''Power Book III: Raising Kanan'' is an American
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
television series created by Sascha Penn that premiered on July 18, 2021 on
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...
.
It is a
prequel
A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work.
The term " ...
and second spin-off to ''
Power''.
In July 2021, the series was renewed for a second season ahead of its premiere.
The second season premiered on August 14, 2022.
On August 11, the series was renewed for a third season ahead of its second season premiere.
Premise
Set in the
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...
, ''Raising Kanan'' chronicles the early years of
Kanan Stark (the character first played by executive producer
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson), as he gets into the drug game.
Cast and characters
Main
* Mekai Curtis as
Kanan Stark, Raq's son.
*
Patina Miller as Raquel Thomas, Kanan's mother; one of two major drug lords of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
*
London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Lou's older brother
*
Malcolm Mays as Louis "Lou-Lou" Thomas, Kanan's uncle. He is Raq and Marvin's younger brother
[
* ]Joey Bada$$
Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pro ...
as Unique, Raq's rival drug lord[
* ]Shanley Caswell
Shanley Caswell (born December 3, 1991) is an American actress. She has guest starred in television series such as ''CSI: NY'', ''Bones'', ''iCarly'' and '' The Middle''. She is best known for her starring roles in '' Detention'' (2011) as Rile ...
as Shannon Burke
* Hailey Kilgore
Hailey Frances Kilgore (born February 16, 1999) is an American actress and singer. Kilgore's breakthrough role was as Ti Moune in the Broadway theatre, Broadway revival of List of coming-of-age stories, coming-of-age One-act play, one-actMusical ...
as LaVerne "Jukebox" Thomas, Kanan's cousin and Marvin's daughterToby Sandeman
Toby Sandeman (born 2 March 1988) is an English actor, international model and double gold medalist who represented Great Britain in the 200 metres. He won the 200 m at the UK Athletics national championships in 2009, and followed this wit ...
as Symphony Bosket, Raq's boyfriendLovie Simone
Lovie Simone Oppong (born November 29, 1998) is an American actress, best known for her role as Zora Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, '' Greenleaf''.
Life and career
Simone was born in New York City at The Bronx and raised in ...
as Davina Harrison, Kanan's girlfriend (season 1)
Recurring
* AnnaLynne McCord
AnnaLynne McCord (born July 16, 1987) is an American actress, activist, and model.
Known for playing vixen-type roles, McCord first gained prominence in 2007 as the scheming Eden Lord on the FX television series ''Nip/Tuck'', and as the pampe ...
as Toni Deep
* Natalee Linez as Jessica Figueroa, Famous' manager and sister and Lou's ex-girlfriend[
* Quincy Brown as Crown Camacho, record label owner/producer of Bulletproof Records]Lawrence Gilliard Jr.
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (born September 22, 1971) is an American actor who has appeared in films, television series, and theatre. He portrayed D'Angelo Barksdale on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', a role which earned him critical acclaim. He is ...
as Deen, distributor of the drugs to Unique and Raquel ThomasLos Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
(season 2)Krystal Joy Brown
Krystal Joy Brown (born in Alexandria, Virginia) is an American Broadway theatre, television and film actress best known for her portrayal of Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton on Broadway and her role as Renee Timmons on the Starz series, “Power Boo ...
as Renée Timmons (season 2)Danny Mastrogiorgio
Danny Mastrogiorgio (born October 26, 1964) is an American actor who has also provided voice work for video games. He is best known for providing the voice of Toni Cipriani in the 2005 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories'' and f ...
as Jimmy (season 2)
* Paulina Singer as Zisa, Lou's new aspiring singer (season 2) KJ Smith
KJ Smithis an American actress known for her roles in various television shows and films. She was born on May 6, 1987, in Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
Education
She studied Business marketing, Business Marketing at Florid ...
as Palomar, Corinne's mother & Kanan's ex lover (season 2)
* Josephine Lawrence as Corinne, Palomar's daughter & Kanan's love interest (season 2)
* Chyna Layne
Chyna Layne is a Jamaican American actress who has appeared in a number of films and television productions, including the movie '' Precious'', the television movie ''Life Support'', and the television drama ''Push''.
Career
Layne has appeared ...
as Andrea, Howard's ex lover (season 2)
* Tony Danza
Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...
as Stefano Marchetti (season 3; guest season 2)
* Wendell Pierce as Ishmael "Snaps" Henry (season 3)
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2021)
Season 2 (2022)
Production
The series was first announced in February 2020.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 9.33/10, based on 6 critic reviews.
Ratings
Season 1
Season 2
References
External links
*
*
{{Starz Shows
2020s American drama television series
2020s American black television series
2020 American television series debuts
American television spin-offs
English-language television shows
Starz original programming
Television series by CBS Studios
Television series by Lionsgate Television
Television series by G-Unit Films and Television Inc.