Michael Madsen Cast as SuperShock in PlayStation Series POWERS
Quick: when you think of perfect physical specimen, which actors come to mind? If you immediately thought of Reservoir Dogs star Michael Madsen, you just might be the casting director of Powers, PlayStation's TV adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis' comic series. According to Deadline, he's just been cast as SuperShock, "the ultimate Power for whom the term 'superhero' was coined, a perfect physical specimen with an unparalleled presence that catapulted him to global fame. After retiring at the height of his career under mysterious circumstances and disappearing from public view, he emerges for the first time in forty years after the death of Retro Girl."
The show stars Sharlto Copley, Susan Heyward, Eddie Izzard, Noah Taylor, and more, and here's the full synopsis in case you're not familiar with it:
“Powers” is an edgy dramatic series that follows the lives of two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who are assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, referred to as Powers. Set amidst today’s paparazzi culture, “Powers” asks the questions, what if the world was full of superheroes who aren’t actually heroic at all? What if all that power was just one more excuse for mischief, mayhem, murder, and endorsement deals? Enter the men and women of the Powers Division, the brave people in charge of protecting humans like us and keeping the peace with these over-paid, commercialized, god-like men and women who glide through the sky imposing their power over the mortals who both worship and fear them.
Madsen would be pretty far down the list of people I'd think of when imagining a "Superman gone insane" type of character like this, but if he eventually becomes a villain — which I'm not certain about, because I haven't read the comics — I can definitely see him bringing a sense of menace to the character that would work really well for this show. We'll have to see how the storyline plays out, because as Deadline points out, the show has diverged from the source material before and seems content with doing its own thing when needed. Meanwhile, Madsen will star in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, which hits select theaters on Christmas Day.