Having recently wrapped its second season on PlayStation Network, superhero drama series, Powers had its fate left undecided over the past couple of weeks. Finally though, we’ve gotten an answer as to the fate of the show, with Sony now announcing that Powers has unfortunately been given the axe, and won’t return for a third season. The creator of the original source comics and holder of the Powers IP, Brian Michael Bendis hinted on his Twitter feed that he is exploring options with Sony regarding another possible avenue to continue Powers, though until further notice, the series is dead.
Powers starred Sharlto Copley and Susan Heyward as LAPD detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, respectively, two homicide specialists that work for Powers Division, a fictional department of the police force dedicated to cases involving super-powered people, known as Powers, who live among regular humans in the show’s universe. The series is adapted from an independent library of graphic novels, originally beginning life at indie comics publisher, Image Comics, though subsequently being published under Marvel Comics’ Icon imprint, reserved for mature-minded stories that take place outside of the Marvel Universe. Despite the TV show’s cancellation, the source comics are still ongoing at Marvel, with Bendis confirming on his Twitter feed that upcoming Powers comic book story arc, Diamond Days is still proceeding as planned.
Sony nor Bendis gave any indication as to why Powers was cancelled, and Bendis even pointed out that at least one of the show’s episodes got over 4.5 million views on YouTube, suggesting a fairly sizable audience for a show that was primarily sold on a video game platform. It’s possible that Sony may have simply decided that they no longer wished to pursue original television content on their PlayStation Network gaming platform however, and Powers, so far the one and only PlayStation Original Series to manifest, may have been the victim of that business decision. It’s also possible that Powers’ lukewarm critical reception, especially in its first season, may have also contributed to the cancellation, despite reviews becoming a bit more positive during the second season. We gave the second season of Powers an overall 77% score in our cumulative review, praising the show’s mystery and character work, though we did take issue with the season’s lack of focus, awkward storytelling and inconsistent direction.
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