Powers (U.S. TV series)

Last updated

Powers
Powers-logo.png
Genre
Based on Powers
by Brian Michael Bendis
Michael Avon Oeming
Developed by
Starring
Composer(s) Jeff Rona
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes20 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)
Running time39–53 minutes
Production company(s)
Distributor PlayStation Video
Release
Original network PlayStation Network
Original releaseMarch 10, 2015 (2015-03-10) –
July 19, 2016 (2016-07-19)
External links
Website

Powers is an American online streaming series adaptation of the Powers comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their Icon Comics imprint. Marking PlayStation Network's first venture into scripted original programming, [1] [2] the series premiered on March 10, 2015. [3] [4] The first two episodes of the series were written by Charlie Huston and directed by David Slade. [5] The first three episodes, (the third directed by David Petrarca), were released on March 10, 2015, on the PlayStation Network. The pilot episode is available for free for people in the USA on YouTube [6] and the entire first season was available on Crackle until May 3, 2016. On May 6, 2015, Powers was renewed for a second season, which premiered on May 31, 2016. [7] It was announced on August 3, 2016 that Powers had been canceled. [8]

<i>Powers</i> (comics)

Powers is an American creator-owned police procedural comic book series by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming. The series' first volume was published by Image Comics from 2000 to 2004. In 2004 the series moved to Marvel Comics as a part of its Icon imprint.

Marvel Comics company that publishes comic books and related media

Marvel Comics is the brand name and primary imprint of Marvel Worldwide Inc., formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide's parent company.

Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics

Icon Comics is an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers.

Contents

Plot

In a world where humans and superheroes called "Powers" co-exist, a former Power, Christian Walker, has reinvented himself as a homicide detective after his own powers were taken from him. He and his partner Deena Pilgrim work for the Powers Division of the Los Angeles Police Department, investigating crimes involving superhumans, who are at once crimefighting heroes and pop celebrities managed by specialized advertising agencies.

Christian Walker fictional comic book character

Christian Walker is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the main character starring in the series Powers. He was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming. The series was originally published through Image Comics beginning in 2000, but in 2004, it moved to Marvel Comics, where the series launched Marvel's Icon Comics division for creator-owned titles.

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 10March 10, 2015 (2015-03-10)April 28, 2015 (2015-04-28)
2 10May 31, 2016 (2016-05-31)July 19, 2016 (2016-07-19)

Cast

Main

Sharlto Copley South African producer, actor, and director

Sharlto Copley is a South African actor. He has played Wikus van der Merwe in the Oscar-nominated science fiction film District 9, Howling Mad Murdock in the 2010 adaptation of The A-Team, Agent C.M. Kruger in the science fiction film Elysium, James Corrigan in the science fiction horror film Europa Report and King Stefan in the dark fantasy adventure film Maleficent. He also played the title character in the science fiction film Chappie and starred in two seasons as Christian Walker of the TV series Powers. Sharlto is married to fellow South African actress and fashion model Tanit Phoenix.

Susan Heyward is an American actress who has appeared in theater, in film and on television. She is best known for appearing alongside Sharlto Copley and Eddie Izzard in the PlayStation Network's first scripted original program, Powers. Heyward currently appears as Rose Granger-Weasley in the Broadway production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Noah Taylor English-born Australian actor and musician

Johnathon Noah Taylor is a New Zealand-Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in Shine, Locke in HBO series Game of Thrones, Mr. Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Danny in the Australian cult film He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. Taylor also starred as Adolf Hitler in Max and Preacher.

Recurring

Logan Browning American actress

Logan Laurice Browning is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Samantha White in the 2017 Netflix satirical-drama series Dear White People. She is also known for playing Sasha in the 2007 film Bratz: The Movie, Brianna Ortiz in Meet the Browns, Jelena Howard on the VH1 series Hit the Floor and Zora in the Playstation Network series Powers.

Justice Leak American actor

Justice Adam Leak is an American film, television and stage actor best known for his portrayal of Harland Osbourne in the 2007 film The Great Debaters.

Detective investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person

A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crime by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads them to arrest criminals and enable them to be convicted in court. A detective may work for the police or privately.

Development

Sony Pictures had optioned the series for film production in 2001. [9] In 2009, Brian Michael Bendis, creator of the comic book, confirmed plans to develop a Powers television show on FX as well as his involvement as the writer of the pilot for the show. [10] In February 2011, a greenlit pilot of the show scripted by Charles H. Eglee was announced as a co-production by Sony Pictures Television and FX Networks. [9] Charles S. Dutton became the first cast member in May 2011 when he signed on to play Captain Cross. [11] Imminent filming in Chicago within weeks was announced in June 2011. [12] The following week, Lucy Punch was cast as Deena Pilgrim. [13] Katee Sackhoff had campaigned for the part. [14] Although FX was rumored to be courting Kyle Chandler for the part of Walker, [14] the next day Jason Patric was cast in the part. [15] [16] Later in June, Carly Foulkes was cast as RetroGirl and Bailee Madison was cast as Calista. [17] [18]

Sony Pictures American television and film production and distribution unit of Sony

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American entertainment company that produces, acquires and distributes filmed entertainment through multiple platforms. Through an intermediate holding company called Sony Film Holding Inc., it is operated as a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., which is itself a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a wholly owned subsidiary and the US headquarters of the Tokyo-based multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony Corporation. Based in Culver City, California, it encompasses Sony's motion picture, television production and distribution units. Its group sales in the fiscal year 2017 has been reported to be $9.133 billion.

Brian Michael Bendis American comic book writer and artist

Brian Michael Bendis is an American comic book writer and artist. He has won five Eisner Awards for both his creator-owned work and his work on various Marvel Comics books.

FX (TV channel) American cable television network

FX is an American pay television channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is based in Los Angeles, California. Originally launched on June 1, 1994, the network's original programming aspires to the standards of premium cable channels such as HBO, Showtime, and Starz in regard to mature themes and content, high-quality writing, directing and acting, and sister channels such as FXX and FXM. FX also carries reruns of theatrical films and terrestrial-network sitcoms, and advertising-free content is available through the FX+ premium subscription service.

Filming began in Chicago in early July 2011 and ended in early August. [19] [20] In November 2011, FX announced that it would retool and reshoot the Powers pilot. [21] Bendis tweeted that "the reshoots are planned for January and are all about tone and clarity". [22] In April 2012, more scripts were ordered and writing continued, but reshoots and recasting were being discussed by the network. [23]

On March 19, 2014, it was announced that Powers would become the first original television series on the PlayStation Network, to stream exclusively on PlayStation consoles and potentially stream in December 2014. [24] [25] On July 16, 2014, Susan Heyward, Max Fowler and Adam Godley were cast as Deena Pilgrim, Krispin Stockley and Captain Cross. [26] On August 15, 2014, Deadline Hollywood reported that Eddie Izzard, Noah Taylor and Olesya Rulin were cast in the roles of "Big Bad" Wolfe, Johnny Royalle and Calista. [27] On August 18, 2014, Sharlto Copley was announced to star as Christian Walker and Michelle Forbes is cast as RetroGirl. [28] Mario Lopez guest stars in the pilot episode as the host of Extra wondering about Walker's current whereabouts.

On October 11, 2014, a trailer for Powers was premiered at New York Comic-Con. [29]

Reception

The first season has received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 48% based on 23 critic reviews, with an average score of 5.48/10. The critical consensus reads "The interplay between the characters lacks spark, but the detailed world-building of Powers shows potential." [30] On Metacritic, it received a score of 51 out of 100, and a user score of 6.5 out of 10, indicating "mixed or average reviews." [31]

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References

  1. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (June 10, 2014). "Sony's Powers TV Series to Hit Playstation in December". Screen Crush . Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  2. ↑ Graser, Marc (November 18, 2014). "Sony Powers Up its First Scripted TV Series on PlayStation". Variety . Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  3. ↑ Bendis, Brian. "Powers Premieres March 10th, Only on PlayStation". Playstation. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Powers – 'Pilot'". BD. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "David Slade To Direct First Two Episodes Of Sony TV's Powers". Deadline Hollywood. July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  6. ↑ Reilly, Luke. "So, Why Exactly Can't the Rest of the World Watch Powers?". IGN. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ Sirani, Jordan. "Playstation's Powers renewed for season 2". IGN. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ "'Powers' canceled by PlayStation Network". August 3, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Melrose, Kevin (February 25, 2011). "FX Greenlights Powers Pilot". Spinoff. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  10. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (February 6, 2009). "Bendis confirms Powers TV series headed to FX". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  11. ↑ Ching, Albert (May 7, 2011). "Charles S. Dutton First Official Powers Cast Member". Newsarama. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  12. ↑ Ching, Albert (June 15, 2011). "Bendis Says Powers Pilot Is 'Filming In Just A Few Weeks'". Newsarama. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  13. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 20, 2011). "Lucy Punch Set As The Female Lead In FX's Drama Pilot Powers". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  14. 1 2 Porter, Rick (June 21, 2011). "FX's Powers pilot packs a (Lucy) Punch". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  15. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (June 21, 2011). "Jason Patric Set To Star In FX's Powers". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  16. ↑ Hibberd, James (June 22, 2011). "Jason Patric speaks out on FX's Powers role". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  17. ↑ Lesnick, Silas (June 26, 2011). "Will go from T-Mobile Girl to RetroGirl". SuperHeroHype. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  18. ↑ Filipponi, Pietro (June 26, 2011). "Powers TV Series Taps T-Mobile Model Carly Foulkes for Role of RetroGirl". The Daily Blam. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  19. ↑ Filipponi, Pietro (July 8, 2011). "First Photo from the Set of FX's New TV Series Powers". The Daily Blam. Retrieved July 19, 2011.
  20. ↑ Holliday, Darryl (October 3, 2011) [August 11, 2011]. "Chicago, cops & super-criminals in new TV pilot". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  21. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (November 17, 2011). "FX Passes On Pilot Outlaw Country, Will Retool Powers". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  22. ↑ Brian Michael Bendis (November 17, 2011). "@BRIANMBENDIS status". Twitter . Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  23. ↑ Pantozzi, Jill (April 9, 2012). "Good News? The Powers TV Show Is Starting Over". The Mary Sue . Retrieved April 27, 2012.
  24. ↑ Franich, Darren (June 9, 2014). "Powers: Comic book TV show coming to Playstation Network in December". Entertatinment Weekly. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  25. ↑ Sharma, Amol (March 19, 2014). "Sony to Add Original TV Shows for PlayStation". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Susan Heyward Lands Female Lead In Sony Playstation Series Powers, Max Fowler & Adam Godley Also Cast". Deadline Hollywood. July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Eddie Izzard, Noah Taylor & Olesya Rulin To Co-Star In PlayStation Series Powers". Deadline Hollywood . August 15, 2014. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  28. ↑ "Sharlto Copley Set As Lead Christian Walker In Powers, Michelle Forbes Is RetroGirl". Deadline Hollywood. August 18, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  29. ↑ "New York Comic-Con: PlayStation's Powers Series Unveil First Trailer (Video)". Deadline Hollywood. October 11, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  30. ↑ "Powers: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Powers - Season 1 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 30, 2016.
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