The Cape creator Tom Wheeler ready to kick off season

Pin It

While nearly everyone is preparing for the holiday season, Tom Wheeler is gearing up to release his baby upon the world come the new year. Wheeler, who created the world of Palm City for the upcoming NBC superhero drama, “The Cape,” spoke with us about what audiences can look forward to.

“The Cape” premieres with a two-hour episode on Sunday, January 9th from 9:00 to 11:00 Eastern with an encore broadcast the following Monday from 9:00 to 11:00. After that, the show moves to its regular time period Monday, January 17th at 9:00 pm.

The show stars Australian actor David Lyons Vince Faraday, an innocent cop who has been framed for a crime he did not commit and then left for dead after he is caught. He is eventually saved by Max (Keith David), a circus ringleader who prepares him with special abilities to defend himself against his foes.

Separated from his wife (Jennifer Ferrin) and son (Ryan Wynott), he tries to clear his name while protecting them from being killed if he was ever reported alive. He takes the law into his own hands by taking the guise of his son’s favorite comic book hero, The Cape, after he is given a special suit that has unique capabilities. Vowing to get rid of the corruption that has taken over both the city and the police force, he goes after the person responsible for setting him up and causing his “demise.”

Stepping into the show in the role of villains are James Frain (The Tudors & True Blood) and English footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones. Also notable is Summer Glau who will play the role of Orwell – an investigative blogger who wages war on the crime and corruption in Palm City. She becomes Vince’s ally and helps him.

Question: Please tell us about the Cape universe and how the show will deviate from typical superhero stories.

T. Wheeler: The idea of sort of writing my own comic was always really appealing, you know, writing any comic. I just – I’m just a fan of, you know, I just have always been sort of attracted to those stories.

The opportunity when I thought about writing the Cape it was – it came sort of in stages. I knew I wanted to write a story about a father and son and a father who takes on the persona of his son’s favorite comic book hero. But then it took a while for me to settle on who that hero should be.

So the idea of creating a fictional city seemed to fit in a sort of kind of silver age fashion just sort of create, you know, a hero with some silver age sensibilities for even though it’s set in the 21st Century and just larger than life characters but see if we could maintain a really sort of strong emotional thread throughout and kind of what’s some of the great character driven superhero stuff we’ve seen.

I knew I wanted costumes. I knew that would be a challenge. But I also feel that that sort of in a sense what embodies a superhero or at least the ones I grew up with.

Question: In looking at the longevity of the superhero-based series like The Cape, where does the focus need to be beyond superpowers and saving the day?

T: Wheeler: One of the things that I wanted to establish was even though, you know, our guy would wear a mask and it was going to – we were going to sort of tackle this whole idea of kind of costumed superheroes, I also didn’t necessarily want it to be super powered.

Now the cape does some extraordinary things and obviously we will push the envelope in kind of, you know, science and what is conceivable.

But it’s also, you know, it’s also going to be sort of limited in what characters can actually do. I prefer that because I feel that will bring us deeper into our characters. And there’s a fugitive aspect to this story about a guy trying to get home.

But we tackle it in a pretty realistic way. It’s not sort of just we set up the premise and then he just goes and sort of punches bad guys in the head. So what launches The Cape into existence is this struggle to get back to his family and to send a message to his son.

What will keep him as The Cape as we go along will, you know, we’ll approach very realistically.

I mean his family is going through the loss of a father and husband. He’s going through this struggle of this decision he’s made to protect his family to keep his identity a secret.

And even though there is an adventure of the week aspect there is still for those who will tune in every week there are undercurrents of change and developments that will sometimes subtly and then sometimes quite suddenly change and reverse course.

So I have big plans for, you know, The Cape, the character of The Cape who The Cape is, the mythology of The Cape, the mythology of these characters like Max Malini and Orwell.

And I also, you know, love to sort of dig deeper into Palm City and the history of Palm City.

For instance the digital comic that we’re doing which Michael Gaydos is doing the art for and is just doing this beautiful job, that comic book is not just sort of drawing our characters like drawing our actors. That’s actually the comic book that Trip, the son reads in the show.

So it’s sort of a second Cape mythology within the show for those who want to get a better feel for this world and the rules.

Question: Which comic books that you enjoy reading in the past may have informed The Cape, like some specific titles or creator runs on various comic books?

T. Wheeler: I grew up reading mostly Marvel stuff. I mean I would say Daredevil was my favorite character. I was into X-Men. I mean the first X-Men I, you know, picked up was 136 where the whole Phoenix saga was kind of underway.

And I was always really just, I was drawn into the Marvel characters. But over time Green Arrow was a favorite of mine, the Mike Grell Green Arrow was amazing.

I loved Brubaker’s run on Captain America more recently. The whole winner soldier thing I just thought was great. I’ll read everything Grant Morrison writes. And I won’t always understand it but I will read it.

Question: What are the great things that are going to make everybody love the show whether we like comics or not?

T. Wheeler: It’s – that’s a great question and one that I think, you know, is sort of addressed within the show. And it also has to deal with the regular guy in extraordinary circumstances aspect to the story and the wish fulfillment aspects of the story.

But more specifically, you know, there’s a whole side of this story that yes, we’ll have some larger than life villains and wonderful actors will play them, but there’s a Palm City, you know, real people living their lives part of this story.

For instance Vince’s wife Dana who is just played terrifically by Jennifer Ferrin, you know, she’s a single mom now suddenly who has been forced to move to a scarier part of town who is now responsible, you know, the sole breadwinner for her family who is, you know, kind of now plunging into Palm City as a public defender and coming up face to face with sort of the corruption and the stuff that’s going on.

There is a really sort of romantic angle to, you know, this woman who sort of lost the love of her life and but The Cape is now in her life.

And I – it’s we – you know, we’re – she’s wrestling with like how long, you know, how long do I mourn and what does that mean and when is it appropriate to move on with my life?

I think all of these sort of aspects to this story just ground us and ground it all the more because I do – I think you can tell a story that embraces, you know, 7-years-olds and 70-year-olds and people that are fans of comics and people that are not into comics through stakes that are real and emotions that are real.

Question: What was it about David that you saw in the superhero that you’ve obviously been dreaming of creating? And what can you tell us about David’s betrayal and Vince himself?

T. Wheeler: There was something about David who is not only really super, just compelling in his look, but beside that he was only one that – well he was the only one that convinced me.

He was the only one that his conviction and his sincerity immediately brought the scenes to a place where you can only sort of hope they go. And he continues to do that. I mean the awesome thing about him is his total commitment.

And through him we’re able to go through these crazy worlds and these experiences and meet these characters but he never as an actor ever loses sight of what it’s about, why he’s doing this.

And so I really think he’s – we just couldn’t have a better sort of just kind of hero to sort of put this on his shoulders. And his – and he’s also just like physically – I mean this first day, you know, he was running around with the gun and doing all this detective stuff. And you were also like damn, he’s like a really good action hero guy. I mean he just – that stuff just comes so naturally to him.

I think we’re slowly killing him with everything we’re putting him through and beating – you know, having to fight (Vinnie Jones) on top of a train and everything else.

Question: So we all know that when we’re dealing with a hero they’re only as interesting as their villains. What can you tell us about some of the villains we might see this season on the show?

T. Wheeler: Well we are super fortunate to have a – kind of two regular villains. I mean I’d say they’re sort of the – they’re kind of polar opposites.

But James Frain, you know, who plays this billionaire, Peter Fleming who is a – he’s this corporate titan. He’s this sort of industrialist who has chosen Palm City for these sort of charter private policing programs. But he’s got his, you know, finger in a lot of pies all around the world. And he really seems to be using Palm City as a stepping stone for a real experiment. And that becomes sort of clear as things unfold.

But he moonlights as this sort of psychopath terrorist. He’s a real – he’s this character of chess, this sort of dual identity that he has who is sort of a killer and a master strategist and really kind of – more embracing those kind of comic book, you know, comic book larger than life figures.

We have Vinny Jones who plays this mobster named Scales. I mean he doesn’t like to be called Scales, the character doesn’t. But he is this really brutal crime lord. He actually – he and Peter Fleming don’t always get along so well but they’re the two sort of initial kind of, you know, villain forces that The Cape has to contend with.

But we quickly start bringing in some other characters. For instance early into the series we meet this character from Max Malini’s past as we tell a story that really has a lot to do with the history and the mythology of the physical Cape itself that the Cape uses. And we – it just suggests that they Cape has a darker history than we might realize.

And this character played by Thomas Kretchman comes to town to reclaim what he feels is his. And he’s a great villain.

And like all the villains we try to give them a real drive and a real, you know, I think in some ways the best villains are the ones that are, you know, they’re the heroes in their story these villains. I mean I feel the best ones are motivated from a relatable place in some ways. So we tend to kind of – we’ve gotten in a little bit of a pattern sort of introducing our bad guy first.

Question: When you were creating the universe did you always have in mind that you wanted to adapt it for television versus movies?

T. Wheeler: Actually I mean it was I thought originally when I was thinking about this sort of father and son story it was a – it was a feature in my head.

And then as sometimes happens because I tend to go back and forth, this opportunity to write a pilot with Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun I was the, you know, we knew we we’re going to work together on something. And it was what was that something going to be?

And I thought about it and I thought about in my – if I was going to do a series, you know, which is, you know, which is a – quite an undertaking, you know, what – it would have to be something that just material-wise would be just too, just too delicious and cool and what – like what – where – what would I want to do. Because you never know these things are – you always think these things are never going to get made or they’re going to whatever.

So I just swung for the fences for my take. You know, I wanted to do a full comic book, you know, costumed hero, just kind of go for it. And then this, the idea of the father and son that felt like it brought it to Earth, kept its feet on the ground and was something that we could invested in a way that could sort of open the door to all audiences.

And then it was figuring out who the Cape himself was going to be. And it was and I – and there was something very sort of primal about the Cape itself and the fact that when you’re a kid and you put the Cape on or you put your blanket around your neck and you’re running around I mean there’s – my 7-year-old, you know, he’s like throwing out around whatever around his neck now. And I’m very cool around my house now that I’m doing like a superhero.

I mean he could, you know, he wasn’t super interested in what I was doing before but he’s, there’s just something about the Cape itself that is both a very powerful symbol, you know, a kind of junigan mythological symbol and brings with it a lot of sort of symbolic energy.

But then in a very childlike way it’s our first introduction to the superhero. And I don’t know, there was just something about that that I liked.

So it was – it felt like at that point that I could tell a lot of stories in – and a lot of stories to me meant that it would be a good TV show.

A big thank you to Tom Wheeler for taking the time to chat with us and don’t forget to tune in to the series premiere, Sunday, January 9th from 9:00 to 11:00 Eastern on NBC.