Jan 7, 2011 12:00 PM

Gallery: The Cape Teams Wannabe Superhero With Circus Freaks

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Superhero-origin stories traffic in the type of fantastical wish fulfillment that, by its very nature, stretches the bounds of believability. By that mythic measure, new superhero TV series The Cape adds a few fresh twists while largely adhering to the standard ingredients that go into the making of a larger-than-life crime-fighter: revenge, isolation and a thirst for justice bolstered with a strong dose of bitterness. In the show, which premieres Sunday on NBC, honest cop Vince Faraday (played by [David Lyons](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2256017/)) gets framed for murder by a private security company CEO intent on taking over the corrupt police force for his own evil ends. *(__Spoiler alert:__ Plot points follow.)* The series' most original bits involve the aftermath of a car explosion, when Faraday is presumed dead but hides out with a gang of circus freaks who moonlight as bank robbers. In this unlikely setting, a hero is born. Grandiloquent ringleader Max Milani (played by [Keith David](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_David), the show's most entertaining actor) initiates Faraday's transformation from straight-arrow cop to crime-fighting man of mystery by teaching him 37 vanishing illusions that involve using a cape as a weapon. Er, what? Hastily crafted from a random curtain, the cape and Faraday soon become one. The fledgling superhero names himself after a comic book favored by his son ([Ryan Wynott](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2462217/)) and starts kicking ass by twirling his cape really fast to confuse the bad guys. The show hits familiar estranged-hero beats when Faraday, unable to reunite with his wife and son, articulates the shopworn sentiment that "one man can make a difference." But the cape-as-weapon gimmick and carnival-of-misfits environment inject enough surreal twists to keep the show mildly off-kilter. After all, circus weirdos can usually be counted on to bring offbeat charisma to otherwise straight-ahead melodrama. Superpowered carnies stole every scene they were in during the last season of *Heroes*, and HBO series *[Carnivàle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carniv%C3%A0le)* pushed every voyeuristic button available, drawing an outrageous masterpiece of Dust Bowl repulsion and fascination with roots in Tod Browning's unsettling *[Freaks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freaks)* and David Lynch's *[Eraserhead](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraserhead)*. As for *The Cape*, there's nothing like seeing a thug dwarf cold-cock the imprisoned leading man as he's tied to a chair, as a mutant named Scales looks on. Also worth watching is sci-fi's lithe It Girl [Summer Glau](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1132359/), who adds a 21st-century dimension to the proceedings in her role as a spunky blogger known as Orwell. *The Cape* wobbles between super-earnest sentimentality, straightforward action scenes and the not-to-be-missed cape-twirling stunts. Here's hoping the show finds its groove. In the meantime, *The Cape* serves to remind us about Job One for every superhero: Make civilians take you seriously, no matter how ridiculous the costume. The two-hour pilot episode of [*The Cape*](http://www.nbc.com/the-cape/) airs at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central Sunday on NBC before settling into its regular Monday-night slot. Check additional shots of *The Cape* in the gallery above. __Above:__ The Cape in Action ------------------ Exploding cars pop up periodically on *The Cape*, with David Lyons in the title role.
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Summer Glau as Orwell --------------------- Summer Glau co-stars as a crusading blogger who goes by the name Orwell — as in "Big Brother is watching."

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Circus Freaks ------------- Scales (left) is played by British actor Vinnie Jones, known for his thug roles in Guy Ritchie films. Rollo (right) is portrayed by Martin Klebba, who previously appeared in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* trilogy. In *The Cape*, both characters belong to the bank-robbing circus troupe that recruits cop-on-the-run Vince Faraday.
Paul Drinkwater
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The Cape and the City --------------------- David Lyons' hero wants to clean up his hometown, which was hobbled by a corrupt police force before being taken over by an even-more-corrupt private security force called ARK.

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Summer Glau, Sci-Fi It Girl --------------------------- Petite actress Summer Glau earned a cult following as the star of Joss Whedon's *Serenity* and *[Firefly](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly_%28TV_series%29)* projects. She joins *The Cape* after stints in *Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles* and *Dollhouse*.
Harper Smith
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Vince Faraday, Magic Student ---------------------------- Taught by circus-trained bank robbers, The Cape, aka Vince Faraday, studies up on the art of illusion.

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The Villain ----------- [James Frain](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0289656/) (*Tron: Legacy, True Blood*) plays elegant Peter Fleming, who runs a private security conglomerate when he's not trying to ruin the life of Vince Faraday in his evil-mastermind guise as Chess.
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37 Ways to Confuse Your Enemy ----------------------------- Transforming into crime-fighter mode, Vince Faraday's alter ego The Cape possesses no supernatural powers. Instead, he uses his cape as a weapon.

Harper Smith
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The Superhero's Mentor ---------------------- David Keith plays a mysterious magician–bank robber named Max, who instructs Vince Faraday in sleight of hand.

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