It looks as though NBC’s failed superhero sitcom ‘Powerless’ is set firmly within the Arrowverse. Is this due to “Crisis on Infinite Earths?” Could be. During one scene in the final episode of ‘Arrow’, a sign can be seen bearing the logo “Van Wayne Industries.” Van Wayne was the cousin of Bruce, portrayed by Alan Tudyk on ‘Powerless’. The company on that show was called Wayne Security, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises, which is run by Bruce. But it’s entirely possible that Van Wayne subsequently struck out on his own, especially considering that Bruce is MIA in the Arrowverse.
Executive producer Marc Guggenheim explained to ComicBook.com:
“When we have to cover something up or have a billboard or something, we’ve conditioned the art department to recognize it as an Easter egg opportunity, And they’ll contact us and say, ‘listen, we’re putting up a billboard here. What Easter egg do you want to put in the billboard?’ And we got that phone call, and by that point I was done with ‘Crisis’ and Easter egged-out. Just in terms of the amount of approvals, and everything else I need to do in order to get these Easter eggs in. So I basically just cried ‘mercy,’ and I just called up Dan Evans at DC and said, ‘okay. Easter egg opportunity. Give me a pitch.’ Because I was just like, anything that Dan pitches, I know is by virtue of him pitching it, is already approved. I’m like, that’s great. And that was his idea. I love the show Powerless, and that was one of the shows that we couldn’t get into the crossover. So it was like, ‘great! Let’s do that.’”
‘Powerless’ aired in the spring of 2017 on NBC, but never took off and the network canceled it and didn’t even air all of the completed episodes. In addition to Tudyk, the cast included Vanessa Hudgens, Danny Pudi, Christina Kirk, and Ron Funches. The show centered on a group that developed gadgets to help ordinary people survive in a world filled with super beings. Adam West made appearances, shortly before his death. Marc McClure, who played Jimmy Olsen in the ’70s-’80s ‘Superman’ movies also guest-starred.
RELATED: Losing Its Charge: Not Surprisingly, NBC Cancels ‘Powerless’
The series referenced various DC characters, and a few– mostly members of the Global Guardians– appeared in the flesh, but were not faithful to their comic book inspirations. Among them were Crimson Fox, Jack O’Lantern, The Olympian, and Green Fury (better known as Fire).
For the record, Vandeveer “Van” Wayne was not an original creation for the show but was a character from the comics. Kate Kane/Batwoman is also a cousin of Batman’s but on Bruce’s mother’s side. Even so, maybe Van will pop up on ‘Batwoman’ at some point. (He won’t, but it’s fun to imagine.)
Were you a fan of ‘Powerless’? Did you get a kick out of this Easter Egg?
Source: Heroic Hollywood
