TVSquad

Earlier today, we told you about Summer Glau landing a recurring role on Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Glau, of course, has worked with Mr. Whedon before on the much loved but short-lived Firefly and its film spinoff, Serenity.

This isn't the first time Whedon has cast actors he's worked with before in a new project; he does it all the time. But like Squad commenter "davem" pointed out, actors who return to the Whedonverese for a second go-round usually end up playing villains.

So does this mean Glau is destined to be the new big bad on Dollhouse?

Let's look at the trend davem pointed out earlier, and let's start with Dollhouse: Last season, Firefly alum Alan Tudyk made a memorable guest appearance as Alpha, an escaped active with a penchant for slicing up pretty faces. Yeah, he was a bad guy. Two more Firefly alums, Gina Torres and Adam Baldwin, worked with Whedon again on the Buffy spinoff, Angel. Torres played a demon goddess who ate people; Baldwin played a bruiser controlled by an ancient evil. Again, bad. Really bad.

It doesn't stop there. After Fox dumped Firefly, Captain Mal himself, Nathan Fillion, showed up on Buffy's final season as Caleb, the villainous ex-priest working for "The First Evil." Superbad.

This isn't an exact science, but the trend is worth examining and discussing. Do you think Glau will play a villain on Dollhouse? Do you want to see her play a villain?

I'd love to see Glau as a Dollhouse baddie, but I must make one request of Mr. Whedon: Please don't kill off her character next season. Most of the villainous characters played by returning Whedonverse vets tend to have very short lifespans. I'd like to see Glau last a little longer, assuming Fox renews Dollhouse after season two.