Plans for DC Comics’ new superhero comedy are moving full steam ahead! On Tuesday, actors Danny Pudi, Alan Tudyk and Christina Kirk were cast for the Powerless pilot, as reported by Variety . The trio have joined revitalized singer/actress Vanessa Hudgens, who signed on the day before . All four will play series regular roles.
Powerless focuses on “one of the worst insurance companies in America,” which just so happens to be set in the DC Comics universe. Everyone who works in the office are just regular, mortal humans, and the show will examine their mundane lives in the scope of a superhero populated world. It will run for 30 minutes on NBC, should it get picked up for a full season order.
Here are the character descriptions for all four characters in Powerless:
Danny Pudi (“Community”) will play Teddy, best friend to Emily (Hudgens) at work and her trusted confidante. He spends his days creating time-wasting pranks as a way to make their office, the “least super place on earth,” just a little less “unsuper.”
Alan Tudyk (“Suburgatory”) will play Del, Emily’s new boss in the claims department. Del has just been promoted, not through any merit of his own, but because he’s the owner’s son. A self-proclaimed “rich, over-educated globetrotting wastrel,” Del is a power-mad disastrous dictator of a boss.
Christina Kirk (“A to Z”) will play Jackie. A fan of superheroes, she has plastered her office cubicle with beefcake shots of super guys. The new claims department boss Del (Tudyk) makes her his personal assistant, and she begins buckling under his unreasonable and impossible demands.
Vanessa Hudgens (“Grease: Live”) will play Emily Locke, an insurance claims adjuster who loves her job because she gets to help people. She likes to get her work done so she finds herself increasingly exasperated by the disruptive antics of the various superheroes that proliferate in her city.
NBC will likely make their decision to pick up Powerless for a full series after test screenings. Given the impressive credentials of the actors and its high concept story, it probably will succeed. We’ll keep you posted with updates as soon as they are available.
