NBC’s superhero universe comedy Powerless has nabbed itself a former superhero icon in the classic Batman Adam West.
NBC comedy Powerless is capitalizing on the current cinematic and small screen superhero surge in a unique way, focusing on the unsung engineers of Wayne Industries who develop inventions to accommodate a world in which the battles of powered heroes and villains regularly leave ordinary folks stuck with the destructive aftermath. Now, one of television’s definitive classic superheroes is about to arrive in person.
According to EW, the one and only Adam West has been booked for a guest-starring role on an upcoming episode of Powerless. West has already logged his name in the show’s credits, having provided an Easter Egg of a voiceover in a Wayne Security commercial in the series’ February 2 pilot. However, the former star of the campy, but beloved 1960’s pop-culture-dominating Batman television series will soon make a physical appearance on the series. West won’t have to remember his character’s surname, since he’ll be playing Dean West, chairman of Wayne Industries, who will make a crucial visit to the workplace of the primary characters. However, it’s bad news for Alan Tudyk’s douchey middle-management overseer and Wayne family member Van and for Vanessa Hudgens’s studious, but socially-awkward supervisor Emily Locke, since Chairman West arrives in the wake of company cuts, set to deliver potentially bad news.
West, of course, became a “Bang!” and “Pow!”-delivering pop-culture icon playing the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the 1966-1968 Batman television series and in 1966’s Batman: The Movie. He came into that role as a guest-role mainstay of many high-profile television series dating back to the mid-1950’s. However, his post-Batman CV has mostly consisted of voice work, notably in his recurring role as himself on Family Guy in which he is the town mayor. West also recently (kind of) reprised his role as Batman in last year’s animated feature Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, joined by his former co-star in Robin actor Burt Ward. West also notably appeared as himself in an episode CBS’s Big Bang Theory last year.
Powerless can be seen on NBC on Thursday nights. The premiere date of Adam West’s guest-starring role has not yet been revealed.