Sony is poised to beat Microsoft out of the gate in joining Amazon and Netflix in the ongoing development and distribution of original video content.
Powers, the first original series produced specifically for distribution on the PlayStation gaming platform, will premiere on March 10. Five-time Eisner Award winner Brian Michael Bendis, author and co-creator of Powers, and also executive producer of the television adaptation announced the premiere date on the PlayStation Blog today.
The first three episodes of the new series will launch simultaneously, with new episodes released each following Tuesday. The first episode will be free to everyone at playstation.com/powers, and all 10 episodes of the first season will be free to anyone with a subscription to Sony’s online gaming service PlayStation Plus.
The first trailer for the Powers television series premiered at New York Comic Con. Christian Walker is being played by Sharlto Copley, best known for his role of Wikus Van De Merwe in District 9. Deena Pilgrim is being played by Susan Heyward, who played Hannah in the television series The Following. Eddie Izzard and Michelle Forbes will also appear in the first season.
Powers won the Eisner Award for Best New Series in 2001. The comic is about a homicide detective named Christian Walker, who used to be a superhero but lost his powers. Walker and his partner, Deena Pilgrim, investigate homicides related to “Powers”—the collective name in their reality for superheroes—by tapping into Walker’s deep knowledge of their community.
Sony announced their plans for a Powers television adaptation produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment during its PlayStation press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Microsoft founded Xbox Entertainment Studios in 2012, for the purpose of developing original television content to be distributed on Xbox Live. Microsoft’s flagship initiative was a live-action Halo series executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
Microsoft closed Xbox Entertainment Studios in 2014, and transferred development of the Halo television series over to its first party studio 343 Industries.
H/T Variety | Screengrab via PlayStation/YouTube