Sharlto Copley cast as lead in Powers TV series for PlayStation Network

By Rick Marshall August 19, 2014

sharlto copley cast lead powers tv series playstation network comic

Following yesterday’s news that PlayStation Network’s upcoming television series Powers had found its lead villain, now comes word that the series has cast its remaining lead and one of its chief supporting characters.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, District 9 star Sharlto Copley will play Detective Christian Walker in the series, which follows a pair of homicide detectives tasked with investigating super-powered crimes in a world where such abilities are commonplace. The series is based on a long-running comic book series created by Brian Bendis and Michael Oeming.

In the series, Christian Walker is a former superhero who lost his powers in a fight with a similarly super-powered killer. He now uses his connections within the superhuman community to keep the peace along with his partner, Detective Deena Pilgrim (played by The Following actress Susan Heyward).

The report also named The Killing actress Michelle Forbes as the other new addition to the cast. Forbes will play Retro Girl, one of the most popular “powers” (individuals with superhuman abilities) in the world and a paragon of all that’s good and heroic about the super-powered community.

Copley, Heyward, and Forbes join previously announced cast members Eddie Izzard, who was cast as the series’ primary villain earlier this week, as well as Breaking Bad actor Adam Godley, The Killing‘s Max Fowler, Game Of Thrones actor Noah Taylor, and High School Musical actress Olesya Rulin.

Powers will premiere in December 2014 on PSN, with the first two episodes directed by David Slade (30 Days of Night) and written by Charlie Huston.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Gaming

PlayStation reveals new features and UI for its PS5 Access Controller

Sony's Project Leonardo controller sits on a table.

Sony revealed new details about its PlayStation 5 accessibility controller, which has been renamed from Project Leonardo to the Access Controller. A new blog post details what comes with the controller and offers a glimpse at the UI interface that players will use to customize it on the PS5.

Sony surprise revealed its "Project Leonardo" at CES earlier this year (Digital Trends named it the best gaming tech of the show). The circular pad features a unique design meant to make it easier for people with disabilities to customize controls to their needs. While it still doesn't have a price or release date, Sony has opened a new website for its newly renamed Access Controller and shared new details on it.

Gaming

I miss the golden age of oddball, first-party PlayStation exclusives

gamescom 2012 ps vita announcements playstation tearaway media molecule

While PlayStation continues to thrive thanks to big-budget games like God of War Ragnarok, two recent events show how much Sony's video game brand is changing. The first came when the Sony-owned studio Media Molecule would end support for Dreams, a PS4-exclusive experience creation tool allowing players to build and share games with one another, later this year.

Shortly after that news, PixelOpus -- another Sony-owned studio -- announced it would be shutting down on June 2 after publishing just two titles: Entrwined in 2014 and Concrete Genie in 2019. In its tweet, PixelOpus stated "Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who have supported us, and our mission to make beautiful, imaginative games with heart. We are so grateful!"

Gaming

3 big things I need to see from the next PlayStation Showcase

Peter and Miles from Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

It’s that time of the year again when industry insiders are teasing that a big PlayStation Showcase will happen around June. A third-party focused State of Play happened in 2022, but now Video Games Chronicle’s Andy Robinson and Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb are both suggesting that a more first-party oriented "Showcase" could be on the way sometime during the next month, potentially during the week of May 25.
PlayStation has had a rough start to 2023, with console exclusive Forspoken garnering mixed reviews, the PlayStation VR2 impressing critics while underperforming in sales, and The Last of Us Part 1’s PC port being broken at launch. With only Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 confirmed to be on the horizon for 2023, Sony has a lot to prove during its next showcase. There are three specific things I need to see from Sony if that PlayStation Showcase does come to fruition.
Give PSVR2 purpose
The PlayStation VR2 is an impressive piece of virtual reality technology, but it lacks killer apps outside of Horizon: Call of the Mountain. New game releases for the headset have been slow since its February 2022 launch, which is likely why the $550 headset has underperformed. Sony has opted to mainly relegate PSVR2 to State of Plays or PlayStation Blog posts, but it needs to revitalize excitement for the platform by giving some of its games a spotlight in a big PlayStation Showcase.

Hopefully, there’s more on the way in terms of new AAA VR exclusives from first-party studios, as well as much-demanded ports like Half-Life: Alyx. Already announced PSVR2 games like Journey to Foundation and Synapse could also use release dates. A PlayStation Showcase is the perfect time for Sony to put out a clear road map for PSVR2’s future game library, just as the September 2021 PlayStation did for PS5. Give me a reason to strap on that headset yet again.
Flesh out the system’s 2023 exclusives lineup
PS5 needs a strong lineup for this fall as well. With the exception of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, things look pretty barren for PS5 this year after the launch of Final Fantasy XVI. Several previously announced PS5 games still lack concrete release dates and could arrive in the second half of this year. It’d be nice to get a clearer picture of Sony’s PS5 game lineup for the rest of the year; hopefully, it includes titles like Stellar Blade, the Silent Hill 2 remake, Lost Soul Aside, Death Stranding 2, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.