Alan Tudyk is returning to TV. Tudyk, best known for playing Hoban “Wash” Washburne in Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity, will be co-starring in NBC’s new showPowerless, according to Bleeding Cool. The website ComicBook.com says Tudyk will play Del, the new head of the claims department of RetCon Insurance Company.
Alan Tudyk is Del, Emily’s new boss in the claims department. Del has just been promoted — not through any merit of his own, but because he’s the owner’s son. A self-proclaimed “rich, over-educated globetrotting wastrel,” Del is a power-mad disastrous dictator of a boss.
Powerless is set in the DC Universe. Its focus is not on Batman or Green Lantern, but on the ordinary people who live in a world that takes superheroes and supervillains for granted. It stars Vanessa Hudgens as Emily Thorpe, an insurance claims adjuster, Danny Pudi as her co-worker Teddy, Christina Kirk as Jackie, Del’s personal assistant, and Firefly‘s own Alan Tudyk as Del, the dictatorial head of the claims department. They must deal with such problems as whether destruction caused by a fight between Wonder Woman and a supervillain can be considered an act of God, since she is technically a demigoddess. The pilot of Powerless is being written by executive producer Ben Queen and will be directed by Michael Patrick Jann.
Firefly, of course, far from Alan Tudyk’s only show. As reported in The Inquisitr previously, he was director, producer, scriptwriter, and star of the web series Con Man. In Con Man, Alan Tudyk was reunited with his Firefly co-star Nathan Fillion as the stars of a short-lived science fiction show, one of whom has gone on to stardom, the other of whom, like the characters from Galaxy Quest, is condemned to typecasting and attending SF conventions.
“My character, Wray Nerely, was on a science fiction show called Spectrum, that was canceled too soon, and now he goes to conventions, to sign head shots, and meet fans, and do panels. Nathan’s character, Jack Moore, who was the captain of the spaceship on Spectrum, has gone on to incredible action-hero stardom, like Matt Damon.”
Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk at San Diego Comic Con [Photo by Kevin Winter]
Alan Tudyk has appeared in TV roles in such shows as Suburgatory as Dr. Noah Werner, Arrested Development as Pastor Veal, Newsreaders as Reagan Biscayne, and the reboot of The Rockford Files as Det. Dennis Becker. He was reunited with his Firefly co-stars in Dollhouse and the reboot of V.
Alan Tudyk is best known to younger viewers for his voice work. In the just released Zootopia, he voices Duke Weaslton; the name of his character is a tip of the hat to the character he voiced in Frozen, the Duke of Weselton. Other Disney cartoons include King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, Alistair Krei in Big Hero Six, and an undisclosed role in Moana(still in production). He’s done voice roles in Ice Age, Astro Boy, Alvin and the Chipmunks : Chipwrecked, American Dad!, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. He’s also done several video game voices.
On Broadway, Alan Tudyk played Sir Lancelot in “Spamalot.” In the movies, he’s played a wide range of roles from science fiction to westerns to medieval adventures to contemporary comedy and drama. He’s been in such diverse films as I, Robot, A Knight’s Tale, 3:10 to Yuma, 28 Days, Transformers: Dark of the Moon,Trumbo, and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter.
When Alan Tudyk returns to television in Powerless, it won’t be the first time he’s played a character in a superhero show. In animated movies, TV shows, and videogames, he’s provided the voice for Superman in Justice League: War, the Flash in Batman: the Brave and the Bold, Green Arrow, Captain Cold, and Psimon in the TV version of Young Justice, Green Arrow in Injustice: Gods Among Us and Infinite Crisis, and Psimon in Young Justice: Legacy.
