Ghost speaks from the grave: Omari Hardwick had his own idea for the Power ending

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Myles Aronowitz/Starz

As a reminder, in what creator Courtney Kemp described to EW as the "saddest ending of a television show ever," Ghost (Hardwick) was shot by his son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) and died in the arms of his lifelong best friend Tommy (Joseph Sikora).

For Hardwick, who is now starring in the new horror thriller Spell, his original vision was seven seasons as opposed to the six the Starz series ran and a slight alteration to what came to be.

"Between season 1 and season 2, I'm just now putting on the coat of Ghost, I'm trying to learn who this guy is and to get comfy with him," he tells EW. "I'm jogging in Boston, and it comes to me as how it should end. Just creatively I shared it with [Kemp]. I emailed it in case she uses it and I at least have credit. What I email her was that it's season 7 and Ghost, like Denzel [Washington] in Man on Fire, an eye for an eye, a life for a life, he has to go help his brother, Tommy. Tommy does what he shouldn't do and Ghost has to give his life. I share with her, she likes it. I shared it with Joe, he's a big brain, a hell of a writer, and he excitingly goes, "Oh man, let's take it a whole nother level.' And we create Romeo and Romeo. So when Ghost dies, Tommy can't live without Ghost and Tommy takes his life and he falls on top of the body of Ghost. That's what I thought should happen."

While the actual finale found Tommy distraught over Ghost's death, he didn't meet the same fate, instead opting to leave New York behind and head to Los Angeles for a fresh start. The fan-favorite is now set to be featured in Power Book IV: Force.

Power
Power

Myles Aronowitz/Starz Omari Hardwick and Joseph Sikora on 'Power'

There may not be a more passionate fan base than Power viewers, who, for better or worse, have never been shy with their opinions, and the reactions to the divisive finale reached Kemp.

"50 [Cent] said to me, 'People aren't going to like it because it's over,'" she previously told EW of a conversation with her executive producer. "There were a lot of people that would have preferred that Ghost get a happy ending and rode off triumphant into the sunset. I just felt uncomfortable with having had a character do so many horrible things and being so unrepentant and not having him get punished for it."

Ghost may be dead, but the legacy of the character and Hardwick live on in the first of four planned spinoffs, Power Book II: Ghost, which follows Tariq in the immediate aftermath of that tragic ending. And the recent premiere of Ghost has finally meant that Hardwick is confronted with reflecting back on the experience.

"I wasn't forced to have to prior, but you've got so many fans upset, you've got so many fans who decide to not tell me how upset they are," he admits. "And of course, they are doing that in a protective, loving way; they are defending me, wanting me to still be on. But you have some mature fans who think it was time for O to move on and just want to talk about the legacy that O built at Power as opposed to him no longer being there. But I'm happy for all of those guys, I hope they keep rocking. It's such a humbling thing for me to know I aided in that legacy starting and seeing what's come of it."

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