Powers Pilot: Actor Says FX is "Starting Over"

Fans who had hoped to see forward momentum on FX's television adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming's fan-favorite creator-owned series Powers will be disappointed to hear that Khary Payton, who played Cutter in the pilot, has left the project and that it appears the entire endeavor--while not yet dead--will start over from scratch before the pilot ever airs. "They're literally starting over. They want to do it again," said Payton in a video interview with Comic Book Resources conducted at the Emerald City Comic Con. "And fortunately and unfortunately, I'm doing another show." While Payton told CBR he still hopes he can participate in the show, it seems increasingly unlikely. According to a report at MTV's Splash Page, a representative from the network seemed less enthusiastic about the show's future than did Payt0n. Besides his own scheduling conflicts, he suggests that the entire cast has been released from their contracts while the network re-evaluates the show. "It is still to be determined if we'll move forward with reshoots on the pilot," MTV quotes FX as telling CBR. "There is currently no timetable on when to move forward." The series seemed to be going forward not long ago, but after the pilot was shot and edited, the network failed to pick it up for a full series in January, with the network never being completely clear how much work would need to be done to make it ready for air or whether they would be willing to spend the money to try again. While Brian Michael Bendis said at the time that being in limbo was "not the end of the world," that end does seem to be inching closer and closer for Powers as a TV show.