BLACK LIGHTNING joins The CW — You Don't Read Comics

Apr 10

Apr 10 BLACK LIGHTNING joins The CW

The CW has quickly become home to DC's best TV series. Even Supergirl ended up moving channels after it's first season. You'd think four superhero shows would be enough for the network- but apparently not!

They have now announced a Black Lightning pilot is on the way! The series is set to star Cress Williams as the title character, is directed by Salim Akil and is being co-produced by Greg Berlanti, the man with the plan behind all of CW's DC properties.

According to Deadline.com; Black Lightning centers on Jefferson Pierce (Williams). He made his choice: He hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hellbent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning.

This sounds very interesting! As much as I love The Flash, Supergirl (and to a lesser extent) Arrow, I don't want this to be another superhero who protects their city as they work with a generic team that helps them defeat a different villain every week. There is a very clear formula to these other shows which I don't need to see repeated again. That synopsis sounds like it could be the breath of fresh air that the channel needs!

But who exactly is Black Lightning? Well, the character is one of DC's first black superheroes, so that's kind of a big deal!

His civilian name is Jefferson Pierce, and he's a gold medal Olympic decathlete who would later go on to become a teacher, and eventually the principal, of a school in the Metropolis area known as Suicide Slums.

He is also metahuman who was born with the power to generate a force field and project electrical bolts. However, he kept these abilities a secret until a gang called the 100 began to take over the area and even ended up killed one of Jefferson's most promising students. He couldn't take it any longer and so, he donned the costume to stop the 100! Throughout the years he's appeared in several teams, including the Justice League and the Outsiders, and there have been several attempts to bring him back in his own series, however, they rarely lasted long.

My research has shown me that Black Lightning has always been a strong supporting character, but stumbled a bit in the spotlight. Hopefully with his own TV series in the works DC and The CW can break that curse.