Stars Mekhi Curtis and Tony Danza join showrunner Sascha Penn in closing the book on Raising Kanan in fifth and final season

Power may have long since ended its run, yet the series’ legacy lives on in the multiple spinoffs that populate the ever-expanding Power-verse. Among these is Power Book III: Raising Kanan, which tells the origin story of Kanan Stark (portrayed by Power producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson in the original series) as he launches himself into a life of crime in the early 1990s.

Now in the midst of its fifth season, this will also mark the final one as Kanan (Mekai Curtis) secures his status in Brooklyn’s criminal underworld. For series creator and showrunner Sascha Penn, bringing the series to a conclusion that will satisfy fans is of paramount importance. “You know, what I hope is that the questions that we’ve sort of asked over the prior four seasons are fully answered in that fifth season,” she says. “It’s always a high-wire act, a final season. You want to make sure that you get it right, and you want to make sure that you’ve sort of earned the energy and attention of your viewers, of your fans. And I think we have . . . We’ve given the audience a complete story, start to finish.”

As fans have certainly recognized, one figure that looms large in the swan-song season is mob boss Stefano Marchetti, portrayed by TV icon Tony Danza. For Danza, Marchetti has been a dream role. “Kanan was a gift,” Danza explains. “This was a lot of fun to play. There’s that old saying that the bad guys are more fun to play than the good guy. But having said that, this particular character, he had so many different facets. There were a lot of things to explore.”

During the course of the series’ run, viewers have watched Kanan evolve from ambitious, eager teenager to ruthless boss of his own crew. Meanwhile, Curtis has also evolved, with viewers literally watching him grow up onscreen. “I think as an artist, as an actor, you’re always looking for something that’s going to continue to push you,” he says. “And season five is no exception. I genuinely think every day there was a new challenge in front of us, but I think we all jumped at it, like super excited and ready to, to do that. So that’s all you can ask for as an actor.” 

Patina Miller, who plays his mother, Raquel “Raq” Thomas, feels similarly about her experience over the course of five roller-coaster seasons. “I think we’ve all been very fortunate and incredibly lucky to be on a show where from season one through season five, our characters have been on these crazy journeys where we’ve been able to do everything, right?” Miller says. “That’s credit to Sascha and our writers, but Sascha, with the vision of how he wanted these characters to be and how he wanted them to live, I fully got to live in my character and I got to be powerful, but also show extreme vulnerability.” 

Another key figure in Kanan’s rise has been Ishmael “Snaps” Henry, played by Wendell Pierce. A living legend in the streets, this old-school drug dealer and ex-bank robber and his wife, Stephanie “Pop” Henry (played by Erika Woods), have been trusted mentors and financiers for Kanan. Pierce — who’d juggled the role with his other gig as Captain C.W. Wagner on Elsbeth — playing Snaps has been a departure from the kind of roles he usually gets. “The first line of my obituary will be The Wire, I know that,” Pierce says. “And, you know, I actually didn’t realize how long I was on Suits. But, you know, you want to build a body of work. And that’s why I wanted to be on Raising Kanan, because, you know, it, it is populated by great writing and great actors . . . I don’t say it lightly when I put it in that rarefied air of the Godfather series . . . The intrigue of the writing and the thrill ride that Sascha and the writers’ room have put together.”

While fans of the show will certainly be sorry to see it go, Penn insists that wrapping Book III in five seasons had been the plan from the start. “That was always the way I envisioned it. That’s what I pitched,” Penn says. “We ask questions and it took us five seasons to answer them, but I think we do. And I think it’s the right place to end this piece of the story.”

Power Book III: Raising Kanan airs Saturday on Starz 1 and Sunday, on Starz 2