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The Orville: Seth MacFarlane Announces New Novella Based on Unmade Episode


The Orville: New Horizons is continuing to entertain the audience with its weekly science-fiction adventure. The recent return of the series comes after its very long hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as its move from Fox to Hulu. Now, it looks like the series is making its jump to another medium as they are bringing one of the stories that didn't make it to the current season.

Star and co-creator Seth MacFarlane announced that they are releasing an original novella titled The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil based on a scrapped episode in the current season that they didn't end up making due to the COVID-19 shutdown. The novella will be released via e-book and audiobook narrated by recent guest star Bruce Boxleitner.

The novella, which is written by MacFarlane and featured cover art from award-winning comic artist Bill Sienkiewicz, follows Captain Ed Mercer and the crew of the U.S.S. Orville as they "come face-to-face with one of humanity’s most vile ideologies, they must solve the moral conundrum of who to hold accountable for evil deeds real... and imagined." The story is set after the events of the current season's eighth episode.

You can check the cover art of the novella below:

click to enlarge

It is exciting to hear that, even though they scrapped the plans to make the episode, they're still going to show the story through the novella. At the very least, fans will have another way to enjoy the series and they have two options on how they want to explore the story.

Set 400 years in the future, the current season "finds the crew of the U.S.S. Orville continuing their mission of exploration, as they navigate both the mysteries of the universe and the complexities of their own interpersonal relationships."

Also Read: The Orville's Future After Season 3 Reportedly In Doubt

The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil is set to be released on July 19 and is currently available for pre-order. New episodes of The Orville: New Horizons

premiere every Thursday on Hulu.

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