MeKai Curtis Reflects on Carrying Kanan’s Legacy Into the Darkest Season of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’

For five seasons, MeKai Curtis has shouldered one of the most significant responsibilities in the Power universe: bringing the younger version of Kanan Stark to life. The character, originally portrayed by Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, remains one of the franchise’s most complex and consequential figures. Through Power Book III: Raising Kanan, audiences have witnessed Kanan’s transformation from a curious teenager into the hardened figure fans first met in the original series.

Yet despite the weight of portraying such an iconic character, Curtis says he has never allowed the enormity of the role to overshadow the work itself.

“I try to think about the responsibility that comes with any story that I wind up getting the opportunity to tell,” Curtis told Black Girl Nerds. “You come at it with the same intensity and passion and intent to serve the work and serve the character and try to tell their story as organically as possible.”

Rather than focusing on Kanan’s place within the larger franchise mythology, Curtis has approached the character one moment at a time.

“I don’t think I’ve ever fully stopped to be like, ‘Oh yeah, this is a really big thing,'” he explained. “As long as I continue to show up scene by scene and let the impact happen there, that’s when it really shows up. Just building him brick by brick.”

That deliberate approach has allowed Curtis to chart Kanan’s evolution with remarkable nuance over the course of the series. The actor credits much of that journey to the foundation laid by his co-star Patina Miller, whose portrayal of Raquel “Raq” Thomas has served as the emotional and narrative anchor of the show.

“I’ve kind of gone into it trying to honor what Patina did with Raq and the stewardship that she offered,” Curtis said.

The relationship between Kanan and Raq remains the beating heart of Raising Kanan. Throughout the series, viewers have watched the complicated bond between mother and son shift between loyalty, resentment, admiration, and betrayal. According to Curtis, Raq’s influence on Kanan is undeniable, even when he actively resists becoming like her.

“Raq and her entire world are what influenced him,” Curtis explained. “So it would be everything around him, I think.”

At the same time, Kanan’s identity has been shaped by his desire to distance himself from many of the choices his mother has made.

“I think that’s also part of the story too,” Curtis said. “The way Raq wants to influence him is not the way that he sees her living. In so many ways she influences him, but in a lot of ways he wants to be everything she isn’t.”

For Curtis, that tension lies at the core of Kanan’s journey. Beneath the criminal empire, family conflicts, and power struggles is a young man searching for the emotional connection and stability he feels he never fully received.

“He wants to give himself the things that he feels like he’s missing from her or just didn’t get to experience with her,” Curtis added.

As Raising Kanan enters its fifth season, fans can expect those emotional wounds and family fractures to deepen. While Curtis remained careful not to reveal spoilers, he did offer a warning about what’s ahead.

“You gonna cry,” he said with a laugh.

Then his tone shifted.

“It’s dark. It’s dark. At least that was the experience of us as a cast bringing it to life. It was a really heavy season.”

That heaviness reflects the show’s ongoing commitment to exploring the forces that shaped Kanan long before audiences encountered him in Power. Each season has peeled back another layer of the character, revealing how family, environment, and survival instincts collide to create the man he ultimately becomes.

And despite the growing sense that Kanan’s story is moving toward a tragic destination, Curtis hinted that viewers shouldn’t assume the end is near just yet.

“We’re not necessarily saying goodbye to Kanan just yet.”

Starz officially greenlit Power: Legacy, the latest sequel in the Power Universe, which will reunite fan-favorite characters Tariq St. Patrick (Michael Rainey Jr.) and Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora). The new series is confirmed for an eight-episode first season and will follow Tommy heading back to New York with Tariq to take over the city’s underworld

As for Kanan, for fans who have followed Kanan’s journey from the beginning, that’s welcome news that we’re not saying goodbye just yet. As Power Book III: Raising Kanan continues to chart the rise of one of television’s most compelling antiheroes, Curtis remains focused on the same philosophy that has guided him since Season 1: serving the character, honoring the story, and building Kanan Stark one brick at a time.

Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 5 is set to premiere Friday, June 12 at midnight on the STARZ app. On linear, it will debut on STARZ at 8:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S.

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