SDCC 2016: Producers Ben Queen and Michael Patrick Jann Talk Powerless

07/24/2016 12:11 pm EDT

It will be a while before fans have an opportunity to see the full pilot for DC's Powerless, an office sitcom about an insurance company who are faced with the difficult task of assessing damages caused by superheroes and supervillains in the DC Universe.

The characters, played by Danny Pudi, Vanessa Hudgens, Alan Tudyk and others, are everyday people whose brushes with the super-folk of the DC Universe are rare and mostly traumatic.

Following the show's panel at Comic Con International: San Diego, ComicBook.com spoke with producers Ben Queen and Michael Patrick Jann about the series, which is set to debut on NBC in 2017.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the name of the insurance company: Retcon Insurance. Why did you decide to make the name meta?

Ben Queen: I've always liked that word. It's just a cool word, right? And we're comic book fans, so that whole idea of retconning characters is always a fun thing. As mind-splitting as it can be at times, it's always fun when comic books do that.

Part of the fun of the show is that we have our own DC Universe, so we're going to have some fun with the idea of retconning things. And it just felt perfect for an insurance company, too, for obvious reasons.

You've got the Trump-inspired Lex Luthor book in the trailer. Did you get any push back on that?

Michael Patrick Jann: From who? Trump?

Well, I was thinking of from producers, but NBC has a special relationship with Trump, so...

Queen: As a comic book fan, you probably know that's based on a Lex Luthor comic that was out in the '80s. It was really just an attempt to show Luthor.

What's great is that we have access to all of that art and all of those comic book artists and with their permission, we're able to delve into that world. We get to sort of access the comic world in a way that other shows haven't had a chance to do, so it's pretty cool.

We've seen some superheroes playing supporting roles. Do you guys have any existing DC supporting characters who might play bigger roles in the series at some point?

Jann: Well, it's kind of a secret, really.

Queen: Yeah. We're not allowed to say in terms of all the characters that show up, but for what it's worth, the show is really about the other people on the show. It's about the people in the DC Universe that have no powers and what it's like for them to live in the world.

I love your example about George Clooney. George Clooney is not thinking about us, even though we're thinking about him. And he probably isn't going to show up at an insurance company in the Midwest at any given point. So that's kind of our take on the world.

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So what do you think ComicBook.com readers? Are you excited to see Powerless take flight at midseason? Let us know in the comments below!

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