5 Things We're Looking Forward to Seeing in the "Veronica Mars" Movie

By Daniel Carlson and Joanna Robinson | Lists | March 14, 2013 |

By Daniel Carlson and Joanna Robinson | Lists | March 14, 2013 |

“Veronica Mars” has inspired no small amount of devotion among some TV fans, including quite a few here at Pajiba. When series creator Rob Thomas launched a Kickstarter campaign on the morning of March 13, nobody figured he’d meet his $2 million goal in record time and cross the finish line less than 24 hours after going live. According to Thomas’s campaign info, the movie’s slated to shoot this summer for an early 2014 release. Here are the things we’re most excited to see in the movie.

The Banter
Rob Thomas and his band of writers always brought the heat when it came to dialogue. Veronica was the high school version of a 1940s gumshoe, and some of the series’ best moments came in the spitfire banter between friends and enemies.

Keith Mars Being a Badass
Before there was Coach Taylor, there was Keith Mars: the rock-solid, loyal, loving dad who worked his ass off for his family. He could be funny — even goofy — but he never hesitated to put himself between Veronica and a threat. He’s a good guy, and he’s one of the most grounded and caring parents on TV.

The Heartbreak
At its heart, “Veronica Mars” was high school noir, and Thomas always seemed to find a way to lead his characters back to unhappy endings and bittersweet love stories. People die here, and leave their spouses, and lose the jobs they worked so hard to keep. Thomas isn’t needlessly cruel, though. Rather, he knows that the only way characters can bond is by going through hard times together. Some of the show’s saddest moments are also its sweetest, precisely because in their despair they capture the hope of that sadness departing.

Veronica With Her Sh*t Together
Most of you die hard fans know that the proposed plot for Season 4 of “Veronica Mars” skipped the rest of the college years altogether and put Veronica at the FBI. If the plot of the movie does revolve around her class’s 10-year high school reunion, I hope to god she shows up as a bad*ss FBI agent not someone whose life has fallen apart. I’ve no interest in seeing Young Adult as portrayed by Kristen Bell. I’ve no desire for a plot that shows her life has lacked all meaning without Logan Echolls by her side. Rob Thomas won’t do that. Rob Thomas is better than that. But I just want to put that thought out in the universe. By the way if you, like me, haven’t watched the Season 4 trailer in a long long time you might have forgotten that WALTON GOGGINS WAS GOING TO BE IN IT. Ahem. He can come along for the movie too.

The Extended Universe
“Veronica Mars” had a great collection of supporting characters, and there are so many we’d love to see return for the movie. In no order:

Deputy Leo: I can’t even remember where things ended with Leo. He was a sweet character, though, and played by a young Max Greenfield, better known to viewers now as Schmidt from “New Girl.” Maybe he could still be in law enforcement in the Neptune area, or maybe he could just swing by to teach Veronica how to play True American.

Madison Sinclair: Every hero needs an antagonist and somewhere behind the 09er business titans, the Irish mafia and the PCHers lurked this much more benign-seeming menace. But if a reunion is really the setting than there are fewer prospects more aggravating than facing down a Mean Girl. Sinclair was always a weak point for Veronica and I’d like to see her squashed once and for all.

Lianne Mars: But here’s the real source of the pain that drives Veronica. I’d like some further resolution on Lianne, if only to be reminded who the real hero is.

Vinnie Van Lowe: This one is very likely, given the “Party Down” connection between Ken Marino and Rob Thomas. Marino’s loose and delightfully d*ckish Van Lowe was an excellent foil for Veronica and without Sheriff Lamb around (R.I.P., buddy), Veronica will need someone else to make her b*tch.

Lilly Kane: Like Thomas himself joked in his Kickstarter video: there’s dead, and there’s TV dead. Lilly Kane, played by Amanda Seyfried in one of the roles that boosted her profile, might be dead and gone, but a reunion trip to Neptune would be good excuse to use her in a flashback scene. Seyfried’s a bigger star now than she was in 2004, but come on. Do it for the Pirates.