When Deadline reported that Lucy Punch would be co-starring in a new Fox show ‘Ned Fox is My Manny,’ it just seemed like a regular casting report until you remember that Punch had co-starred in the FX pilot ‘Powers’ playing Deena Pilgrim, the partner of Detective Christian Powers. Her role was a substantial one and she was an important character in the pilot. Now it looks like she won’t be available for any of the reshoots.

You see, last we heard, FX was deciding the fate of the show and whether it would undergo a rewrite and some reshoots. According to Charles Dutton who played Captain Cross, a decision needed to be made by the end of the month as everyone’s deal changes with the network on March 1st. It’s been assumed that he means their options would expire and they can move on to other projects. With Punch already on a new pilot, it looks like the executives have let her go. Apparently while FX was deciding on how to retool the pilot, they may have felt part of that retooling process was to let Punch out of her contract.

Does that mean the end of ‘Powers’ that we know of? Not according to Brian Bender who created the comic series and has been working closely with the network. According to his status update on Facebook yesterday, more episodes have been ordered and more news on the future of the show will come out in May: 

That’s great news for fans who’ve been waiting for the series to air. But who will be replacing Punch? No word on that front yet but fans are clamoring to have Katee Sackhoff play Powers’ partner. Currently, Sackhoff is in Canada filming the new Riddick sequel with Vin Diesel.

FX seems to have put a lot of effort in this pilot and it’s good to know they aren’t throwing in the towel just yet. This would be a unique show and it would be great if they could do to for the superhero genre what they did for the horror one with ‘American Horror Story.’

So who would you like to see in the role of Deena Pilgrim?