Joss Whedon says his new show The Nevers is about fear of the unknown

Joss Whedon’s brand new show — other than the reported Buffy reboot — is The Nevers, a new HBO series about “a gang of Victorian women who find themselves with unusual abilities, relentless enemies, and a mission that might change the world.”

Polygon got a chance to sit down with Whedon during San Diego Comic-Con 2018, where he was promoting his upcoming Dr. Horrible one-shot for Dark Horse, and asked him to open up a bit more about the mysterious Nevers. With the Victorian setting, was the title maybe a reference to Peter Pan?

“I can easily shoot that down,” the writer/director answered. “I dislike Peter Pan enormously as a myth and as a story. I am not a Peter Pan man,” he joked.

“It’s more meant to evoke the sort of attitude of ... these women have certain afflictions or abilities or skills. Something is changing, something more than just the end of the century, and it feels odd and it feels terrifying to some.”

Whedon says that the main characters are never called “the Nevers” within the story, it’s simply the name of the show. “To me it spoke very plainly to the idea of we are upsetting your idea of what is and what is allowed.”

Fantastical characters but not in a fantastical world, or a world that was not fantastical yet, it seemed to us. He agreed.

“It’s gotten a little strange in the last few years,” he added. “Sometime around 1895 it started getting a little warped. And now there seems to be a gathering and a purpose and a very strong reaction about that.”

The Nevers is an upcoming series from HBO, and does not currently have a release date.