Update: The casting announcements are coming thick and fast now, with the latest placing Sharlto Copley and Michelle Forbes in significant roles. Copley will play Walker, the grizzled cop who lost his powers and now walks the mean streets as a detective. Forbes will play hero-community superstar Retro Girl.
As formats and delivery platforms for movies and TV shows explode, even video game console makers are muscling in on the act. Sony’s PlayStation Network is busy developing a series based on Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s graphic novel Powers, with Eddie Izzard, Noah Taylor and Oleysa Rulin signing on.
Powers, which will come from Sony Pictures TV, adapts the graphic novel set in a world where superpowers exist but are far more widespread than in your usual comic book project. Here, the abilities are often misused for mayhem and murder and it’s the job of super-powered police officers to keep things in line.
Homicide detectives Christian Walker (Jason Patric) and Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward) are on the case investigating crimes committed by people with the power to fly or throw energy bolts around. Among those on the other side of the law are Wolfe (Izzard), a notorious villain with high-level abilities imprisoned in a facility called the Shaft and forced to undergo surgeries to keep his power in check.
Oleysa Rulin will be one of those taking over a role from the original pilot, replacing Bailee Madison as Calista, a teenage runaway Power who keeps her wits about her. Taylor is also on replacement duty, swapping in for Vinnie Jones as Johnny Royale, a criminal mastermind who owns an underground club and who can teleport with ease.
Charlie Huston wrote the first two episodes of the series, with Hannibal veteran David Slade directing. This will initially only be available on the PlayStation Network, though it will likely hit DVD and Blu-ray later.