‘Powerless’ Loses Showrunner Before Premiere

NBC’s new DC show Powerless has lost showrunner Ben Queen before it’s even had the chance to premiere.

I was lucky enough to see the pilot episode of Powerless at San Diego Comic-Con and I found it charming and enjoyable.  Powerless focuses on an insurance adjuster who handles claims associated with the destruction brought on by the superheroes fighting battles across the city.  While the show takes place in the DC universe, it certainly felt a lot more light-hearted and fun than many of the shows currently set in the DC universe.  It was refreshing.  It wasn’t flawless, but the comedy hit the right notes for superhero fans and the SDCC audience seemed to enjoy it.

Needless to say, having the show change hands this early in the game definitely has me worried.  Will it still keep up this fun atmosphere? Or will it get more gritty like the rest of the DC universe?  It is, after all, a sitcom, so one would think it has to keep this atmosphere to stick to its genre.  I haven’t exactly hidden the fact that I’m not super keen on how DC typically handles their franchises, so my worry about this may turn out to be for nothing.  Still, this doesn’t bode well for the show.  While the decision to exit the series was apparently mutual, showrunners typically set the tone for a show and the tone was basically my favorite part of the pilot.

The shake-up has also delayed production, which was set to begin at the end of August.  The show is slated to premiere midseason, so a small delay with the production might not impact its airing schedule too severely.  NBC hasn’t released the exact airdate for Powerless at this point anyway.  With any luck, the tone won’t change dramatically either and this little superhero sitcom will rise above this bump in the road and succeed.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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