Enter the World of The Cape (Via Comic Con)

On the second day of Comic Con, one of the most talked about pilots of the new fall season was revealed to an audience for the very first time. Which pilot is that: The Cape. Okay, so maybe The Cape isn’t the most-talked about pilot of the fall season, but it certainly has a unique premise and a pretty terrific cast.

Coming from first time series creator Thomas Wheeler, The Cape tells the story of Detective Vince Faraday (David Lyons from ER), an honest cop working amongst less than honorable officers. He is also a good family man, being the husband of Dana (Jennifer Ferrin from Life on Mars) and proud father of Trip (Ryan Wynott from FlashForward).

When Vince’s reputation is tainted by a sinister force known as Chess (James Frain from True Blood) and he is thought to be dead, he not only becomes the somewhat unwilling accomplice to a group of carnival performers who are actually bank robbers but also takes on a new identity to rid his city of Chess once and for all.

That new identity is The Cape – the superhero from his son’s favorite comic books. A caped vigilante who is out to set right what is wrong within his world. Vince uses slight-of-hand tricks and abilities taught to him by magician and rogue bank robber Max Malini (legendary actor Keith David), who oversees the carnival performers.

Along the way he learns the identity of Orwell (Summer Glau from Firefly and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), a rogue internet crusader, who has the police force on edge because of an innate ability to find out details about dirty cops and dirty dealing go on within the city. Orwell and Faraday forge an unlikely bond to rid their world of the criminal elements that are unraveling the tenuous fabrics that are barely holding their city together.

The pilot has elements of Batman – caped crusader out to save his city from criminals; Beauty and the Beast – underground dwellers hiding from those above; and even the late-night series Dark Justice – where a vigilante used his own code of ethics to right wrongs in his city. While there were compelling moments within the pilot – especially once Orwell was introduced into the story – there were just as many unsettling moments that clearly need to be rectified before the pilot is aired to the general viewing audience.

This much can be said about The Cape: there is promise in this series and if handled deftly, it could become a cult-favorite. At the same time, though, there are a number of weak plot points that will easily turn off the viewers despite the caliber of actors playing out those scenes.

As for the panel Q&A that was held at the conclusion of the pilot, it was easy to see the cast are truly enjoying their roles, reveling in the mystery of their characters and the storylines to come and eager for the public to see the finished product.

The other cast members in attendance at the panel included Dorian Missick (Six Degrees), who plays Vince’s former partner Marty, Martin Klebba (from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) as Rollo, one of the carnival bank robbers and Vinnie Jones (X-Men: The Last Stand) as Scales, one of the main criminals in the series. The panel was rounded out with John Worth, who is an Executive Producer and Bear McCreary, who is the musical composer for the series.

The Cape is listed at NBC.com as one of the network’s upcoming shows beyond the fall season so please watch for details on when the series will actually debut. [Editor’s note: Melissa & Bethanne spoke with star Keith Davis at another event, and he said to watch for The Cape in January 2011.]