After NBC Pulls Plug on ‘Powerless,’ Co-Showrunner Sheds Light on What Could Have Been

Alex Logan

Powerless had two more episodes left in its first season, but NBC decided the show wouldn’t air in its regular Thursday slot, replacing it with Superstore reruns. The Peacock network hasn’t officially announced a cancellation or what they’ll do with the remaining episodes, but co-showrunner Justin Halpern took to Reddit to respond to fan questions in an impromptu Ask Me Anything forum.

Reddit user IAmBatman412 — who may or may not be the real caped crusader — praised the show’s opening title sequence. Halpern reveals, “That was the original creator, Ben Queen. All him. My favorite part of the show, I think.”

Powerless began with a different concept — the characters working for an insurance company, instead of Wayne Security. When the network went in a different direction, Ben Queen went his own way too.

Reddit user SickleClaw wanted to know if superhero Crimson Fox would ever be unmasked. And Halpern disclosed that Crimson Fox was on her way out in favor of Green Fury. “We had grand plans for Green Fury because Natalie Morales is f**king awesome. Grand plans, I say! AND THEN NBC DESTROYED THEM! DESTROYED! (Our ratings were pretty low and they cancelled us.)”

At least he’s honest. Halpern also divulged his inspiration for writing the boss character, Van, played by Alan Tudyk. “Van was a really fun one to write for, but tricky, because you had to walk that fine line between ill-informed and just plain stupid. Just plain stupid isn’t a good place to land for a Van joke. We basically just wrote him as Trump and had the rule of ‘If Trump would think it or say it, it’s not too stupid for Van.’ Unfortunately Trump is very very stupid and we had to raise the bar for Van’s character shortly after making that rule.”

The co-showrunner also managed fans’ expectations about Hulu or Netflix saving the series: “It was a pretty expensive show. Actually, it was a reaaaaallly expensive show. So, probably not. Sorry, I’m here to crush dreams, friends.”

Watch Live From Beijing, It’s Saturday Night: China Will Be 10th Country to Produce International Version of SNL:

:

Read more from Yahoo TV:

Tell us what you think! Were you surprised to hear about the early demise of Powerless? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter.