'Powers': Brian Michael Bendis Tells Us How He Wrote His Episode
Powers has long been building to a big confrontation between superhero-turned-cop Christian Walker (Sharlto Copley), teleporter Johnny Royalle (Noah Taylor), and the big, bad Wolfe (Eddie Izzard). So it’s only appropriate that the person who will set the stage for that battle royale in the freshman season’s penultimate episode is the mastermind behind the whole franchise: Brian Michael Bendis. With “Level 13,” which will be released April 21 on Sony’s PlayStation Network, the comic book writer/artist receives his maiden “Written by” credit on the TV series derived from his popular comic.
“When the show got greenlit, I had other commitments,” Bendis tells Yahoo TV about why the ninth episode was also the first one he was able to write. “By the second half of the season, I was ready to roll, and then I was just looking for the right episode. Other writers had strong input on other episodes, so those became their stories to tell, and you don’t want to be executive producer jerk grabbing all the good stuff. I was waiting for the episode where I would go, ‘Oooo, I’m going to have fun with that one.’”
Related: Comics Guru Brian Michael Bendis Talks ‘Powers,’ PlayStation, and a New Spider-Man
He had that “Oooo” moment when he was in the writers’ room breaking the story for “Level 13,” in which Walker and Royalle hatch a plan to break into Wolfe’s holding pen and put the cannibalistic madman down for good. In the process, Walker hopes to potentially recover his stolen super-abilities, even if the means to that end will put him at odds with Powers Division colleagues like his partner, Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward). In the exclusive clip above, the duo discuss their break-in strategy and also kick around their shared history as friends-turned-adversaries. “You ever wonder what the world would be like if it hadn’t all gone wrong?” Walker asks Royalle, desperately. “If I hadn’t lost my powers, you think the world would be a better place?”
The Walker/Royalle dynamic was one of the key things that attracted Bendis — who wrote “Level 13” at the same time he was cranking out another issue of the Powers comic book — to the episode. “I was excited by making a penultimate statement about Walker and Royalle’s relationship, and the only way to do that is to send them on an adventure like a prison break-in,” he explains. “This is a bromance that fell out, but they’re going to need each other for this [mission]. And I loved the flashbacks and breaking up time to tell their story in a unique way. I also pitched a gag for Johnny Royalle that I stole from my run on the X-Men comics and was dying to see onscreen. So there was all sorts of juicy stuff I was excited to do.”
Bendis is similarly excited for Powers’s TV future; despite mixed reviews, he says that the series has developed a strong following that helps it consistently hit the numbers that PlayStation anticipated reaching — an achievement he hopes will result in a renewal. A pick-up would be greatly appreciated by the show’s fans, especially because, as Bendis promises, the final two episodes will offer some closure on current storylines — and a whole lot of set-up for Walker’s future adventures. “We’ll hear about [Season 2] as soon as they’re ready to say,” Bendis says. “It’s been really great so far. So much of the show’s life was spent in development that this thing of having people watch and enjoy the series is super awesome. I’ve had that in comics, but there’s something very special about the TV relationship with people. You can feel the difference.”
As for what viewers should expect from the season finale, he reminds them, “This is Powers, and if you’re a fan of the comic or the show, you know that nobody is really safe. There’s blood in the water… and with us, it’s a lot of blood.”
Powers airs Tuesdays on the PlayStation Network.
