Powerless premieres tonight, February 2, at 8:30 on NBC.
NBC’s new (and first of it’s kind) comic book comedy Powerless isn’t afraid to constantly remind us of its place in the ever-expanding DC universe. Here’s a list of all the references we found in the pilot.
Powerless heavily features two minor DC characters: Jack O’ Lantern and Crimson Fox.
- In the comics, Jack O’ Lantern started as a hero, but quickly turned in to a recurring Justice League Europe villain.
- Crimson Fox has the power to emit pheromones that stimulated intense sexual attraction in men. Definitely a strange choice by the show’s writers.
During Emily Locke’s backstory montage at the beginning, we see she previously worked at Retcon Insurance.
- Retcon Insurance is a reference to the popular comic trope of removing different parts of characters from continuity, and was also the original workplace in early scripts.
Emily currently works at Wayne Security – a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises.
- Everyone knows Wayne Enterprises’ charismatic boss: Bruce Wayne. He is mentioned throughout the episode, as well as the “totally-unrelated” Batman.
We see a brief glimpse of Starro, the telepathic starfish, blasting away atop a tower.
- The villain debuted in the 1960s and wrecked havoc against Aquaman.
Powerless is about people trying to survive in a world of superheroes and supervillains.
- This is emphasized in the intro, which takes famous comic covers (Such as Action Comics #1) and centers in on the normal folks in the background.
Wayne Security makes gadgets to help the everyday man.
- Among these are Joker Anti-Venom, a cure to the infamous Joker Gas.
We also see the characters try to copy some pieces of Lexcorp’s tech.
- Lexcorp is also the company of Lex Luthor, Superman’s famous adversary.
When Teddy tries to summon a wizard he shouts “Shazam!”
- This is the popular catch phrase of Shazam, who is receiving his own movie in 2019.
One character asks why superheroes sometimes fight each other for ill-defined reasons.
- I think this was a clear nod to Batman v Superman.
When the camera pans over Charm City, a tower with a large “T” emblazoned on it is visible.
- This could possibly be the home of one of DC’s most beloved teams: The Teen Titans! Fans have long awaited a live-action version of the kid heroes, and this may mean an appearance in Powerless.
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