‘Power Book II: Ghost’: 50 Cent and Creator Courtney Kemp Tease Dead Characters May Appear in New Series
In the hours leading up to the Power Book II: Ghost premiere on the Starz app, there was a gathering on Twitter. On the eve of Sept. 6 (Saturday night), members of the Power crew held a pre-show countdown party to discuss the new series and answer fan questions.
Creator Courtney Kemp, 50 Cent, Joseph Sikora, Shane Johnson, Naturi Naughton and Michael Rainey, Jr. were joined by Mary J. Blige and Method Man. During the hour-long virtual fest, they all dropped a few Ghost-related nuggets that may give day-one fans hope for Book 2’s ghostly future with Tariq.
50 Cent said he really wanted Kanan to kill Tariq
Sikora hosted the chat and asked the cast which scenes they loved from the original Power series, and someone brought up Kanan’s final moments with Tariq right before his death. 50 Cent chimed in and said it was difficult for him.
“I struggled with that one. I wanted to kill him. Because I was just gonna be dead, it just wasn’t right.” He wanted to shoot a scene that showed an alternate view where Kanan shot Tariq.
Fans may recall that Tariq and Tasha set Kanan up by planting the gun used to kill Ray-Ray in his car. When the cops pulled him over with Tariq in the car, Tariq betrayed him by telling them he was kidnapped.
It went downhill from there and Kanan died after winning a shootout. But he maintained a looming presence over the kid, even from the afterlife.
Kanan may still pop up in ‘Book 2’
Let’s dip back to the series finale when Tariq grabbed the gun to shoot Ghost. Remember Kanan’s ghost showed up to give him advice? He told Tariq not to let Tasha do his dirty work and urged him to kill his father himself. “It was always gonna go this way,” he said.
As far as street knowledge, Kanan had a huge influence on Tariq. When Sikora asked if there’s a chance Kanan will appear as part of Tariq’s conscience in the new series, 50 Cent said that anything is possible. He joked that he’ll come back as a flashback to help push the ratings up.
Courtney Kemp hinted at a ghostly appearance
Of course, fans want to know whether Ghost could make an appearance in Power Book II as well. 50 Cent reiterated that anything can happen, but Kemp alluded to the show’s title.
“We once discussed calling the show Power Book II: Ghosts with an “s,” plural. We thought about it being that and then it just didn’t end up working out that way,” she said. She framed it as a clue about the potential for Tariq (or anyone else) to be haunted by his past.
Kemp added that Tariq has “a lot of dead people” in his life and therefore there are plenty of folks who can show up. Think about it. Besides Kanan and Ghost, there’s Raina, Ray-Ray, and maybe even Dre.
Nine more episodes await fans in this chapter of the Power saga, so there’s plenty of time for surprise pop-up visits from dead characters. Watch Power Book II: Ghost on Sundays at 8 p.m. EST.
