The Equalizer: Queen Latifah Reigns Again

Queen Latifah reboots the classic crime drama as an ex-spy who evens the odds for the underdogs

In recent years, the slot after the Super Bowl has generally gone to special episodes of ongoing series.

This time, though, CBS wants to equalize things. Following up the always-high-rated championship National Football League game on Sunday, the network is scheduling the premiere for its updated version of The Equalizer, one of CBS’s very few new shows this season… and one that not only has a past with the network, but also spawned a couple of big-screen action flicks.

This take on The Equalizer certainly marks major differences in the lead character. Also an executive producer of the show (under her birth name, Dana Owens), Queen Latifah stars as Robyn McCall, a New York single mom whose shady past as a spy has given her skills she now uses to help average folks in trouble—while also trying to settle some old scores of her own.

The supporting cast includes Lorraine Toussaint as Robyn’s sensible live-in aunt, Chris Noth as a former CIA superior whose knowledge and connections are handy for our hero in her new crusade, Liza Lapira (NCIS) as another of her go-to associates and True Detective‘s Tory Kittles as a cop trying to figure out just who is this mysterious vigilante that’s been cleaning up the streets lately.

Also of note among the executive producers is Richard Lindheim, who had the same job on the original version of The Equalizer, which he co-created for its 1985-’89 CBS run.

Indeed, if the name Robyn McCall seems familiar, it’s because it’s a tweak on that of original “Equalizer” Robert McCall.

In 2014, The Equalizer got its first reboot, as a big-screen vehicle for one of Hollywood’s top stars, Denzel Washington (reuniting with director Antoine Fuqua, who had guided him to his second Oscar win for Training Day). Still named Robert McCall, the central character was a former Marine and CIA operative who got quite physical in righting wrongs for others. That picture’s success ensured 2018’s The Equalizer 2, which was being planned even before the first film was released… but which would only go into production if so desired by Washington, who indeed signed up and made it the only sequel he’s done in his career.

Though this new Equalizer is sure to give us something quite different under Queen Latifah’s stewardship, the spirit of that original idea, which has now endured for almost four decades, is still alive and kicking butt.

The Equalizer airs Sundays; 7 p.m., CBS; 7:30 p.m., Global