The cast of the history-making skein, including Sharlto Copley, Susan Heyward, Adam Godley and Michelle Forbes, joined exec producers and co-creators Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming at the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City to celebrate the show’s launch. The drama series follows two homicide detectives, played by Copley and Heyward, who are assigned to investigate murder cases involving people with superhuman abilities, known as Powers.
For Bendis and Oeming, the premiere marked the climax of a 15-year journey to bring the adaptation of their comic book from script to screen.
“Literally it feels like our kid has grown up and is graduating and we’re here having a party for it,” Oeming told Variety of the lengthy development process. “It was just us alone in a room making this for a long time,” Bendis added, alluding to the magnitude of the premiere. “We invented it in our basements and now here we are with all of this. Surreal is, I think, the word we’re looking for.”
The producers also conveyed their excitement about the new format for their show, explaining that services such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu have made viewers more comfortable with streaming series in the years leading up to the release of “Powers.”
“The biggest worry I had was people understanding that it’s really a television show, and not a puppet show me and Mike were making in our basement or something,” noted Bendis, to which Oeming added, “There’s something really exciting about being the first (to do) something.”