It's been over 13 years since Joss Whedon's Firefly series wrapped up its first and only season, more than a decade since his movie adaptation Serenity debuted in theaters, and it's been about two years in the making for artist Stephen Byrne's fan-made The Animated Adventures of Firefly series trailer to come to life.

And yet the fandom for this fantastic franchise and its wonderful mythology remains strong still today. It's a testament to the strength of the fans--known as Browncoats--that new content emerges on nearly a daily basis. Today is a particularly special day because Byrne's long-awaited trailer for The Animated Adventures of Firefly is finally here! This one was brought to our attention by Nerd Approved, who has been following the progress since the debut of a two-second GIF announcing the project, which caught some traction thanks to reddit.

Before we get to the trailer, first take a look at this early two-second GIF that should tug at the heartstrings of just about any and all Browncoats out there:

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Image via Stephen Byrne

Now, here's a nearly nine-minute production diary that reveals the crazy amount of work that went into those two seconds:

And finally, the first teaser trailer for the new series, which is coming ... soon?

Fans out there likely picked up on the reunion of Zoe and Wash, as well as shots of Mal, The Operative, Inara, Jayne, Simon, River (in bot-kicking action), a glimpse of Shepherd Book, and Kaylee ... in peril! Oh, and of course, the title ship itself. The gang's all here! You can check out more of Byrne's artwork over at his Facebook page or Twitter account, where he'll surely announce future updates ... right?

Let us know what you think of the look of this fan-made trailer in the comments below!

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Image via Stephen Byrne