release of "Serenity" and this episode airing). Also, when he and Beckett visit a warehouse with Mandarin Chinese-speaking workers, Castle speaks clear and correct Mandarin Chinese (with a little foreign accent) to the workers, telling them his partner was crazy and would start shooting, prompting them to quickly reveal the location of a Chinese spy and run away. When Beckett asks him how he knows Chinese, he responds "TV show I used to love", referencing Firefly, other hints and allusions include him shooting a gun out of a thugs hand, upon being complimented for his marksmanship he comments "I was aiming for his head" mirroring a line Jayne Cobb had said in Firefly. In the episode Setup, Richard Castle's mother was going to a spa named the Oasis of Serenity, he asked what this was and his mother replied "Haven't you heard of the Serenity?". In episode 4 season 2 of Castle, Fillion is seen wearing two blue gloves and miming "two" by "two", a reference to the actions and gloves of the Blue Sun Corporation. In Chapter 16 of Heat Rises written by Fillion's character, Jameson Rook references Malcolm Reynolds.

In the 2007 horror thriller White Noise: The Light, Fillion plays Abe Dale. A near-death experience leaves Abe with the ability to identify those who are about to die. Abe's friend Marty Bloom (Adrian Holmes) compares Abe's ability to a super power and says "that sure as hell sounds like some super hero Captain Tight Pants bullshit to me, man." This is another nod to Fillion's role as Malcolm Reynolds ("Captain Tight Pants") on the series Firefly.