Nice...😀
The more I think about it, the more I think Faith would be better off with a mini series, rather than a movie or a full series. Part of the fun of Faith in the Buffyverse was that her presence (Especially post S3, obviously) was such an event. We know barely anything about her, and I'm inclined to think that that's largely how it should stay. It makes her more interesting and dangerous if we don't know everything about her.
Which reminds me - I think Faith should be the most dangerous person in the show. I don't want to see a complete Touched by an Angel turnaround. She's still working at the whole superhero thing. No matter how much easier it would be to just draw a line under all of the murdering etc... as a viewer, I'd want to know the writers haven't forgotten that she is very capable of killing somebody, and she doesn't need to lose her soul to do it. So yeah, if and when she does pick up groupies, it'd be nice if they stayed afraid of her... And she better not have quit any of the following- Drinking, Smoking, Swearing, Partying, Loving/Hating Men, Flirting with Everything.
Music wise... Christophe Beck baby. Never put a foot wrong. I'd wanna hear Faith's Little Miss Muffet theme just once... And y'know, I can't help imagining opening credits rolling over Key by the Devics from Radio Sunnydale....
The look of the show itself - given the choice, I'd love it to look like the hybrid offspring of The (US) Ring, Pitch Black and the Crow. Washed out by day, dark as hell by night. Everybody looks cooler when you can't see their eyes - you can't tell what they're thinking, and Pitch Black gets that completely, it's fabulous. It has the most artful use of lighting ever. The Crow is just gorgeous and dark, and has a nice mean feel to it. And The Ring is the only film I can recall where daylight is just as suffocatingly freaky as the dark. They actually tried for a similar effect in the first few eps of Tru Calling, but it disappeared rather quickly...
Vampires in the Buffyverse tend to reflect the world they're in. Buffy's vampires were always sort of the punchline to a joke, and Angel's were just faceless fightmeat. I'd love Faith's vamps to be dangerous again... halfway between Fray's lurks and the big walking sets of jaws from 30 Days of Night, y'know? Not a sniff of Anne Rice. Because Faith's world should be that little bit more brutal. I mean, I don't wanna see her get the crap kicked out of her every week, but I'd like the risk to be ever present, if that makes sense. Lots of cuts and bruises, but not completely over the top. I'd like a step away from Eastern style fight choreography too... lovely for Buffy (Sometimes stunning) but Faith's fighting style (lets call it "Hit things til they stop") doesn't really lend itself to wire work or showy acrobatics, with the posssible exception of the occasional scorpion kick. So lots of things should get smashed, because strong as she is, our Faith doesn't waste time being graceful... The best template I can think of is, oddly, Kill Bill - nobody ever wins a fight in Kill Bill, they just aren't the one dead when it's over. So really, really mean Vampires. Not cute, cuddly, ooh-they-lurve-me vampires. Human looking, but lethal. But for the big bad? I'd love it to be somebody human, because that opens up a whole world of moral complexities. She can't kill somebody like that... or could she? Or will she... or should she?
Other cast members... I'd love to see Lockley show up. For one thing, I think Lockley deserved to be wrapped up a little better. It was cool to see her have the epiphany and all, but still, I'd like to have seen where she went with it. For another thing, Lockley and Faith come from two completely different worlds, and I think it'd be a nice contrast... Lorne would be nice (I love Lorne), but I think long term, he might undermine the ultra mean tone I'd be aiming for. I'd love to see Xander, because I think there was a whole lot of drama they could have mined out of that in S7 that they didn't. Bear in mind, she did nearly kill him once, and also, that he himself has made some extremely dubious choices (See Becoming II for details) But more than anything I'd love to see Wesley. Again, because of the character drama... they sort of didn't have the time to spend exploring that in S4 of Angel, but they touched on it just enough to be intriguing... plus, you could weave it into the plot with the First... it's worth remembering that Faith probably doesn't know what happened in NFA. I'm torn about the potentials... on the one hand, giving Faith the responsibility of stopping somebody doing what she did would show how much she's grown... on the other hand, the parallels with Buffy/ Dawn could be too much, and it could detract from her personal drama.
And you know what else I'd like to see again? Faith's particular brand of freaky ass dreams. Faith so rarely lets anybody know what's going on in her head, it's quite something to see how messed up it really is in there. One of my favourite Faith scenes ever is the Picnic scene in TYG... just because it was such a shock that that was the person Faith really wanted to be. Plus it'd be a nice way to revisit all the places that fell into the desert in Chosen... 😀 I'd love to watch present-day-Faith watch S3-Faith in action, and I'd really love to see Faith's attitude to the First Slayer... I'd love to know what else went on during her coma...
And I never want to see another crossbow. The juxtaposition of old and modern was great for Buffy, but somehow I don't see it working for Faith... any of that stuff... prophecies, or ancient tombs, or olde worlde weapons just don't strike me as her thing. Pipes, knives, planks, broken glass, furniture and occasionally, ceilings, have all served her perfectly well before. Having said that, it might be cool to see her play with a sword... just once...
And it'd be really nice if the writers were able to keep Faith's motivations and actions a complete mystery to us until afterwards, because every time they've done that it's been great tv... Goddamn, I wish they'd make a spin off...
