The CW Adds ‘Black Lightning’ To Its DC Comics Superhero Show Line-Up
DC Comicsfans are getting inundated from all sides — the DC Extended Universe is going full-steam ahead with the upcomingWonder WomanandJustice Leaguemovies this year, and The CW superhero universe (or theArrowverse or the Berlanti-verse, whatever you like to call it) just keeps getting bigger.
Adding to their highly successful line-up of superhero shows, which already includesArrow,The Flash,Legends of TomorrowandSupergirl,The CW has picked upBlack Lightning, based off the comic book starring one of DC’s first major African-American superheroes.
CW superhero series mastermindGreg Berlanti— who createdArrow,The Flashand oversawLegends of Tomorrowas well asSupergirlwhen it started over at CBS — will be producingBlack Lightning, a series about a former vigilante who hung up his cape, only to find himself back in the fight once more.
StarringHart of Dixie’sCress Williamsas Jefferson Pierce,Black Lightningwill presumably be a series about mixing family life with superhero life, and trying to find the perfect balance between them. The series will be produced by Berlanti alongside Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil, who originally wrote the pilot for Fox, according toVariety.
Here’s the synopsis forBlack Lightningbelow:
Jefferson Pierce has made his choice. He hung up the suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hell-bent 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.
The character, who can generate and and manipulate electricity, was created byTony IsabellaandTrevor Von Eedenand first appeared in 1977 in the comicBlack Lightning#1. Before you ask, no, he’s not related toStatic Shock, though apparently, within the pages of the DC comic book universe, people frequently ask him if they are. I know very little about Black Lightning, but this now makes me want aStatic ShockTV series with crossovers in which the other CW superheroes constantly mistake the two of them for each other.
I’m not sure howBlack Lightningwill be connected to theArrowverse — if at all — but the new series does stoke theories that Berlanti is building hisown TV Justice League. With the exciting prospect of the digital-onlyTitansandYoung Justice: Outsiders, also spearheaded by Berlanti, DC Comics is starting to rival Marvel on TV properties. While I’m all for keeping the movie and TV universes separate (there’s a whole argument that they can exist simultaneously thanks to the multiverse), it would be incredible to see those digital series cross over with the CW shows. It may even best theFlash/Supergirlmusical episode.
