| The Equalizer | |
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| Created by |
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| Original work | The Equalizer (1985–1989) |
| Owners | NBCUniversal (Comcast) |
| Years | 1985–present |
| Films and television | |
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| Television series |
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The Equalizer is an American vigilante action thriller multimedia franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. It originated with a CBS television series from 1985 to 1989 starring Edward Woodward. The concept was thereafter rebooted twice with a trilogy of movies (The Equalizer in 2014, The Equalizer 2 in 2018, and The Equalizer 3 in 2023) starring Denzel Washington and a re-imagined 2021 television series, also on CBS, starring Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall. Original co-creator Michael Sloan has written a series of novels featuring Robert McCall, with the first volume published in 2014.
The franchise centers on a retired intelligence agent with a mysterious past who uses the skills from their former career to exact justice on behalf of innocent people who find themselves in dangerous circumstances while sometimes also dealing with people from their past in covert operations who want to pull them back in or settle old scores.