 Badger ( Mark Sheppard ) is an established smuggling middleman on the planet Persephone . He provided jobs for Serenity on at least two occasions . In the DVD commentary for the episode " Serenity " , it was revealed that this part was originally written with the intention of Whedon himself playing the part . Badger appeared in the original pilot " Serenity " and in " Shindig " , with a return in the comic book series Serenity : Those Left Behind . 
