Powerless – Wayne or Lose

• Title: Powerless – Wayne or Lose
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I know what you’re going go say. Another super-hero show? Yes, but this one is more super-hero adjacent. With iZombie still on hiatus, our current run of super-hero TV has had a decidedly lacking in fun and whimsy in favor of darker storylines (with the exception of the almost always optimistic Supergirl). More office comedy than true super-hero fare, NBC taps into an unexplored part of the super-hero universe – the regular people. In a world beset with super-villains and their constant destruction, somebody has to look out for the average Joe. For the citizens of Charm City that company is Wayne Security (the less-known subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises).

We’re introduced to Charm City and Wayne Security through the eyes of its newest resident. Hired by Bruce Wayne’s mostly incompetent cousin Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk), Emily Locke (Vanessa Hudgens) is the new head of Director of Research & Development. Her first day doesn’t go exactly as expected. After nearly being killed on the way to work during the kind of super-villain attack everyone else has grown used to, she discovers her team is unmotivated, her boss is a lazy idiot, and if she can’t find a way to come up with a killer idea the company may shut down on her very first day.

If Powerless fails it’s certainly not going to be from a lack of talent. A delightful Hudgens leads a cast that includes Tudyk, Danny Pudi, Christina Kirk, Ron Funches, and Adam West as the narrator. The only character I didn’t care for in the show’s pilot was Jennie Pierson as the one-note office bitch Wendy. My only real concern is whether the office ensemble can continue to be fleshed out and if the show’s writers can come up with fresh ideas each week. I may not have been looking for another super-hero show, but I’m going to give Powerless a shot.