While NBC’s DC Comics-set sitcom Powerless had its fans, and great showrunners who later brought us the animated Harley Quinn on HBO Max, one thing has long been elusive for fans: The original, unaired version of the pilot episode, which screened at the Comic-Con International in San Diego back in 2016 and then was never seen again.
The original version of Powerless was set at Retcon, an insurance agency in the world of superheroes. Here’s the original description from the show from 2016 (with KSiteTV’s original image gallery available here!)
In the first comedy series set in the universe of DC Comics, Vanessa Hudgens (“Grease Live,” “High School Musical”) plays Emily, a spunky young insurance adjuster specializing in regular-people coverage against damage caused by the crime-fighting superheroes. It’s when she stands up to one of these larger-than-life figures (after an epic battle messes with her commute) that she accidentally becomes a cult “hero” in her own right … even if it’s just to her group of lovably quirky co-workers. Now, while she navigates her normal, everyday life against an explosive backdrop, Emily might just discover that being a hero doesn’t always require superpowers.
Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi, and Christina Hendricks still starred but in quite different roles. Tudyk’s character, for example, was not a Batman relative named “Van Wayne” this first time around. Also, Kate Micucci is in the cast! On the down side, there’s no Ron Funches. Ben Queen (A to Z) developed Powerless, and then a new team came in: Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker, who, as mentioned before, had bigger DC success later with the fantastic Harley Quinn on HBO Max. Here’s what the show became:
In a world where humanity must cope with the collateral damage of Super Heroes and Super-Villains, Emily Locke (Vanessa Hudgens) begins her first day as Director of Research & Development for Wayne Security, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises that specializes in products that make defenseless bystanders feel a little safer. Full of confidence and big ideas, Emily quickly learns that her expectations far exceed those of her new boss (Alan Tudyk) and officemates, so it will be up to her to lead the team toward their full potential and the realization that you don’t need superpowers to be a hero. Danny Pudi, Christina Kirk and Ron Funches also star.
So now that you know both versions, view the Powerless pilot below while you can. The aired version of Powerless is available on The CW app.