Few things are as exciting as a massive throwdown between superheroes and supervillains on screen. Punches that send villains through a building. Well, buildings. Villains giving heroes an asphalt face wash down city streets. Alien threats that hit Earth like a meteor strike, razing infrastructure within a 10-block radius. And, of course, the tried and true “collapsing bridge” trope. Sure, the superheroes are there to save the city, the world, even the universe.
But these epic fights between titans are a dangerous game for the “muggles” of the world, who are forced to try and escape toppling buildings, avoid falling debris, yada yada yada. Superman can crash through ten buildings and still be ready to enter the fight again. Joe Average? He doesn’t make it past the first building before his head meets his feet on the brick exterior. Who looks out for them? Superman can’t save every squirrel, and that’s where 2017’s Powerless comes in, a forgotten NBC sitcom set in the DC Universe, and all 12 episodes can be seen on Prime Video, just perfect for a weekend binge.
Wayne Security Looks Out for the Powerless in ‘Powerless’
Powerless is set in Charm City – not as big as Metropolis or Gotham, but certainly bigger than Smallville – and stars High School Musical alum Vanessa Hudgens as the bubbly and optimistic Emily, who has come to Charm City to become the latest in a long string of managers of the Research and Development team at Wayne Security. Yes, that Wayne, who entrusts the leadership of the company to his selfish, boastful, and wildly incompetent cousin Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk).
Collider Exclusive · Marvel Personality Quiz Which MCU Hero Are You? Spider-Man · Daredevil · Iron Man · Punisher · Thor · Cap
Six heroes. One destiny. Answer 10 questions to discover which Marvel Cinematic Universe hero shares your personality, values, and fighting spirit. Will you swing, fly, or thunder your way to glory?
🕷️Spider-Man
😈Daredevil
🤖Iron Man
💀Punisher
⚡Thor
🛡️Cap
01
What drives you to do what’s right? Choose the answer that feels most like you.
02
It’s 2 AM. Where are you? Your answer says more about you than you’d think.
03
How do you handle a villain who keeps escaping justice? Every hero has a method. What’s yours?
04
How do you feel about keeping a secret identity? The mask — or the lack of one — says everything.
05
You’ve lost someone important because of your heroism. How do you carry that? Every hero pays a price. The question is how they pay it.
06
What’s your role when working with a team? Who you are under pressure is who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line between justice and revenge? The answer defines what kind of hero you really are.
08
When you’re not saving the world, what does life look like? The person behind the mask is always the more interesting story.
09
What keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
10
The battle is lost. You’re outnumbered, outgunned, and exhausted. What do you do? This is your tiebreaker — choose carefully.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your MCU Hero Is…
Based on your answers, the Marvel hero who matches your spirit, values, and instincts has been revealed.
Queens, New York
🕷️ Spider-Man
You carry the weight of the world on shoulders that are younger than they should have to be — funny, loyal, and endlessly self-sacrificing.
You do the right thing not because it’s easy, but because no one else will.
You understand that responsibility isn’t a burden you choose — it’s one that finds you.
Whether it’s a neighbourhood mugging or a multiverse crisis, you show up.
Peter Parker’s lesson — that great power demands great responsibility — isn’t a slogan to you. It’s the code you live by, even when it costs you everything.
Hell’s Kitchen, New York
😈 Daredevil
You fight in the shadows between law and chaos, guided by a fierce moral compass that refuses to let the guilty walk free.
You use every tool available — your mind, your body, your faith — to protect those the system overlooks.
You’ve looked into the darkness and chosen not to become it, though the line has never been easy.
Matt Murdock’s duality — champion in the courtroom, devil in the alley — mirrors your own.
Relentless, conflicted, and unwilling to stop. That is exactly you.
Stark Industries, Malibu
🤖 Iron Man
Brilliant, driven, and occasionally insufferable — but always the person who solves the unsolvable problem.
You lead with your mind and back it up with resources, innovation, and a stubbornness that borders on heroic.
You started out looking out for yourself, but somewhere along the way the world became your responsibility.
Tony Stark’s arc — from ego to sacrifice — is your arc too.
You build, you plan, and when the moment comes, you’re willing to give everything. Because in the end, you’re Iron Man.
New York City
💀 The Punisher
You’ve been through fire that would break most people — and it did change you, completely. What’s left is unyielding, relentless, and operating by a code forged in grief.
You don’t ask for forgiveness, and you don’t expect gratitude.
You see a corrupt, broken world and you’ve decided to do something about it, consequences be damned.
Frank Castle’s war is born from love twisted by loss — and so is yours.
Uncompromising and unflinching — the world may not agree with your methods, but your conviction is absolute.
Asgard · Protector of the Nine Realms
⚡ Thor
Powerful, proud, and on a lifelong journey to become worthy of the legend you carry.
You lead with strength but have learned — sometimes painfully — that true greatness comes from humility and growth.
You’re larger than life, yet more vulnerable than you let on.
Thor’s story is one of transformation: from arrogant prince to worthy king, from isolated warrior to beloved protector.
You bring the storm when it’s needed — and the warmth when it matters just as much.
Brooklyn, New York · The Avengers
🛡️ Captain America
You believe in something bigger than yourself — and you fight for it even when the world has moved on and nobody else will.
You don’t bully the small guy, and you never stop when it gets hard.
Steve Rogers didn’t become a hero when he got the serum — he was always one. So were you.
Your strength isn’t in your fists; it’s in your refusal to compromise what’s right, no matter the cost.
In a world full of people taking the easy road, you’re the one who picks up the shield and stands up — every single time.
In a world where Superman is the leading cause of workplace accidents, Wayne Security creates gadgets – villain deterrents, umbrellas that deflect debris, and the like – for a Charm City population that has, hilariously, grown indifferent to the spectacles of warring heroes and villains in their streets and skies, and instead are simply perturbed at being held up for a meeting because the train tracks have collapsed, yet again. Behind those gadgets are Emily’s team, led by Teddy (Danny Pudi) and Ron (Ron Funches), who, along with Van’s personal assistant, Jackie (Christina Kirk), resent Emily, their fifth boss in a year.
Emily has her work cut out for her, but they’ll have to pull together to create something that will prevent Bruce Wayne from shutting the division down and laying off the entire staff. Something that can compete with LexCorp. Van would rather they didn’t, hoping that the shutdown of Wayne Security would give him a ticket out of Charm City to Gotham and a coveted corporate position at Wayne Enterprises. Alas, to Van’s chagrin, the team develops a wrist-worn supervillain detector, under Emily’s leadership, that alerts the wearer when one is nearby. Worse, his cousin, as Batman, uses the device to catch the Joker, escalating sales and saving the company.
‘Powerless’ Was a Superhero Series Ahead of Its Time
For fans of DC Comics, Powerless is chock-full of Easter eggs. In the pilot alone, Crimson Fox (Atlin Mitchell) and Jack O’Lantern, two obscure DC Comics characters associated with the Justice League Europe and the Global Guardians, appear (and are the reason for the train derailment), as does Starro the Conqueror, last seen in The Suicide Squad, who appears in the background of a flashback sequence. Green Fury/Fire (Natalie Morales), a character that debuted in October 1979 in Super Friends #25, also plays a role in two episodes.
These characters would make for the world’s finest additions to Superman’s corner of the DCU.
Other Easter eggs reference DC history in other ways as well. Local establishment Kane and Finger’s Pub is a direct tribute to Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger. A brief news headline references President Lex Luthor (who is trying to “make Metropolis super again”), alluding to his successful bid in the comics for the presidency in 2000. 1978’s Superman gets a couple of fun references. First in the unaired original pilot, where the film’s Jimmy Olsen, Marc McClure, plays Emily’s father, and a second, this time aired as the series’ tenth episode, “No Consequence Day,” which pokes fun at the “Superman reverses time” plot device from the movie, where the death of Lois Lane prompts outrageous actions from the characters, who assume anything they do will have no consequences once Superman reverses time, again. Only Supes shows up at Lois’ funeral with a new girlfriend, hilariously upending their presumptions.
Powerless is a funny love letter to DC Comics, with clever references and plot devices (Emily realizes her date is a henchman for the Riddler in one episode) present throughout all 12 episodes. But it wasn’t allowed the runway to develop, cancelled by NBC after airing only nine episodes. It was, arguably, ahead of its time, appearing at a time when Zack Snyder had all but rid the brand of any humor whatsoever with the Snyderverse, and well before James Gunn made it alright for DC films to have a degree of levity again. In fact, Powerless likely would have thrived in the current DCU, but making a weekend binge of the series in these Gunn years is the next best thing. As long as a super isn’t thrown through your TV, that is.
