“Black Lightning” Joins the CW Line-Up

The first trailer for the new Black Lightning television series has arrived, and it doesn’t look half bad. It seems to be trying for the same audience demographic as Marvel’s Luke Cage, and tries to set the same tone. The show will stars Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce, a hero who decides to choose family over civic duty – but eventually the call of who he truly is is too strong to ignore and he returns to the fray. Family is still the central thread for the character, and the series does not ignore this. Pierce’s two daughters Anissa and Jennifer are played by Nafessa Williams and China Anne McClain (in the DC Comics stories, the apple does not fall far from the tree when it comes to superpowers, and they are the young heroines Thunder and Lightning).

The effects look like a combination of practical effects and CG, and the show seems focused on the American Black experience. While it’s good to see that being Caucasian is no longer a prime requisite to be a superhero, we hope that the popularity of the show enable the CW to expand the show’s scope and target audience. Unfortunately, Black Lightning will not be part of the Arrowverse. This could change, though, if they can resolve their “100” gang story line at some point, and we think they can probably manage that part of things. Happily, the future is not yet written!

The show shoots in Atlanta, not Vancouver as the rest of the shows do, and will make its debut mid-season.

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SCIFI Radio Staff

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