– Stan today released the official trailer for Power Book III: Raising Kanan, the brand new season of Power and the next instalment in the growing Power Universe franchise.
. Experience the early ‘90s in this new coming of age prequel story revolving around the character of Kanan Stark.
Set in South Jamaica, Queens in 1991, Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel to the original Power. It is a sprawling family drama that revolves around the coming of age of Kanan Stark, Ghost and Tommy’s mentor, partner and adversary, who ultimately dies in a hail of gunfire in the eighth episode of the penultimate season of Power (with the role famously played by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson).
When we catch up with Kanan, he is the 15-year-old only child of Raquel “Raq” Thomas, a cocaine distributor with an emerging network of dealers across the city. Much like the original Power, Raising Kanan explores themes of identity, violence and legacy, but it is also a deep dive into the very pathology of family; the unique, complicated and fraught dynamic between parent and child, mother and father, brother and sister.
In an increasingly fractious world, family often feels like the only refuge from all the divisiveness and discord and yet, at the same time, we often discover that it is those closest to us who betray us and our values most. Raising Kanan is an exploration of these betrayals, the secrets and lies that accompany them and the ways in which they fester, metastasize and ultimately erupt.
The overarching theme of the drama is: “you reap what you sow.” In other words, actions have consequences; betrayals are always uncovered; secrets are inevitably revealed; chickens come home to roost. Every character in Raising Kanan is hiding something: from the world, from each other, from themselves. And as our story unfolds, they each will have to grapple with the unintended and destructive consequences of the information they’ve hidden and withheld.
And while the ways in which these betrayals, secrets and lies reveal themselves will vary, one truth will remain constant: in Raising Kanan, as in the Power Universe, no one can be trusted and nothing is ever as it seems.
The third book in the Power Universe stars Patina Miller (Madam Secretary; The Hunger Games Franchise) as Raquel “Raq” Thomas and Mekai Curtis in the titular role as Kanan Stark. The cast also includes Omar Epps (House, Love and Basketball), London Brown (Ballers), Malcolm Mays (Them, Snowfall), Hailey Kilgore (Amazing Stories), Joey Bada$$ (Two Distant Strangers), Toby Sandeman (The Royals), Shanley Caswell (The Conjuring), Lovie Simone (The Craft: Legacy) and Quincy Brown (Dope).
Power Book III: Raising Kanan premieres Sunday, 18 July, same day as the U.S. and only on Stan – with new episodes weekly.
