“Sinking Day” is apparently an Atlantean holiday — one which marks the date when the city sank into the ocean, as its name suggests.
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This week, we saw it being celebrated…but what else did we see?
Quite a bit, as it turns out. Powerless continues to be a haven for Easter eggs, knowing winks and sly nods of all kinds.
In tonight’s episode, we got meta jokes, metahuman jokes, and either mentions or cameos from a number of comic book characters, comic book creators, and beyond.
So…what did we see? What did we miss?
Read on, and hit us up @comicbook if we missed anything.
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Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, Len Goldstein, Marc Buckland and Dean Lorey are executive producers of Powerless. Buckland served as the director of the pilot. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television and is based on the characters from DC.
MORE: Joker Reference in Wayne Security Commercial for Powerless / Alan Tudyk Explains Why Batman’s Cousin Admires Lex Luthor / Showrunner Explains How Powerless Connects To DCEU / New Powerless Promo Reveals Alan Tudyk is Playing Batman’s Cousin / Powerless Promo Drops Superman Joke / Powerless Image Contains Batman Easter Egg
“Sinking Day” episode of Powerless will air Thursday, February 16 at 8:30/7:30c.
BLACK MANTA
In the opening moments of the episode, we see that Black Manta has attacked Atlantis.
That’s not too much of a surprise: as Aquaman’s arch-nemesis, he spends a lot of time doing that.
GAIL SIMONE
As in the pilot, when the newscaster was named after The New Teen Titans writer Marv Wolfman, today’s broadcast is read to you by Gail Simone, a
DONALD GLOVER
At one point, when Ron reveals that he’s from Atlantis, it’s revealed that nobody knows this because everyone thought he said “Atlanta” in earlier conversations.
He replies that they’re mistaking him for Donald Glover — which is funny, since when he says that he’s sharing the screen with Danny Pudi, who not only appeared with Glover on Community but whose character was inseparable from Glover’s for five seasons.
OLYMPIAN
In the comics, Olympian — the costumed hero seen this episode — was Achilles, leader of the Gargareans, who married an Amazon for political purposes and briefly was named the King of Themyscira.
He bears a bit of a resemblance to Alpha Centurion, as well, a minor Superman supporting character from the ’90s whose helmet looked a bit more like the TV version of The Olympian than did Achilles’ in the comics.
ACE CHEMICALS
Ace Chemicals, one of Wayne Security’s oldest accounts, shows up with a pretty cartoony, happy logo — a distinctly different vibe from what we usually see when the company is depicted onscreen.
Of course, Ace is the place where The Joker and Harley Quinn plunged into chemical vats and became their bleached, crazy selves.
THE KANES
The owners of Ace Chemical? The Kanes…named for Batman co-creator Bob Kane.
It isn’t clear whether the Ace Chemical Kanes are the same as the ones who co-own kane and Finger’s Pub, which showed up in the pilot.
BRUCE WAYNE
According to Ron’s theory, Bruce Wayne is The Flash.
Which is not only funny because the audience knows Bruce is Batman, but also suggests that there’s a Flash in the world of Powerless, making him at least the fourth live-action Flash we know of right now (along with Ezra Miller’s movie version, Grant Gustin’s on The CW, and John Wesley Shipp’s Jay Garrick on that same show).
Same with Bruce, who also exists in the movie continuity as well as in the world of FOX’s Gotham.
KING ORIN
That statue is of somebody in Aquaman’s bloodline, whether it’s he or someone else (likely his father).
Here’s the simplest way to describe it, via the DC Wiki:
Orin is a traditional name used by the Atlantean Royal Family. It was originally the name of their first ruler. King Orin and his brother Shalako ruled the city when it became submerged underwater. His legacy was renowned throughout history and would become passed on to younger generations. It was later given to the illegitimate child of the wizard Atlan and his lover Atlanna, who was Queen to King Trevis at the time. This child was sentenced to die but would grow up to become Aquaman. [The concept of] Orin was created by Peter David and Esteban Maroto, first appearing in Atlantis Chronicles #1.
