You Had One Job: Powers Series On PS4

I tend to be far more harsh when it comes to a TV series or movie based off of comic books. The reason being there is usually years worth of information already in print and drawn for these “creators” and writers of the series to gather information for. It seems like it would be far easier to work with something when you already have a finished product in front of you. Just take what you see and do it using real people.

Of course I know that is not realistic and if you made things exactly like the comic book no one would take them close to serious (Sin City) or they would be broke after the first episode. So I slide towards the look. Wanting characters to at the very least look like they did in the comic books. But you couldn't even do that, could you Powers?

Powers is an incredible series writing by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Michael Oeming. In it Christian Walker is a detective that keeps track of superheroes and villains also known as “Powers.” They have to register their powers and not use them illegally. He used to be one of them until one day during a battle he lost them. His partner is Deena Pilgrim. She asks to be assigned to work with him and though they clash they work well together. Of course there's more but I'm not gonna explain it all, you lazy bastards. Read a book!

This series has been through many forms of production hell for close to 10 years. It was set and had a cast that even shot a pilot for FX that I wasn't excited about in the least. Then I heard nothing for a while. Then I read that it was being done again with a new cast and just forgot about it completely. I have the graphic novels. Who cares about a series now? Then I was sent the trailer and my head hurt. Introducing a series called Powers that seems like anything but available on...PS4?

The first thing I noticed when watching the trailer was Sharlto Copley is now playing Walker. I sighed and continued. He is not big enough to play Walker let alone calm looking enough. Walker is a cool ass dude and Copley always looks unhinged and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I've seen 5 of the 7 films he has been in so I know what he can do on screen. He is just not right for this role. Oh, and they have him acting like a loose cannon which is the opposite of his behavior. Come the fuck on. Did you even read a single issue of the comic book? Hopefully they don't get into the caveman stuff.

Deena Pilgrim is his tough ass partner and discovers Walker's past life as a power. Though they clash quite a bit they are a good team and balance each other out. She breaks rules and at one point causes someone to lose an arm as they teleported. She is not the calm one. The fact that she seems so reasonable is fucking silly. She is played by Susan Heyward and is Black. That's right, I said it. She is Black and she shouldn't be. Why? Because Deena isn't Black!

I am fully aware of all the characters in comic books that have been races that were different. The thing is that those characters had been established for decades before someone came along and switched shit up. Captain America was played by a Canadian wearing a Puerto Rican flag. Nick Fury and Kingpin were different races in the movies than the comics. But Fury has been around since 1963 and Kingpin in 1967. 

Powers came out in 2000 and I doubt 9 out of 10 people even know what it is. So imagine them actually liking this show and going to grab the comics. “When does Deena show up?” She's there. She is just tiny and White. And I can just smell a focus group saying that they didn't want Deena to behave the same for fear of being racist and having an angry Black woman. Guess what? Black women are angry sometimes!

Hey, look! Its not District 9's sequel!

This show is doomed to fail. Even if I take away the fact that it angers me not being kinda close to the comic book version, it just looks like a shit show. They are supposed to be detectives and shit, so how come they are gearing up and marching through the park looking like Guardian Angels? “Yeah, let's get our brass knuckles and weighted gloves and beat up people that can alter reality on a bad day!”

Of course I'll watch the first episode of this to be fair...ish. I know this will be shit. You know it will be shit. But as comic book fans there is always a small slice of hope.

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