Powerless may have recently turned Alan Tudyk’s character into Bruce Wayne’s cousin Van Wayne, but it doesn’t sound like we should expect to see the Dark Knight make an appearance in the NBC sitcom any time soon. That was made official by executive producer Justin Halpern at the Television Critics Association’s press tour yesterday.
Asked directly if we’re going to see the owner of Wayne Security make his presence felt in Powerless at any point, Halpern said that he’s being kept off the table for the time being.
“Even if you want to see [Bruce Wayne’s] hands pop into frame, you’d have to go get [Ben] Affleck; you can’t just have anyone’s hands. Usually they’re very protective of their characters — for good reason. A lot of people invest a lot in these characters. We ask for as much as we can get, and we see where we can find a happy medium. Like anything, they wanted to make sure they didn’t think the show was terrible before they let us use stuff.”
So, while Batman and other A-List DC Comics superheroes are off limits for now while Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment wait to see how Powerless develops, it sounds like it’s at least somewhat likely they could appear down the line. After all, no one expected Superman to show up in Supergirl, and then he appeared in two episodes last year.
Executive producer Patrick Schumacker, who also spoke at the TCA press tour, was quick to point out that while they don’t have every character at their disposal right now, there will still be plenty of references for fans to enjoy.
“You’re going to see characters you’re familiar with if you are a hardcore comic book fan. A lot of those heroes, I would look them as underdogs. It is ultimately Bruce Wayne’s company, but this takes place in Charm City, a totally made up city for this version of the show. We’re saying this takes place on Earth-P.”
Should Powerless succeed, it’s feasible that some bigger name heroes and villains will be more than just referenced in the series, but having the show explore some lesser known characters for the time being is no bad thing. Plus, with Powerless taking place in the DC Multiverse, there’s nothing to say a character like the Flash from The CW couldn’t show up somewhere down the line. Crossover, anyone?
