Rainn Wilson Joins Amazon Sci-Fi Series The Power

Amazon Prime Video has already brought some boundary-breaking and beloved TV shows into the mainstream, and their upcoming series The Power is set to be no exception. The series is expected to be a ten-part adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s feminist sci-fi novel, and is executive produced and directed by Emmy winner Reed Morano. The Power has begun to assemble its diverse cast — and a fan-favorite actor is set to join that list. According to Variety, The Office and Star Trek: Discovery star Rainn Wilson is set to have a series regular role on the series.

Wilson will be portraying Daniel Dandon, the self-righteous and self-important Governor of Washington who butts heads with Margot Cleary-Lopez (Leslie Mann).

The Power opens on “The Day of the Girls”, in which teenage girls are suddenly able to electrocute people with their fingertips, a hereditary and permanent power that has been kept dormant for generations. The teenage girls soon learn that they can awaken “The Power” in older women, leading to nearly every woman on Earth having the ability — which can also easily hurt or kill others. This leads to a shift in gender and political dynamics throughout the world, which affects the series’ cast of characters in wildly different ways.

The original novel follows Allie (Halle Bush), an American foster kid who uses The Power to form a new religious group, Roxy (Ria Zmitrowicz), the daughter of a London crime boss, and Tunde (Toheeb Jimoh), a Nigerian journalist with a front-row seat to society’s new changes. The cast also includes Auli’i Cravalho as Margot’s daughter, Jos, and John Leguizamo as Rob, Margot’s partner.

The Power was originally released in 2017, and was ultimately included on Barack Obama’s list of his favorite books from that year. It has since been translated into over twenty-five languages and won several literary awards.

The series is adapted for the small screen by Alderman, who is working alongside an all-female writing staff including co-executive producer Claire Wilson (Rocks, Little Drummer Girl, Gangs of London), co-executive producer and story consultant Sarah Quintrell (Ellen, The Trial: A Murder in the Family), Whit Anderson (Ozark, Daredevil), Stacy Osei-Kuffour (Watchmen, PEN15) and novelist Rebecca Levene (The Hollow Gods Trilogy).

Executive producers on the series include Alderman, Morano, Jane Featherstone (Chernobyl, Giri/Haji, The Split), Naomi de Pear (Don’t Forget the Driver, The Bisexual, Flowers). The series is produced by Tim Bricknell (Trust, Taboo) and is the latest UK produced Amazon Original series.

Are you excited to see Wilson join the cast of The Power? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Power does not currently have a release date.